While every manufacturer is making speakers in any color you want, as long as it’s black, id America is breaking the mold with their colorful new portable Bluetooth speaker, the TouchTone. This is a compact speaker that won’t break the bank - it’s available now for $80. It comes in a variety of colors, with an even greater palette available soon.
NYNE is a relatively new company that made a big showing last year at CES and is back, ready to impress again this year. Although they’ve discontinued their gorgeous home product line, NYNE, a division of BOSS Audio Systems, is jumping into the small-speaker market with both feet. However, unlike other manufacturers to make a single portable speaker to fit a variety of needs, NYNE is here at CES with a variety of speakers, each filling a specific niche.
Skullcandy has an image as a badass headphone manufacturer. They showed up at CES set on keeping that reputation. The Air Raid (MSRP $150) is a portable Bluetooth speaker that plays loud, and has drop-resistance and weather-resistance to take on all the abuses you can throw at it. I chatted with Sam Noertker, one of the engineers behind the Air Raid for some inside perspective.
While most press conferences here at CES are geared towards big, life-changing electronics, there is a growing segment of conferences and products devoted to kids and families. While most companies target products to women by making them smaller and well, cuter, other companies are recognizing that moms also purchase serious technology to make their lives easier. Another oft-overlooked segment is the educational and children’s technology market.
The Pocket Kick is a “honey-I-shrunk-the-kids” version of Soundfreaq’s already popular Sound Kick. However, unlike Soundfreaq’s usual sharp, straight lines and edges, the Pocket Kick has rounded edges. Much more pocket-friendly, don’t you think? The Pocket Kick is just about the same size as an iPhone 5 but slightly thicker to accommodate the speakers. (Dimensions are 5.9” x 2.5” x 1.2”.) The Pocket Kick has a slight stereo sound with two speakers powered by a 5-watt amplifier. It’s a rugged little thing, with steel grills on the front and back. The “kick” is provided by a passive bass radiator on the back of the device.
Bluetooth speakers seem to be either miniscule and lightweight, or big and heavy. The Supertooth Disco4 ($50) is extremely light, but it has a big speaker cabinet for a big sound without the weight penalty. It weighs just over a pound with a built-in carrying handle. Even better, the Disco4 has Bluetooth 4.0 A2DP and it features tap-to-pair NFC capability. My phone paired almost instantly to the speaker using this feature.
Voxx isn’t one of those names that every consumer knows and owns. Standing in line for the press conference today, the guy behind me had to ask me what they make. While not one of the biggest names at CES, they unveiled quite a few new products that might make them one of the most interesting names at CES.
Hitting the market this late in the game, Amped Wireless better have something special with their BTSA1 Bluetooth speaker adapter. Yes, like so many other adapters, it lets you to turn any audio playback system into a Bluetooth-enabled system. But the adapter also delivers a few unexpected, and welcome, surprises.
“When Britain first, at heaven's command, arose from out the azure main, this was the charter, the charter of the land, and guardian angels sang this strain: Rule Britannia! Britannia rule the waves!”
Those lyrics, set to rousing music by James Thomson in 1740, declared that Great Britain was the emerging world superpower. Fulfilling the patriotic acclaim of the song, Britain did indeed soon rule the waves, and in fact, the sun never set on the British Empire. Similarly, Sony Corporation ruled the waves of consumer electronics....
48 years after its release in 1965, Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” finally has an official music video. Well, actually, it has an infinite number of videos. The digital media company Interlude Studios has created a totally unique interactive video for Dylan’s classic that turns channel-surfing into a mind-blowing experience.