Hasta La Gadget!

Sony has been big on smartphone integration for car audio lately, having already launched its MirrorLink receivers earlier in the year for the more well-heeled drivers among us. The company is bringing that mobile tie-in down to Earth through a new quartet of in-car CD receivers. The MEX-GS600BT, MEX-BT4100P, MEX-BT3100P and CDX-GS500R all bring in App Remote, which lets the faceplate buttons steer local music or Pandora streaming radio coming from Android, BlackBerry, iOS and Walkman devices paired through a Bluetooth wireless link. The old-fashioned USB connection is still on offer for these and the HD Radio-toting CDX-GT710HD, while the whole collection can graft on the optional SXV200V1 tuner to carry the full Sirius XM satellite radio lineup. Differences across the line aren’t completely clear from Sony’s wording, although both the MEX-GS600BT and CDX-GS500R carry two USB ports as well as 5-volt RCA preamp outputs. You’ll be waiting awhile to slip any of these receivers into a DIN slot, regardless of which one you pick: the GS500R ships in October for $199, and the rest hit the shops in November for between $149 to $249.

Continue reading Sony unveils in-car receivers with App Remote, taps into your smartphone music from October

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment

Sony unveils in-car receivers with App Remote, taps into your smartphone music from October originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 22:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Odds are that we’ve all had a speaker system which can’t take the heat: turn up the volume and there’s an unintentional dubstep remix as the waaahs and wubwubs of distortion and vibration overtake whatever we actually meant to hear. Croon Audio is only just getting into speakers, but its Original system makes clean sound the order of the day: along with the retro, anti-distortion fiberboard design, the Bluetooth audio box has isolation cones at the corners that Croon hopes will leave any shake, rattle and rolling to Big Joe Turner and Bill Haley. That’s good news for a small enclosure with two 15W drivers and a Class D amp inside. A 3.5mm jack still exists if wireless audio compression gets on the nerves as well. The speakers are already selling now in a classic black for $200, although $230 will net a slightly livelier gray or white, and $235 lands an attention-getting (if limited edition) red.

Continue reading Croon Audio’s Original Bluetooth speakers promise not to creak while they’re cranked

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Peripherals

Croon Audio’s Original Bluetooth speakers promise not to creak while they’re cranked originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jul 2012 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ferrari likes to brand just about everything. That said, the two new lines of in-ear and over-ear headphones it’s introducing with Logic3’s help seem like more natural fits for the supercar brand than for other gadgets. The speed-loving elite will inevitably swing towards the Cavallino series’ premium materials and universal microphone remote. Us plebeians have to consider the more plastic-laden Scuderia range, which still manages to pack in some Formula 1 styling along with the remote control. Prices are high at $150 to $315 for the Scuderias, or $201 to $352 for high rollers eying the Cavallinos — but it’s hard to dispute that either series is much more likely to turn up at our houses than a hybrid Enzo.

Continue reading Ferrari, Logic3 team on headphones, may be closest we get to an Enzo’s engine note

Ferrari, Logic3 team on headphones, may be closest we get to an Enzo’s engine note originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jul 2012 23:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ll admit it: we’re jaded. There is so much bad, middling and just okay stuff floating around in the portable speaker universe that we’re tired of even thinking about it. We’ve had our distinct favorite — the Tivoli iPal — for almost 10 years now, and it takes a lot to knock it off its unglamorous, but distinctive, pedestal. And we predict that it will continue to stay there. But newcomer Beacon has a hot little number in a soft-touch red dress that we’re willing to put right next to it on a slightly more diminutive pedestal. The $99, baseball-sized, Bluetooth-packing Phoenix has gotten under our collective skins, and we’d like to tell you why.

Continue reading Beacon Audio Phoenix review: our new favorite portable speaker

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Household, Wireless

Beacon Audio Phoenix review: our new favorite portable speaker originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Jul 2012 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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JBL is known for its portable speakers, but an FCC filing has revealed that it’s willing to make speakers that are almost inconspicuous. The Soundfly BT would represent your everyday Bluetooth speaker save for the very uncommon ability to optionally plug directly into a wall outlet, skipping the power cord. Shades of the previous-generation AirPort Express, anyone? There’s not much mystery in other areas, but the 20W stereo output is unusually powerful for something small enough to hang off of a hotel room’s power port. Between the manual and live photos, about the only riddles left are the Soundfly BT’s official release date and price.

JBL’s extra-tiny Soundfly BT wall outlet speaker gets spoiled by the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Jul 2012 18:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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