iHome calls the iA100 a "Bluetooth audio system for iPod, iPhone, and iPad" but take one look at it and you'll know what it really is: a digital alarm clock. And, priced at a cool $200, it's a pretty expensive one at that.
Its bright black-and-white display, which has eight dimness settings, plays host to large, contemporary digits that can be easily read without glasses even by someone with eyes as bad as mine. Users can set up a couple of alarms to be deployed on specific days of the week and choose to wake to the radio, a buzzer (which is in fact a very pleasant xylophone melody), or music from whichever device happens to be plugged into its top-facing, 30-pin Apple connector.
The dock accommodates iPods, iPhones, and, thanks to a sturdy metal bar that extends up from the top of the clock to provide physical support, even iPads. Regardless of which device you choose to dock, you'll likely want to download iHome+sleep, a free app that greatly widens the iA100's utility as an alarm clock. You can program specific songs to which you'd like to wake, fine tune your alarm schedule, sign up for morning news and weather alerts, and even set up automatic messages to be sent out on Facebook and Twitter so you can announce to the world (for better or worse) when you are awake or asleep. Plus, the devices sync automatically; just plug in your iPhone and it will grab the clock's current alarm settings and update the time. It's seamless.
But, as its lengthy moniker makes clear, the iA100 does more than simply ensure you don't sleep in. It also acts as an external speaker system - and a pretty great one at that. With four drivers - two at the front and another pair on the sides - it pumps out clear and full-bodied music at volumes suitable for bedroom listening.
A button marked with the letter B inside a circle allows users to toggle sound processing provided by audio experts Bongiovi Acoustics, though it's beyond me why anyone would choose to switch it off. When that B-button isn't glowing the clock's audio comes off completely flat. Perhaps it's there out of some contractual obligation, so that users understand how much iHome relies on its partnership with the company that was founded by Jon Bon Jovi's second cousin. Regardless, a better way to tinker with the iA100's sound is to work with its equalizer settings, which allow users to adjust treble, bass, and midrange.
It also supports Bluetooth (again, as noted in its protracted designation), which means you don't need to have your device connected to the dock in order to stream music. However, transmitting audio this way seems to have a negative impact on its quality. Songs seemed slightly muffled, and I wasn't able to increase the volume to the levels I achieved with a docked device.
Bluetooth is used more effectively as a means to answer your phone. Red and green call and end buttons can be found on the top side of the clock (as well as on the included infrared remote), allowing one to apply the iA100 as a speakerphone. This feature proved particularly handy one chilly November morning when I awoke to the sound of my mobile ringing. I'd left it in the bathroom the night before, but was able to answer it without leaving my warm covers.
Many people these days are happy to simply use their cell phones as ad hoc alarms, but the comfort and reliability of a bedside device should not be dismissed. That the iA100 does so much more than simply wake one up is proof of the perks that can come with owning an alarm clock in the 21{+s}{+t} century. It's just a bummer that those perks also come with such a high price.