UsbSpeakers
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UCube speakers run off USB, are coming to an Amtrak quiet car near you
You can use these USB-powered UltraLink UCube speakers on a bus, on the beach, or on the table at your favorite McDonald's, but please -- for the love of god -- don't. Remember: with great convenience comes great responsibility, and if these speakers are as impressive as the dramatic marketing video below implies, disruption of the peace is about to know no bounds. At $150 per pair, these sleek sound machines aren't cheap, but each speaker is able to pump out 15 watts of peak power -- you won't be filling a large room with crisp, distortion-free sound, but they're probably loud enough to play your tunes or flicks for a group of friends, or to annoy strangers in a park. UltraLink claims that the speakers use DSP-controlled power supplies to "store energy during quiet passages," allowing the 3.25 inch cubes to reach their 15 watt peak output with 170-degree listening angles. We haven't had a chance to go hands on, but if these speakers sound half as good as they look, we may have a better solution for playing music in the CES trailer next year.
Altec Lansing's Orbit USB Stereo trumps your laptop's speakers, has split personality
USB speakers aren't exactly headline-grabbing gadgets these days, but the fact remains that most laptops could still use a little help on the audio end. If you're in need of a quick fix for your weak-sounding machine, then Altec Lansing's $49.95 Orbit USB Stereo (iML247) might be worth your consideration. As the name says for itself, both power and audio input are managed through one USB cord, meaning no batteries are required here. Better yet, when not in use, you can simply fold up the legs, stuff the cables into the hollow ends, and then twist the speakers together to form one smooth tube for storage. Of course, note that this Orbit won't work with devices sporting the common 3.5mm headphone jack, and obviously don't expect cinematic sound quality from these tiny canisters -- hey, there's always a trade-off. Hands-on pics in the gallery below. %Gallery-122790%
Sony SRS-GD50iP marries iPod dock with USB speakers
Aside from the flamboyantly oversized subwoofer, do you know what we really love about this new iPod / iPhone dock from Sony? The big logos sprawled across the middle of each speaker, that's what. After all, nothing yells audiophile quite like a chunky slab of plastic in the middle of your sound output, right? Marketing department 1, engineering team 0. To be fair, Sony is offering a nice bit of convergence here, as the speakers can also serve as a 2.1 PC set via USB, and they'll even use the same connection to sync up and charge your Apple device of choice. With 60 watts of power and that delightfully diminutive remote control, the whole setup will cost you $199 (or less, if you look real hard) and is available now.
ASUS uBooms its way into portable speaker market
The world of mobile speakers is a quirky one, to say the least. That ASUS would want a taste of that funny water may be surprising, but not altogether crazy. What is crazy here is the size of these "portable" audio appendages. The 24-Watt uBoom (pictured) is a 3kg behemoth measuring nearly 60cm (23.6 inches) across and positively swallowing up whatever notebook you care to plop into it. That's not to say it's inconvenient, maybe you like exercise. On the other hand, the uBoom Q is about half the size and sips power from the USB connection, but then it only pumps out 2.4 Watts. Check out both after the break. [Via Electronista]
Paper desktop speakers rock you like a handcrafted hurricane
Like my grandmother always says, sometimes the best gadgets are the ones you build yourself -- with kits imported from Japan, purchased at places like Fred Flare. Princeton's Paper Speaker kit comes with a pair of 1W stereo speakers, a USB connection, paste, and a paper template for building a retro desktop sound system. Three designs are available -- take your pick from a cabinet record player, a component stereo system, or an old school boom box. Check 'em out below, and then get yours when it becomes available in early July for ¥1,980 (approximately $21). [Via Akihabara]
Crystal USB Desktop Speakers look good, probably sound bad
Not a lot here that you can't already make out for yourself, but we'll give ya the down low, anyway. The Crystal USB Desktop Speakers are powered via USB 2.0 and only pack 1-watt per channel, yet somehow, they're touted as "audiophile" grade. The product description rambles on in embarrassing fashion about just how amazing these things will sound, but seriously, we'd just be happy with the decently cool looks (yes, we're being generous here) and relatively low $39.99 price tag.[Via Random Good Stuff]
LogitechLCDTool - homegrown Mac support for Logitech Z-10 speakers
The Logitech Z-10 Speaker system is a cool set of USB speakers that features a little LCD panel that displays track information from iTunes along with touch sensitive controls. Cool, that is, if you're running Windows. Fortunately, Marc Liyanage was not going to stand for this raving injustice and has cooked up his LogitechLCDTool OS X interface for the Z-10. As if that weren't enough, though, Marc notes that "under the hood LogitechLCDTool provides a fully user-programmable platform based on HTML, CSS, JavaScript and AppleScript. Basically the LCD screen is a tiny web page and the buttons can execute JavaScript and AppleScript code." This means in principle the Z-10 screen could be used for other purposes as well, so long as you can do it on a "black-and-white web page with 160x43 pixels." In any case, a hearty TUAW attaboy to Marc for delivering us from a bit of Windows bondage.I also found this interview with the developer at MacDevCenter.[Via MacVolPlace]
