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The Jabra Solemate is a new palm-sized Bluetooth speaker that supports Bluetooth version 3.0 profile, allowing you to stream music from iOS or Android devices. Priced at around $199, the Solemate provides strong, deep bass from an integrated sub-woofer and rich acoustics from dual tweeters. This wireless speaker also adopts the Digital Signal Processing (DSP) technology that digitally optimizes your voice and music and suppresses echoes. It comes supplied with a protect case for transport that has been created to protect the Solemate speaker from dirt and liquid spills. [Press Release]

Hey, it’s a shoe-themed Bluetooth speaker — because, hey, why not, right? Jabra announced the punnily named Solemate yesterday, and we happened to run into one on the floor of this year’s IFA. It’s a small, solid little speaker with a hearty rubber sole that sits on the bottom, protecting the device from shocks and the like. The heel actually peels off, so you can replace it with different colors. Jabra had a slew of brightly colored options aside from the basic black and white, though apparently those won’t be widely available at launch.

The pairing process is quite easy — just flip the Bluetooth button on the side of the device and a glowing blue light will turn on — not only that, but a friendly device will walk you through the process. Find the speaker on your device’s drop down menu and you’re good to go. As for the sound, it’s surprisingly loud (120dB, to be exact). We walked off the show floor for a second to demo it, but it turned out we didn’t need to. Oh, and when you’re using a non-Bluetooth device, there’s a wired connection that lives on the bottom of the sole that you can pull out.

All in all, it’s a really solid and nicely built speaker — and for its $200 asking price, we’d certainly hope so. The speaker has big volume buttons on the top and a carrying loop on its side. It also comes with a small black bag, which it can actually play through without dampening the sound too much. It’ll hit the US on September 2nd, but you can pre-order it now, if you’re eager.

Continue reading Jabra Solemate Bluetooth speaker hands-on, soles off

Filed under: Portable Audio/Video

Jabra Solemate Bluetooth speaker hands-on, soles off originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 12:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you looked at the photo above thinking Dr. Martens got into the portable speaker game, you’re not so far off. Jabra’s taken its Bluetooth headset know-how and blended it with a footwear-inspired design to create its first portable speaker, the $200 Solemate. At first glance the shoe theme does seem a bit silly, but don’t let that fool you as this Bluetooth 3.0 speaker packs some notable specs — especially pitted against the Jawbone Jambox. Available inblack or white, the features rubberized casing that’s shock- and water-resistant, and can be supplemented with an included waterproof soundbag (similar to the Braven 625). Taking it a step further, the unit actually has a “heel tab” for carrying purposes and a replaceable sole, which also serves as a storage point for a handy 3.5mm cable.

Moving onto to its less quirky features, at the front you’ll find a duo of acoustic tweeters separated by a subwoofer with a passive bass radiator on the back — all together they pump out up to a whopping 120dB of volume. On top are two volume buttons, along with a multifunction button for commanding calls and enabling its Voice Guidance feature. Lastly, the right side houses two indicator lights (battery and Bluetooth), a power and pairing switch, a 3.5mm jack and a micro-USB input for charging and direct digital audio connection. According to Jabra the unit is “about the the size and weight of a water bottle,” and you can expect to get around eight to ten hours of use per charge. We’ll be giving you our in-depth impressions of the speaker before long, however, the Solemate will be up for pre-order today at the likes of Best Buy and Amazon, and set to release on September 2nd if you’re already interested. Check out the press release after the break for more details in the meantime.

Continue reading Jabra’s $200 Solemate portable Bluetooth speaker wants to kick the Jambox aside

Filed under: Misc, Portable Audio/Video

Jabra’s $200 Solemate portable Bluetooth speaker wants to kick the Jambox aside originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s time to take a look at Jabra‘s newest effort with the Supreme UC, a bluetooth headset that’s made not just for your home computer, not just your smartphone and tablet, but both! This device is priced at a premium $149.99 and is crafted to make you love that you’ve just exchanged such a sum for great sound. It’s got a completely collapsable chassis, comes with a carrying case as well as an extra earpiece, and works with a universally acceptable micro USB for power.

You’ve got a single button on the boom for basic voice controls, a giant multifunction button on the facade of the unit, and two volume buttons at the back surrounding the covered micro USB port. The device is an extremely high quality piece of hardware by all outward appearances, and it is rather comfortable to wear. Be sure to check out our hands-on with the Supreme UC from earlier this year – the main man himself gives an introduction!

This device is not designed for an extremely active person. Try to do a couple of flips or go for a jog and you’ll find yourself wishing you had a bit more of a firm grip around your lobe. If you’re the type of person to sit at your desk all day long or to walk without bobbing your head uncontrollably, you’ll have a perfectly well-suited device on your head. The design of this device also allows for left or right-eared users, with a hook attachment able to work with the earpiece on either side.

Folding the boom in turns the device off, folding it back out turns it back on, and pairing with any number of devices is quite simple. The device is automatically in pairing mode the first time you turn it on, and from that point forward you’ve only to tap the multifunction button and say, “pair new device” and you’ll be ready to go.

The sound quality is certainly decent on its own with any device, but really shines when you’re using your Jabra Connect Android app where you’ll have the choice of several voice cancellation and sound profiles. Sound on the other end of the phone is superb, even in the middle of a coffee shop packed to the brim with hipsters. The person you’re calling will think you’re in an empty room when you’re chatting with them with the Jabra Supreme UC.

Wrap-Up

It’s difficult to consider spending $150 on a headset when you could just pull your phone out of your pocket instead in most situations, but here’s the killer feature: the USB dongle that comes with the device will allow you to completely skip buying a second unit. The Jabra Supreme UC replaces your in-office headset as well as your mobile headset in one swoop. With excellent sound quality for you (the best if you’re on Android) as well as great sound quality and noise cancellation for the person you’re speaking with, the Jabra Supreme UC might just be the buy for you.

Grab this device at any number of local retailers near you and online. This device is going to be available worldwide immediately if not soon, to get to it!

Jabra Supreme UC bluetooth headset Review is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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