Atari Comeback Includes Bluetooth Speakerhat

In case you haven’t heard, Atari is planning a comeback. Details are scant but the iconic brand has been teasing a new game console called Ataribox that evokes original Atari VCS (a.k.a. the 2600). And then there’s the Speakerhat, a patented baseball-style cap with a microphone and speakers woven into the underside of its visor.

Created for Atari by Audiowear, the Bluetooth-enabled cap is described as ultra-thin and lightweight and designed to deliver “a new listening experience” when connected to a smartphone, tablet, or other device. Of course, wearers will also be able to initiate or accept phone calls.

“The Speakerhat feels natural and normal to wear for long periods of time, and achieves a balance of weight vs. sound quality and functionality,” according to Atari. “The intent is to continuously improve on design and engineering, until the technology is completely invisible.”

The speakers fire downward from the brim of the hat to provide a headset-like personal listening without disturbing others—at least at at lower volumes.

Features include a built-in lithium-ion battery, universal control button, five-band equalizer, LED indicator light, and “Social Synchronous Broadcast technology that enables multiple Speakerhat wearers to simultaneously listen to the same music.

Atari believes the hat will appeal to gamers, outdoor and fitness enthusiasts, skaters, musicians, sports fans, tech early adopters, and many others, according to a VentureBeat report.

More from that report:

“Atari has transcended its seminal gaming origins to become a true pop culture lifestyle brand, but disruption remains deeply rooted in our DNA,” said Michael Arzt, the chief operating officer of the new Atari Connect division, a subsidiary of New York-based Atari.

“With the recent reveal of our Ataribox project and now with Speakerhats, we envision a full range of connected personal devices that live at society’s intersection of entertainment, technology, and social connectivity that legendary film worlds like Blade Runner 2049 foretell. Our new products will speak to a whole new generation of Atari fans while also honoring the decades of affection and devotion by our most loyal ones.”

Atari plans to make a Blade Runner 2049 hat as well as a number of other Atari-branded lifestyle products. Under a product placement deal, Atari’s logo appears in the film, as it did in the original Blade Runner film from 1982.

Atari is seeking early adopters for its Speakerhat Beta Tester program. For more information, visit atarilife.com.

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