Hasta La Gadget!

Linn might not be the first name you associate with iPhone and iPad streaming, but the Scottish company is hoping that change all that with its “budget” Kiko media streamer. “Budget” for Linn means £2,500, mind (the company’s hand-made kit usually comes in at around $70k) though you do get a fair amount for your money: while the Kiko system will play nicely with Apple’s AirPlay, Linn has also custom built its own streaming hardware complete with audio upsampling whether you’re listening to music on a phone or tablet, through Spotify or Netflix, or from your games console or Blu-ray player.

In fact, Kiko gets the same proprietary algorithms as the company’s far more expensive network media players – Linn famously opted-out of CDs, persisting with turntables until it jumped directly to streaming systems, and then set up its own high-bitrate record label, Linn Records, to sell digital music of the quality it believed was required –  which are applied to its range of inputs. You get three HDMI and one S/PDIF, RCA phono, and a TOSLINK digital optical, together with ethernet for streaming from an internet service or your networked PC/Mac/NAS.  There’s also a 3.5mm aux-in and a headphone socket on the front panel.

The output is to the matching Kiko speakers, which pairs each driver with a 33W RMS amp and use a digital crossover. There’s also an HDMI output for your TV or projector. Various free apps, such as Kinsky for iPhone and iPad [iTunes link] are offered for remote control, media selection, and more.

Of course, Linn’s main rival isn’t B&W or Bose, whose AirPlay-compatible systems start to look cheap in comparison to the Kiko, but brands like Bang & Olufsen. The Danish company’s BeoPlay A9, for instance, is far more outlandish in its appearance than the Linn system, but costs roughly the same (though doesn’t have the same flexibility in streaming or connectivity).

Does that make the Linn Kiko a bargain? At £2,500 in the UK and around $3,390 in the US, it doesn’t come cheap, though you’re getting the culmination of several years of R&D not to mention in-house production of the curved aluminum casings (available in six colors).

Linn Kiko takes AirPlay up a level is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Bang & Olufsen, venerable purveyor of luxury AV products from Denmark, just fired this handsome 27-inch diameter speaker disk into the world. It kind of looks like it could be used to communicate with similar dishes across down. It can’t, but it can play music from your DLNA device wirelessly. More »

Libratone has just made an announcement for the first no-compromise and hassle-free wireless speaker in the market, calling it the Libratone Zipp. You know that you have got yourself quite the winner here with the Libratone Zipp, where it comes in an attractive and compact form factor that is also proud to be the first and only device which is capable of delivering the performance and convenience of AirPlay without having to have a Wi-Fi network in the vicinity. Not only that, you are able to kiss goodbye to all kinds of complicated setup courtesy of Libratone’s all-new PlayDirect technology.

The battery-powered Libratone Zipp will enable you to take wireless high-end audio to the outside world, although I am not quite sure whether sharing your devoted musical taste in Justin Bieber is something that the general public would appreciate. It is said that a full charge on this puppy is capable of delivering up to eight hours of continuous playtime when wired, and half that amount when you rely on a wireless connection.

Not only that, when you want to be fashionable, the Libratone Zipp will not disappoint you at all, since it also comes with changeable wool covers in eight vivid colors that is able to suit all tastes and occasions. Similar to the rest of the Libratone product family, the Libratone Zipp will play nice without a hitch or hassle with the iPad, iPhone, iPod touch and Mac, and of course, who can forget the venerable PC.

If you are interested in the Libratone Zipp, you will be able to pick it up in Salty Grey or Raspberry Red October 2012 onwards at $399 a pop. Alternatively, you can opt for the Libratone Zipp to come in a 3-pack-color box with two extra wool zip-on covers thrown into the mix, and these will set you back by $449 per box.

Press Release
[ Libratone Zipp AirPlay speaker is a true blue portable device copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Wool-clad speaker company Libratone has outed its latest model, the Zipp, a wireless AirPlay-enabled model with battery life good for four hours of standalone streaming. Borrowing the fabric covered style of its felty predecessors, the Zipp supports direct AirPlay connections using Libratone’s own PlayDirect WiFi technology, allowing the $399 speaker to hook straight up to your iPhone or iPad rather than requiring a wireless network in-between.

Alternatively, there’s a wired audio input option, with the Zipp’s battery good for eight hours of play. It will also work with your PC or Mac, and there’s a Libratone app for iOS devices which allows equalizer settings to be tweaked.

As for the sound itself, Libratone’s FullRoom “360-degree sound” system is implemented again, with a digital amp powering dual ribbon tweeters and a system which basically fires out audio from all directions; there’s no front or back as such. It works reasonably well in our experience with Libratone’s Beat.

Like the Beat, though, none of this comes cheap. The Zipp is offered at $399 with a single wool sleeve, and will be sold in red and grey at Apple Stores from October. At the same time, Libratone will also be offering $449 bundles of a single Zipp and three extra covers, with either the black/blue/red or black/pink/yellow sleeves packaged together.

Libratone Zipp takes AirPlay mobile is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you’ve been following the surge of AirPlay speakers that started hitting the market in 2011, you’ve likely feasted your eyes on the spendy wool-clad systems by Libratone. While its larger Live and Lounge units have primarily been purposed for households, its new Zipp speaker is the being touted as the “first and only” portable AirPlay speaker. Make no mistake, unlike B&O Play’s portable AirPlay-equipped Beolit 12 ($800), the Zipp’s loaded with Libratone’s proprietary PlayDirect protocol, meaning it doesn’t require a separate wireless network / router for iDevices to connect to it over the air. The Zipp moniker is a play on the swappable wool grill which cozies around its vertically-standing tubular enclosures. Weighing four pounds and measuring in at 10.2 inches high by 4.8 inches in diameter, this “portable” unit is a good bit larger than the Blutooth-equipped Jawbone Big Jambox placed sideways, but it’ll certainly fit in a backpack — hey, it does have a leather carrying strap. Thankfully, that weight is partially due to its internal rechargeable battery, which should last up to eight hours.

As far as the speakers go, you’ll find a duo of 1-inch ribbon tweeters facing the sides for the left and right channels, along with a 4-inch up-firing woofer. The rig also features Libratone’s signature FullRoom design, which forces a 360-degree dispersion of the sound by way of deflectors in front of the tweeters. Beyond that, it’ll naturally work with Libratone’s existing iPhone app, allowing you to change the DSP on the fly for optimal output regardless of its placement in a room. The Zipp will hit Apple Stores later this October wrapped with a single red or grey zippered grill for $399, while other retailers will carry the $449 Classic Color and Funky Color editions, which each come with a trio of those wool grills (black, blue and red for the Classic, and black, pink and yellow for the Funky). Past that, a single grill by itself will cost you a relatively expensive $49 directly from Libratone. In the meantime, join us past the break for more details about the unit itself and PlayDirect, our initial impressions and a hands-on video overview.

Continue reading Libratone intros Zipp portable AirPlay speaker with DirectPlay, expectedly wrapped in wool (update)

Filed under: Portable Audio/Video

Libratone intros Zipp portable AirPlay speaker with DirectPlay, expectedly wrapped in wool (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Sep 2012 18:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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