Beats Electronics got control of a lot of digital music rights and technology when it acquired the streaming music service MOG last year. Now, Beats is launching a new service—Project Daisy—to sell you beats by every artist you can think of. More »
Electronics giants who want to compete for retail attention but can’t always justify a full presence have a common trick: open a mini store. Apple did it, Microsoft did it, and Samsung virtually based the Galaxy S III launch on it. HTC is next at bat. While it has its own stores in Asia and parts of Europe, the smartphone designer is trying out a store-within-a-store at the giant Saturn-Markt shop in Hamburg, Germany. Swing by and you can buy or test a device like the One X+ or Windows Phone 8X alongside accessories — including Beats headphones, naturally — with dedicated staff to help. HTC didn’t immediately have details of larger plans when we reached out, but there’s talk at MyDrivers of further such stores as well as seminars that would help make sense out of Sense. There’s no guarantee that HTC will benefit from carving out its own retail space in what’s often considered hostile territory; even so, the move can’t hurt when the company is fighting for relevancy.
Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio/Video, Mobile, HTC
Via: TonisTechBlog
Source: MyDrivers (translated)
I must say, legendary artist and producer Dr. Dre have certainly made good for himself in terms of his business acumen, and starting the Beats brand with Interscope Geffen A&M Chairman Jimmy Iovine has proved to be one of his masterstrokes. Well, the company continues to march onward by announcing their spanking new Beats Pill. No sir, the Beats Pill is not something you pop to drown out the tunes of commercially appealing pop from manufactured boy bands, but rather, it comes across as a portable wireless speaker that boasts of built-in patented Beats Audio. Needless to say, expectations tend to run a little bit higher than normal when there is the Dr. Dre name associated with a particular device, no?
Beats By Dr. Dre President & COO, Luke Wood, said, “The introduction of the Beats Pill and the Executive is the perfect beginning to a truly autonomous Beats as we transform into a freestanding consumer electronics company this year. These products demonstrate our total commitment to design, technological innovation and premium sound experience.”
The Beats Pill Wireless Speaker ensures that the company’s mantra of “sound is king” remains on a pedestal at all times. Audio engineers have made sure that the Beats Pill will live up to such a mandate, starting from careful placement of the drivers to the materials of the grill, where it was specially designed to optimize sound quality and maximize volume. Not only that, the Beats Pill is the first product of its kind to be fully integrated with the company’s patented Beats Audio algorithm, while boasting exclusive speaker modules that are able to provide the highest quality portable listening experience.
Another first registered by the Beats Pill would be the fact that it is the first wireless speaker to come with tap-to-pair NFC and apt-X technology for easy and instant Bluetooth audio, now how about that for technological advancements? With a rechargeable lithium ion battery that offers up to 7 hours of non-stop playback on a full charge, the $199 Beats Pill does seem to sound (pardon the pun) to be the ideal companion for the mobile music lover.
Press Release
[ Take a Chill (Beats) Pill copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
First, Jabra brought us the Solemate, a Bluetooth speaker that looks like a shoe. Now, Beats by Dre, purveyor of fashionista friendly headphones, has introduced us to the Pill. It looks—you guessed it—like a giant gelcap. And its Bluetooth sound sure could use a spoonful of sugar. More »
The Jawbone Jambox was a pretty good bluetooth speaker, if not entirely perfect. But it had the benefit of being one of the first portable bluetooth speakers to combine design, affordability and ease of use along with quality. But in the Bluetooth market there’s always room for improvement and though we’ve seen a couple of legit challengers already, the Beats Pill Bluetooth speaker could have a shot at dethroning the Jambox. More »
Remember HTC’s early 2012 Android flagship? Well, it’s back and plus-sized for the tech-savvy masses. Officially announced today, the One X+ is a minor refresh of the original that debuted at MWC this past spring, albeit with a faster 1.7GHz Tegra 3 CPU, larger 2,100mAh battery, expanded 64GB of storage and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with Sense 4+ onboard. As part of that upgraded custom skin, the 4.7-inch device can now tap to pair, or “Tap and Go” as the company calls it, with Beats-branded speakers, allowing users to easily connect and disconnect from their audio peripherals. Apart from that, the 8-megapixel rear module with f/2.0 lens and ImageChip-assist has stayed the same, but the camera software’s been slightly tweaked with the addition of two new modes: Self Portrait for subtle retouching of front facing shots and Sightseeing which allows for quick launch of the camera app. Also debuting alongside this hardware update is HTC Get Started, a web-based service that lets users manage initial setup from the desktop for one-click installation on the phone itself. The One X+ is slated to launch globally this fall, hitting Europe and Northern Asia this October, with a November rollout in South Asia to follow. As for a US release, well, you’ll just have to sit tight and see what news the day brings. Official PR after the break.
Gallery: HTC One X+
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, HTC
HTC One X+ official: 1.7GHz quad-core Tegra 3, 64GB, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with Sense 4+ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Oct 2012 04:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The Beats by Dr. Dre badge has usually been attached to headphones and the occasional laptop or smartphone. We’ve never really seen it attached to dedicated speakers, however, and that’s where both an FCC filing and a sighting at UK retailer HMV’s online store raise a few eyebrows. The House that Dre Built appears on the edge of launching the Beats Pill, a Bluetooth wireless speaker with four drivers and a shape that more than explains the medicinal name. While we don’t know just how much of that signature Beats thump we’ll get, we do know from the FCC that the Pill can serve as a speakerphone, carries an aux-in jack and will last for a typical 8.5 hours on its USB-rechargeable lithium-ion battery. There’s also signs of a red version of Beats’ Mixr headphones coming at the same time. HMV has publicly scoured its pages of any trace of a ship date or price for the Pill, but cached copies point to a £170 ($276) price and a release around September 28th — not necessarily trustworthy figures, but they may be in the ballpark. Our only question is whether or not we’ll get a dose of the Pill in the US.
[Thanks, Germaine]
Gallery: Beats Pill speaker (unofficial)
Filed under: Peripherals, Portable Audio/Video
Beats Pill Bluetooth speaker spotted at FCC and HMV: take one and call Dr. Dre in the morning originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Sep 2012 09:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Since launching its first product in 2008, Beats has gone from an obscure niche headphone brand to a multi-million dollar business with plenty of star power (Dr. Dre, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, etc.) catapulting the brand into the mainstream spawning several celebrity and musician endorsed rival brands. Now it’s going after an older crowd with the Executive over-the-ear headphones, which I’ve been testing for the last few days.
Originally partnered with Monster, the company has since detached itself from the audio manufacturer, had the majority of the company acquired (51 percent) by HTC, acquired music service MOG, and then regained 25 percent of HTC’s shares back this past July. It’s also had its brand name attached to HP laptops and HTC smartphones.
While the company has tapped into the youth of this country, it hasn’t quite gained traction with the folks whose annual incomes are, well, significantly higher than a 17-year-old’s. It’s unclear why Beats is going in this particular direction given that the “b” brand can be seen just about everywhere you look.
Maybe it has something to do with Monster now marketing its own line of headphones geared towards an older demo. Or the fact that the Beats brand commands over 60 percent of the over $100 headphone market in the U.S. I guess a $1 billion industry is worth protecting.
“If you look at the category right now, almost all the competing products are made of plastic. We’re bringing craftsmanship and premium materials, such as aluminum alloy, stainless steel, and hand-stitched leather,” Luke Wood, president and COO of Beats, told me. “Beats has fans of every age, but we wanted to build the Executive for the business traveller who doesn’t necessarily feel comfortable wearing bright green headphones on the plane.”
Other than looks and what I assume are subtle changes to the audio components under the hood, the Executives appear to be built on the same platform as the original Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, including the use of regular AAA batteries to power the active noise-cancelling functionality. And just like the originals, the Executives won’t work when those batteries die. Pretty annoying in my opinion for a $300 pair of headphones but maybe I’ve grown accustomed to all my doodads having rechargeable batteries.
The Executives are said to last upwards of 25 hours per set of batteries. So far I’ve logged several thousand miles (SFO>JFK>ICN) and roughly 15 hours with the included batteries. The noise-cancellation function can be muted by depressing the “b” icon on the right earcup. Batteries are deposited into the left earcup by popping off the cover, which is tethered by a string and kept in place with magnets. A nice touch overall and they definitely feel premium.
When asked why the core feature still relies on standard batteries, Wood had this to say: “Our research of this particular use case shows the consumer preference is split in regards to rechargeable and disposable batteries. Keeping the demographic in mind for this product, there is anxiety around forgetting to charge your batteries and getting on the plane for a business trip to find they’re dead and there’s no time or place to charge. Many people would rather just bring a spare set of batteries than risk being stranded on a flight with no sound. With that said, as our products continue to evolve we will consider the technology that makes the most sense as well as sustainability issues.”
Regardless of whether I think that a $300 pair of headphones should function sans batteries, the Executives are really comfortable (it’s worth noting that I wear glasses and find it annoying to wear over-the-ears) and offer a less bass-y sound than previous models. Even with the noise cancellation or because of it, you really have to crank up the volume to hear your tunes. The low end seems a bit muddled and when cranked up all the way up it just sounds a bit fuzzy. Albeit ever so slightly.
They’ll be available in mid-October and come with a carrying case, cleaning cloth, two adapters and two sets of audio cables, including one for use with your phone.
Since the dissolution of its partnership with Monster on July 1, Wood says the Executives are “an example of what’s to come” from the now free-standing company.
The technology driving wireless headphones has not yet reached its full potential. But over the past few years, Bluetooth has advanced to a point that less than $500 can buy a pair of headphones with decent audio and respectable battery life. We rounded up four pairs and let ’em duke it out to see if any pair has the stamina and sound you could truly call excellent. More »
HTC’s plans for Windows Phone 8 may be filling out fast. We saw XDA-Developer member Football4PDA post a schematic of the Accord less than a week ago, and today he’s posting what could be more concrete information. Supposedly, HTC’s inaugural device might be named the 8X — not quite as charming, but definitely simple. More importantly, the software in the claimed leak suggests the company will bring a trace of Sense UI style to the home screen, rather than having to relegate it to the HTC Hub: a live tile would bring the oversized clock and weather that One owners know so well. Just don’t anticipate a flagship device here. If the specifications are real, the 8X would bear more in common with the Droid Incredible 4G LTE, sharing its 1.2GHz dual-core chip, 8-megapixel rear camera, Beats Audio and NFC while picking up a slightly larger 4.3-inch screen and 16GB of storage. Our main question centers around the unveiling. While HTC has an event lined up for later this month, there’s no guarantee that the 8X will show up at that gathering or even launch side-by-side with Windows Phone 8 itself.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
HTC Accord may become the mid-range 8X, make a little more Sense originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Sep 2012 08:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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