Squeezebox -- Engadget

squeezebox posts

RFiDJ: the coaster-controlled HTPC switches playlists while you switch drinks (video)

by Darren Murph posted Nov 10th 2009 at 10:41AM

You know, RFID hasn't done much for itself in the consumer market. To most average Joes and Janes, the tech is really only around for use in complex supply chains and warehouses that they'd rather block from their minds. Thanks to Roteno Labs, we now have at least one glorious example of just how awesome RFID tags truly are, as the RFiDJ project demonstrates how tagged coasters can be used to instantly switch playlists stored on an HTPC. You simply set a designated coaster on top of the machine, and within seconds a new playlist is activated. We hear that videos actually do speak louder than words, so we'll just stop here and beg you to hop on past the break for a memorable encounter with splendiferousness.

[Via Hack a Day]

Continue reading RFiDJ: the coaster-controlled HTPC switches playlists while you switch drinks (video)

Logitech Squeezebox Radio review

by Tim Stevens posted Oct 6th 2009 at 12:22PM

Everybody knows internet radio is a hit when you're at your computer. Away from your computer? Not so much. Getting your streams into your living rooms, bedrooms, and semi-detached servants quarters is rarely easy, and rarely fun. Logitech's Squeezebox series has been one of the most seamless ways to make it happen, and with the Squeezebox Radio it gets even better. It's cheaper and prettier than the Boom we enjoyed this time last year, and, a little more fun too. How much fun? Join in and see.

Gallery: Logitech Squeezebox Radio unboxing

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Logitech Squeezebox Radio unboxing

by Tim Stevens posted Oct 2nd 2009 at 10:14AM

A wee bit of the fanfare was taken out of the Squeezebox Radio announcement when the FCC went ahead and told us all about the party before Logitech had a chance to jump out from behind the sofa and yell "Surprise!" Expected or not, we've now got ourselves a streaming radio for testing in the house. It has a trendy, piano-black, fingerprint-magnet coating on the outside that looks classy as long as you can keep it clean, separate volume and scroll knobs on the front, and a little handle on the back that could make it a nice portable. However, without the optional battery pack, this thing isn't going far. We haven't had a chance to pump any tunes through either its Ethernet or 802.11b/g connections just yet, having barely turned it on and told it our language (Hola!), but we'll report back in the very near future with a full set of acoustic and functional impressions.

Gallery: Logitech Squeezebox Radio unboxing

Logitech makes Squeezebox Radio and Touch official

by Tim Stevens posted Sep 3rd 2009 at 4:00AM

Logitech has finally released info on its upcoming additions to the Squeezebox lineup, and we're happy to share it all with you, dear readers. First up is the FCC-approved Squeezebox Radio, sporting integrated speakers and a 2.4-inch LCD upon which you can view playlists, peruse Facebook recommendations, and even squint at Flickr slideshows. On the higher end is the Squeezebox Touch, with its 4.3-inch touchscreen and outputs to connect directly to your home entertainment system. Both feature 802.11g wireless enabling them to suck tunes of all sorts (including Pandora, iTunes, Sirius, and various internet streams) straight from a Mac, Windows, or Linux machine, but only the Touch will be able to play tracks directly from USB drives and SD cards. The Radio will be shipping by the end of the month for an MSRP of $199, while the Touch (which would look perfect next to your Harmony 1100) is destined for a December release and a higher price of $299 -- despite it having already started shipping in some places. Full press releases after the break.

Gallery: Logitech's Squeezebox Radio and Squeezebox Touch

Continue reading Logitech makes Squeezebox Radio and Touch official

FCC reveals Logitech Squeezebox Radio, could make all those streamy dreams come true

by Tim Stevens posted Aug 21st 2009 at 7:56AM

It's hard not to like new-school tech named after old-school instruments, and so Logitech's (Slim-developed) Squeezebox lineup has at least that going for it. Decently solid reviews, too, for the models we've seen thus-far, and thanks to our old friends at the FCC we know that a new model is coming soon. Dubbed the Squeezebox Radio X-R0001, it's described as "a compact tabletop network music player and internet radio that lets you listen to virtually any internet radio station." How it'll handle the variety of streaming formats and functions remains to be seen, but it'll also go fetch your local music collection over an internal network and play it all through its combination of 3/4-inch tweeters and 3-inch woofer. A 2.4-inch LCD is on the front, 802.11b/g WiFi and wired Ethernet are standard features, and it's all enclosed in a "compact design." That's all we know at this point (assuming you don't care that it has a 11.11dBm rating at 2.412MHz when in 802.11g mode), but hopefully Logi will set this one free from the Faraday cage soon.

Logitech prepping Squeezebox updates

by Steven Kim posted Jun 23rd 2009 at 8:39PM

Cashing in on the all-things-touchscreen craze, word comes to us from ZatzNotFunny that Logitech will be bringing updates to its Squeezebox lineup which include refreshed Boom and Duet specs and the all-new pictured "Squeezebox Touch." A bit redundant on the name, isn't that, Logitech? We'll also overlook the fact that "Squeezebox Touch" makes us think of something decidedly Chumby-ish, as details on the line updates are thin and the name could change. Either way, the device is definitely lacking in hard buttons, which is more to go on than the FCC line art of whatever Sonos is conjuring up with its CR200 controller.

mCubed's RipNAS Statement now available in Europe

by Darren Murph posted May 27th 2009 at 2:21PM

mCubed's RipNAS Statement may be unique, but it isn't apt to be widely adopted -- at least not with price points like this. Hailed as the first SSD-based CD ripping NAS device, the product is also available in a traditional HDD form, though both handle automatic ripping, NAS duties and media streaming. Within, you'll find a dual-core Atom CPU, gigabit Ethernet, a TEAC DVD drive, four USB 2.0 sockets and a fanless design. The pain? €1,795 ($2,500) for the 3TB HDD version, or €3,295 ($4,590) for the 500GB SSD model. If you're unfazed by sticker shock, you can pick yours up right now over in Europe.

Gallery: mCubed's RipNAS Statement now available in Europe

RipNAS Statement: world's first SSD-based CD ripping NAS device

by Darren Murph posted May 3rd 2009 at 4:29PM

We'll be perfectly honest with you -- the Atom-powered RipNAS definitely caught our interest when it launched with practically no major competitors back in February. Now, the RipNAS family has grown by two with the introduction of the Statement SSD and Statement HDD. We're told that the former is the world's first SSD-based CD ripping NAS device, and we've absolutely no reason to believe otherwise. The totally silent, all-silver box is based on the Windows Home Server OS and handles a cornucopia of tasks: CD ripping, media streaming and networked file storage. Internal specifications include a dual-core Atom CPU, 2GB of RAM and four USB 2.0 ports. The Statement SSD arrives in a 500GB configuration (2 x 250GB SSDs), while the Statement HDD holds 3TB by way of two 1.5TB drives; mum's the word on pricing, but don't bank on 'em being cheap.

mCubed's Atom-powered RipNAS combines CD ripper with NAS drive

by Darren Murph posted Feb 9th 2009 at 5:39PM

Not that we haven't seen Atom-based NAS devices before, but we've yet to see one with an integrated optical drive. Looking to serve a unique niche that still hasn't transferred that CD collection to HDD, the RipNAS combines an audio CD ripper with oodles of network-accessible storage space, and as if that wasn't enough, there's also media streaming abilities baked in. The whole unit is fanless in nature and requires no external keyboard / PC in order to rip files to your favorite lossless format, retrieve all associated metadata and automatically re-rip tracks if errors are detected. Initially, the box is being served with 640GB of internal storage space along with a number of USB ports for external expansion. Sadly, such a specialized box won't run you cheap, with the sticker hovering around €1,095 ($1,415) right now in Europe.

Squeezebox Boom review

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 21st 2008 at 2:00PM

Remember Kerbango? In the early months of the decade, 3Com's foray (via acquisition) into the then-nonexistent world of tabletop internet radios crashed and burned before it was ever even launched, a classic example of an arguably visionary product launching well, well ahead of its time. Over seven years have passed since the Kerbango Radio's untimely death, but for whatever reason, the concept really hasn't re-emerged on a grand scale. On the surface, it seems like a no-brainer: everyone has an alarm clock, many have bedside or kitchen radios, WiFi has since emerged as a ubiquitous cloud of high-speed data, and more people are listening to streamed audio than ever before -- yet the market for these devices is still treated like a niche. What gives?

Gallery: Squeezebox Boom hands-on

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Logitech Squeezebox Boom hits the stage

by Nilay Patel posted Aug 28th 2008 at 4:01AM

It's been a month since we first caught a glimpse of the sharp-looking Logitech Squeezebox Boom, but the wireless network speakers are official today, coming in at a list price of $299. Yeah, it's basically a standard-issue Squeezebox with a built-in amp and speakers, but that's a pretty solid idea, especially since we're guessing the 24-bit Burr Brown D/A converter and bi-amped 3-inch woofers and 3/4-inch tweeters will offer up some decent sound. Everything else is regular Squeezebox kit -- 802.11g WiFi, SqueezeNetwork, optical and S/PDIF out, VFD display, 10/100Base-T Ethernet -- so if you're looking to expand your system, this is probably a pretty solid way of getting it done. Expect to see this one on shelves next month. One more pic after the break.

Continue reading Logitech Squeezebox Boom hits the stage

Logitech Squeezebox Boom pops up on Dutch site

by Joshua Fruhlinger posted Aug 6th 2008 at 9:56AM

Well, would ya look at what popped up at Dutch online shop wifimedia? The Logitech Squeezebox Boom looks to be a nice way to turn your Squeezebox network digital audio into soundwaves with 802.11g, a digital amplifier, SqueezeNetwork online music service access, and a 7-day alarm for those of you with techy bedrooms. As for the speakers, they are 3-inch woofers with 3/4-inch tweeters bi-amplified by the aforementioned digital amp. Other notable features include an IR remote, 6-button presets, high-contrast VFD display, 10/100Base-T ethernet port, and a 1/8-inch stereo input. The Euro price is €279, which currently nets out to $431.44 US. We'd venture to guess that will net out to a sub-$400 price, but only time -- and economies -- will tell.

Update: Hey, would you look at that -- the manual for the Squeezebox Boom is now live on the Slim Devices site. Looks like we'll be seeing this bad boy soon.

[Thanks, Peter and LPD]

Logitech's Squeezebox Duet gets reviewed

by Darren Murph posted Mar 6th 2008 at 4:30AM

You've had ample time to mull over the specs and even take a glance at Logitech's Squeezebox Duet on video, but if you've still been holding off until a legitimate review gave you the final thumbs-up, here goes. According to CNET, this network digital audio system has a remote worth swooning over, very satisfactory file support and a certain charm that's only truly experienced when tuning into internet radio stations (yeah, it does that too). 'Course, not everything was entirely rosy, as the scroll wheel was knocked for being unresponsive at times and of course, the inability to play nice with DRM-strapped files from the iTMS or Zune Marketplace (among others) was somewhat of a letdown. Still, for those dealing with tunes that are free and clear of restrictions, the Duet seems like a solid choice -- hit up the read link for more proof.

Squeezebox Duet now available for pre-order

by Nilay Patel posted Feb 7th 2008 at 8:25AM

Hey, look at that -- the Squeezebox Duet just popped up for pre-order. Slim Devices's answer to Sonos was pretty impressive when we played with it at CES, and it looks like pricing is exactly what we heard: $400 for the wireless controller and a single Squeezebox Receiver, which can stream music off your home machine or tune into Rhapsody or Pandora. Units are expected to ship at the end of the month, but it doesn't look like you can buy additional $150 receivers or $300 controllers yet.

[Thanks, Gregg]

Video: Logitech Squeezebox Duet

by Barb Dybwad posted Jan 6th 2008 at 6:00AM

We got some hands-on time with the new Logitech Squeezebox Duet, the device that ensures Daddy never sleeps at night. Veronica Belmont and the Mahalo Daily team provide the eye candy after the ever-lovin' break.

Continue reading Video: Logitech Squeezebox Duet