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Philips Fidelio Speakers with AirPlay hands-on (video)
Traditional speaker docks are so 2010. This year, AirPlay is in, and Philips was on hand to demo five new wireless speaker models at the CEA LineShows in NYC, set to roll out beginning later this month through the holiday season. Its flagship Fidelio SoundSphere DS9800W will ship in June with a price tag of about $800, but didn't appear willing to pair with the iPhone Philips had on hand at the show. We did go ears-on with the more affordable DS8800W, however, which filled the small demo room with deep, rich Fire and Rain, sans-wires -- and can do the same in your own home when it ships for $400 beginning next month. That model isn't nearly as sleek as the non-functional SoundSphere, or its smaller DS6800W counterpart, which will hit stores in time for the holidays with a $500 MSRP. Philips also showed off its 360-degree DS3881W and compact AD7000W -- both of which also include AirPlay support, and will ship for $330 and $230, respectively, by the holiday season. Jump past the break for a look at all five models.%Gallery-126903%
Logitech outs a pair of keyboard cases, gets into the tablet accessories game
Technically, we suppose Logitech already made a play for the tablet accessories market when it launched a rebranded Zaggmate keyboard case earlier this year, but today the peripheral manufacturer's getting serious about slates with the launch of two new portable products. Lacking a Smart Cover to keep your iPad 2 on edge? You could try the $70 Logitech Tablet Keyboard pictured above, which comes with a hardshell sleeve that doubles as a tablet stand and dedicated iOS or Android shortcuts. The keyboard itself is slick, roomy and somewhat plasticky, with a definite Notion Ink Adam vibe. There's also a redesigned Zaggmate, now known as the $100 Logitech Keyboard Case, which comes with "a more intuitive keyboard layout and improved keystrokes for even more comfortable typing" -- a claim we weren't able to test -- as well as a rebranded $100 Logitech Z515 Bluetooth speaker system, and a $50 Bluetooth mouse. Pricey? Definitely. Worthwhile? Decide for yourself later this month, when they're scheduled to hit shelves. %Gallery-123982%
Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air review
What's that, an alien egg? Nope. Memory foam iPillow? No, silly, it's a Zeppelin, a Zeppelin Air more specifically. Bowers & Wilkins brought us the first iPod-centric Zeppelin in the middle of the great iPod dock flood of '07. A few years later they downsized and brought us a mini version. The logical extension after the advent of AirPlay is here: a Zeppelin that does its thang without wires. We've been beaming music to it for a few weeks now -- wanna find out how our relationship has been? Click through, captain. %Gallery-122679%
Philips Fidelio SoundSphere WiFi speakers get AirPlayed
Add one more to the list of manufacturers supporting Apple's AirPlay. Philips just announced its Fidelio SoundSphere speakers that support WiFi music streaming over Apple's new media sharing "standard" from your PC or Mac iTunes library or from any iOS device. Unfortunately, Philips isn't providing any useful detail about these speakers with free-floating tweeters and 360-degree sound. But hey, if you're the kind who buys speakers based on appearance alone, then the €799 (about $1,100 -- nearly twice as much as the Zeppelin Air) price tag for the speaker pair + dock should be no problem when they hit Europe sometime in May. Press release and bonus pic after the break.
Toshiba's TY-WSD9 wireless waterproof speaker gives Japanese shower singers an upgrade
Bath-time belters rejoice, for the folks over at Toshiba have bestowed unto you a 21st century solution to the waterproof radio. Okay, so it's not the first shower-ready speaker we've reported on, and the TY-WSD9 doesn't come with a pale-skinned celebrity endorsement, but it does stream audio from your TV, DVD, iPod, or other sound-emitting device within a 25-meter radius. The system sports two 1.2W speakers, works a transmitter / receiver setup that looks something akin to a baby monitor, and will be available in Japan for about 13,000 yen (or $160) starting this March. So get those pipes ready, cause your wet and wild repertoire just got a whole lot bigger.
Perch: the Bluetooth speaker / smartphone dock of your dreams, shipping soon for $180
Okay, so maybe that's a stretch, but there's no question that Quirky's latest socially-developed product is one of the slicker wireless speaker / dock combos out there. Dubbed Perch, this two-piece device acts as a standalone Bluetooth speaker if you'd like, but it also includes a dock / tray for holding your device while it's charging. It's model and brand agnostic, and it's up for pre-order right now for $179.99. Gallery's below, but don't dive in if you're easily swayed by eye candy. %Gallery-113323%
Aluratek's new wireless speakers go Bump in the night
Speakers? Oh yeah. Wires? Heck no. Aluratek has launched three new wireless audio products collectively called Bump -- though somehow a wired model got lumped in there too. A bit of a step from the company's previous digi frame and e-reader offerings, the four tune-pumping solutions start with the $49.99 AMS01F, a wee boombox that plays music from SD, line-in, or FM and does six hours on a charge. The $79.99 AUWS01F ditches the media player functionality, relying on a signal sent from a 2.4GHz USB dongle that you stick in your nearest PC or Mac (within 60 feet) that has some tunes on it. Next is the $99.99 AWS01F, basically the AMS01F boombox with the addition of a separate wireless speaker. Finally, if you're not ready to cut the cord, there's the $19.99 APS01F, a single little tweeter with a 3.5mm cable sprouting from below. They're all available now, so you know what to do. Update: Seems these are a rebadge. Welp, at least you've got another option.
Jawbone Jambox review
You may have already gathered that we're fans of the Jawbone Jambox -- seeing as how it appears in our Holiday Gift Guide -- but does a miniature portable speaker, even one that pumps out 85 decibels, deserve a $200 price? How about that battery life? We've spent weeks now with the little Bluetooth speaker that could, throwing it at every scenario in sight, and after the break you'll find a full review with all the upsides and downsides. %Gallery-106618%
Jawbone intros Jambox portable bluetooth speaker, we go hands-on (update)
Since 2006, Jawbone's been making noise-canceling bluetooth headsets boasting modern design and military-grade sound. This is not one of those. This is the Jawbone Jambox -- a wireless bluetooth speaker -- and it's what happened when the company decided to let the music out. Functionally it's almost exactly the same as a Jawbone Icon, down to the pairing process, and MyTALK upgradable software platform, but instead of a tiny mono earpiece you're getting a stylish portable speakerphone with a 3.5mm input jack and some serious stereo potential. We've had it playing for several hours now, and while it's not going to be the life of a large party even at maximum volume, it pumps out a terribly impressive amount of clear, room-filling sound for its size. If you pick it up or set it down on a table, you'll feel the vibrations nearby. You can't quite tell from this angle, but that stainless steel grill wraps around an airtight enclosure made of polycarbonate infused with glass, which houses a pair of full-range drivers and a microphone up front and a "moving-wall passive bass radiator" around back for some extra low-end goodness. We're told this last was quite the innovation, which didn't impress us much until we were told what Jawbone put inside the radiator to ensure mass and rigidity: the unit's 800mAh lithium-ion battery. Speaking of juice, Jawbone tells us the unit's good for about eight hours of continuous playback at 75 percent volume. You'll be paying a good bit to get this designer toy pumping out your jams, as any of the black, red, blue or silver units will run $200 at Best Buy and the Apple Store when they hit November 16th, but if you've been aching for a modern, handheld ghetto blaster, this is definitely one way to go. PR after the break. Update: As some have pointed out in comments, a number of the ideas here aren't actually new -- you can find a very similar portable Bluetooth speaker (down to a patent-pending "BassBattery" and a $200 price) in the Soundmatters foxL v2 with Bluetooth. Update 2: As it turns out, the foxL v2 isn't exactly a competitor, it's an ally of sorts, because the Jambox is a collaboration with the same Dr. Godehard Guenther who invented the original device. "JAMBOX leverages the core analog acoustics that made FoxL great," says a representative, but with numerous improvements: Jawbone's noise cancellation and Bluetooth know-how, a thicker, stiffer speaker enclosure and a Yves Behar design. %Gallery-106618% %Gallery-106677%
Libratone Beats wireless speakers begin playing when you enter the room
We're suckers for wireless speakers, but they have to work. We're not the least bit interested in streaming technologies that stutter from interference or compress the audio to preserve bandwidth. That's why Libratone caught our attention here in Berlin with its new Libratone Beat -- the "world's first high-end active speaker with wireless technology," or so they claim. The speaker features one 5-inch bass, two 3-inch midrange drivers, and two 1-inch ribbon based tweeters. In all we're looking at 50W of bass output and 2x25W at the tweeter / midrange. There's even a 3.5-mm mini jack to tether devices. The big question here is will they be worth the MSRP €595 / $655 when they start shipping across Europe and the US in January? Well, we can't say for sure. After all, we could only listen to the speaker on the very crowded (and noisy) floor of the IFA trade show. But what we heard sounded decent and did manage to stream audio over its proprietary transmission technology even at a distance of about 50 feet. Very impressive considering the high concentration of WiFi hotspots and other wireless devices in use within just a few feet of the Libratone booth. Here's the catch: a dongle is required to communicate with the speaker -- a small version for the iPod / iPhone / Pad or a larger USB stick for your laptop -- both included with the purchase price. On the plus side, multiple Beats can play at once -- just wander into range of one or multiple Beats and they'll start (and later stop) playing automatically. Nice. Update: We've added a second gallery of press images below. %Gallery-101388% %Gallery-103235%
iHome teases first AirPlay-compatible portable speaker dock
No surprise that iHome is first out of the gate with a speaker dock that's compatible with Apple's newly-open AirPlay music streaming system, but unfortunately the teaser page is maddeningly light on details -- all we know is that it'll have a rechargeable battery and be available for the holidays. We're actually pretty stoked for AirPlay gear -- the idea of setting up a quick mix-and-match whole-home audio system that can stream lossless audio straight from iTunes seems awfully hard to resist -- so we're eager to hear more about this thing, as well as the other third-party AirPlay devices like receivers and stereos that have been promised. We'll keep digging for more, so stay tuned. [Thanks, Fred]
Logitech takes its wireless Z515 and tethered Z305 speakers on the road
Sure, that laptop you're staring out might have been purchased by your company's IT department, but who hasn't snuck on a film or game to fill the desperate void between PowerPoint presentations and time sheets? Problem is, those teeny tiny tinny laptop speakers aren't exactly immersive. That's where Logitech comes in with its new Laptop Speaker Z305 ($99.99, pictured above). A compact USB speaker that hangs off the open display to deliver 360-degree audio that will "fill the room," according to Logitech -- no additional software required. Otherwise, why not untether with Logitech's Wireless Speaker Z515 (pictured after the break) when it arrives for $59.99. The Z515 offers a range of about 50 feet (15 meters) over a 2.4GHz USB dongle with up to 10 hours of life from its rechargeable battery. Both will be available for purchase in the US and Europe beginning this month. See the pitch in the video after the break.
JVC intros cord-free TH-BA3 and TH-BS7 soundbar audio systems
JVC's never been much on using wires to hook up its home theater systems, and for those not looking for mind-blowing 7.1 surround, these soon-available wireless soundbar setups might just satisfy your aural cravings without forcing you to run ungodly lengths of cabling around your den. The TS-BA3 ($549.95) is a dual wireless soundbar system that consists of a 280-watt amplifier, 5.1-channel surround rig (including a soundbar, wireless subwoofer and wireless rear speaker kit) and built-in surround decoding. You'll also find a single analog input, two optical digital inputs and support for Dolby Digital, DTS and Dolby ProLogic II surround signals. The TH-BS7 ($599.95) is engineered to mount alongside flat-panel HDTVs, with a 1.4-inch tall, ultrathin soundbar, an even slimmer wall-mountable amplifier / control unit and a wireless subwoofer. This one's packing 180-watts of teeth-rattling oomph and promises 4.1 sound with minimal consumption of floor space. Hop on past the break for the full release and detailed specifications. %Gallery-80245%
Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 Wireless speakers impressions
Back in the day (or way back, as it were), we recall quite vividly the impression made upon us by Klipsch's ProMedia v.2-400. It wasn't the cheapest four-piece speaker set for the PC, but compared to the competition at the time, it certainly offered up a sound rivaled only by much higher-end options -- options that were generally tailored for home theater applications. Fast forward to today, and Klipsch is still carrying on the ProMedia line nearly a decade later. The latest set to waltz into our labs are these: the ProMedia 2.1 Wireless. Essentially, these are the exact same ProMedia 2.1 speakers that were released eons ago (in the midst of the Y2K chaos, if you're looking for specifics), but with a wireless twist. Klipsch has integrated 2.4GHz wireless technology into the subwoofer, and it tossed in a USB dongle in order to beam out audio from whatever PC or Mac that you connect it to. Pretty simple, right? Hop on past the break for our two pennies on how this package performed.
JBL ships WEM-1 Wireless Expansion Module for cutting speaker cables
JBL's latest Wireless Expansion Module isn't the first device designed to cut the cables currently connected to your loudspeakers, but there's nothing wrong with options, right? The WEM-1 enables a pair of speakers to connect wirelessly (within 70 feet) to an AV receiver, and the internal 50-watt amplifier provides ample juice for surrounds. The box also sports a subwoofer output, five equalization curves that are tailored for use with select JBL loudspeakers, an unequalized bypass setting and a local input for directly connecting DAPs, PMPs and other audio sources. The MSRP on this cable cutter is listed at $359, but it looks to be available at quite a few locales for less.
Wireless ButtKicker kit ready to rumble your posterior
Earlier this year, we were fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on perspective) enough to get our rumps on one of the famed ButtKickers. For those unaware, these devices are meant for installation underneath a seat or sofa in order to provide chair-rumbling effects to help you "feel" the film. Now, the Guitammer Company is making them even easier to install by cutting the wires, bringing low frequency audio transducers just inches from your derriere without any cords necessary. The above pictured kit will go on sale next Friday (yes, that's Black Friday for you Americans) for under $300 on Amazon -- are you really ready to rumble?
Samsung showcases YA-SBR510 Bluetooth speaker
Samsung already loosed a 3-channel Bluetooth speaker earlier this year, but apparently, one just isn't enough. The company has now introduced its YA-SBR510 over in South Korea, which streams audio from BT-enabled players and includes a 3.5-millimeter auxiliary jack for hooking up just about everything else. A tad pricey at €150 ($222), but it's a total bargain should it come bundled with that oh-so-furry rug. Sammy, care to comment?
Freewheeler speaker is wireless, round, and really expensive
Just because you can put a speaker in all sorts of form factors doesn't really mean you should. Take, for instance, the Freewheeler wireless speaker. Measuring in at 22.8 x 9.8-inches, the rolly sound producer will operate at up to 656-feet from its base station and includes an FM receiver. Doesn't sound so bad, right? Hold off, kiddos -- this thing sells for about $21,000. Yeah. Twenty one. Thousand. That said, the thing is completely wireless and will run on a single charge for about 8 hours, so if you have some swanky garden with swanky guests and you want some swanky speakers, here's your thing. Otherwise, we have a nice set over here in this white van. Just for you.
Wireless Outdoor Solar Speaker rocks out on beaches, picnics
It's not like we had anything personal against the 80s style boomboxes that lasted a good half hour or so on eight D-cell batteries, but tagging one along to a day at the beach wound up getting pretty costly in a hurry. Joining the hordes of other eco-friendly and multi-faceted camping / outdoor gear is the Wireless Outdoor Solar Speaker, which is quite likely to be overlooked as a simple thermos at first glance. Atop the canister sits a solar panel that soaks up energy and uses it to pump out tunes through its (understandably weak) five-watt speaker. Additionally, a complimentary wireless (albeit battery-powered) transceiver allows any music source with a 3.5-millimeter output to be beam music to the solar speaker from "up to 150 feet away." Reportedly, the sun-lovin' device will run UK-based chaps £99.95 ($199), but that's assuming you can actually catch it in stock.[Via PopGadget]
CES Zune speaker / dock roundup
While the Zune didn't make a huge presence at CES, DAP accessory makers were out in full force nonetheless, and ClicZune did a commendable job in scouring the floors for Zune-capable speakers and docking stations. Although Apple's gem definitely has a commanding lead in the iPod speaker system market, devices designed for the Zune are slowly catching up, and CES unveiled a trio of speaker apparatuses for those who prefer Microsoft's PMP. Hitting the low-end is eForCity's INSTEN, which rocks a black or white color scheme (sorry, brown fans), dual two-watt drivers, USB connectivity, and can be powered via four AA cells. Although MSRP on this little guy is closer to $40, smart shoppers can snag it for around $10, so don't expect any audiophile-approved tones to be emitted from this. Next up is the Memorex MzW101, which is a wireless docking base station that beams out the Zune's audio to a variety of WiFi-enabled speakers, including the waterproof MzW210 speaker as well as the forthcoming MzW220 indoor and MzW240 outdoor wireless satellites. Closing it out is JBL's dome-shaped system (pictured after the break), which features a slide-out Zune dock, video out port, USB connectivity, and the ability to get juiced by four AA batteries. Unfortunately, details are scant when it comes to pricing and future release dates, but fret not, as this is likely just the beginning of the onslaught to come.[Thanks, Mike]Read - eForCity's INSTENRead - Memorex lineupRead - JBL's dome-shaped system
