Giinii AudioBulb hands, eyes and ears-on

GiiNii AudioBulb

Alright, so check this out — that thing above is both a 5W LED light bulb and a 10W wireless speaker. Around the edge is a ring of glowing diodes with a four-stage dimmer, while the center is a 2.25-inch driver that speaks to a dock via 2.4GHz wireless. The AudioBulb from GiiNii is a fairly unique way to kick out the jams anywhere in your abode and they disappear into practically any lamp. A basic setup of two bulbs, a dock and a remote will set you back a surprisingly steep $299, but you can add on up to six more bulbs for $99 a pop. Speaking of rooms and bulbs, you can configure the speakers to work in stereo pairs or in mono, and set up two zones with different volume levels.

The dock is a chintzy feeling piece of plastic with an integrated iPhone/iPod connector and around back you’ll find an auxiliary jack for the non-Apple fans. The dock can connect to the speakers from up to 100 feet away, depending on the environment, and comes pre-paired with the bulbs in the box. Adding additional speakers requires just the push of a button on the base and bulb simultaneously to get the party started. It was tough to hear the tunes over the din in the hall at Pepcom’s event, but we’re confident it can’t quite compare with the Play 3. They did, however, give off enough light to keep their little corner of the convention well lit. Check out the gallery below as well as the PR after the break.

Continue reading Giinii AudioBulb hands, eyes and ears-on

Giinii AudioBulb hands, eyes and ears-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Sep 2011 21:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AirPlay-enabled Music Tap systems touted by Pioneer, free us from living room control

Had your eye on an AirPlay accessory for your iPhone or iPod touch? Well, Pioneer is looking to help you pull the trigger on one. The company has announced a new set of AirPlay Music Tap systems that enable access to your music library without being chained to a peripheral. By connecting one of these bad boys to your home WiFi or ethernet network, you’ll be able to access your entire iTunes library in various locations throughout your home — ‘course, having Apple’s free Remote app will ensure maximum utility. Other features include a 2.5-inch full-color LCD display, Pandora, iHeartRadio, vTuner internet radio and Air Jam, which allows for playlist sharing on your arsenal of the company’s Music Tap systems. When this pair drops in October, you’ll have your choice of the X-SMC-3-S for $400 or the more dapper, bluetooth-enabled X-SMC4-Elite for $480. You can take a peek at the Elite, along with the full PR, after the break.

Continue reading AirPlay-enabled Music Tap systems touted by Pioneer, free us from living room control

AirPlay-enabled Music Tap systems touted by Pioneer, free us from living room control originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Sep 2011 02:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yamaha YAS-101 walks into a soundbar, orders a stiff glass of 7.1

What can you get for $300 these days? A bunch of stuff, probably, including the latest soundbar from Yamaha. The YAS-101 Front Surround System offers up 7.1 sound, a built-on 60-watt subwoofer and support for Dolby Digital and DTS. The UniVolume feature, meanwhile, helps maintain a constant level through loud volume increases during commercials. IR codes can also be sent through the speaker bar, so you don’t have to worry about it blocking the set. Check out some press info after the break.

Continue reading Yamaha YAS-101 walks into a soundbar, orders a stiff glass of 7.1

Yamaha YAS-101 walks into a soundbar, orders a stiff glass of 7.1 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Sep 2011 18:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Angry Birds speakers are too adorable to slingshot

Okay, we admit it, we want one of these Angry Birds speaker docks from Gear4 seen on the floor of IFA here in Berlin. They’re available in both iPod dock varieties (pigs) and as plug-and-play speakers (angry, angry birds). Both will begin shipping in the next few weeks in Europe and the US. The non-dock version should sell for around €69. They’ll likely hit the spot for those casual gamers who aren’t getting enough of the irate fowl between their web browser, set-top box, e-reader, university and local Philharmonic.

Angry Birds speakers are too adorable to slingshot originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Sep 2011 22:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Philips Fidelio DS3801W, another ring-shaped AirPlay speaker, does the FCC tango

Philips Fidelio Speaker

Those of you who kinda dug JBL’s On Air, but wished it was just a tad more wheel-like, will probably love this AirPlay-enabled speaker from Philips that just passed through the FCC. Burdened with the name DS3801W, this ring-shaped Fidelio unit not only packs WiFi, but a USB port for charging and playing back music from your iDevices, as well as an “MP3-Link” jack (which appears to be just a 3.5mm audio plug) for all your non-Apple players. We got a brief hands-on with its battery-packing sibling, the DS3881w, at IFA and we expect this unit to ship for a little less than that model’s $330 price point. Check out the source link for a bunch more images, as well as the user manual and all the RF exposure reports you can handle.

Philips Fidelio DS3801W, another ring-shaped AirPlay speaker, does the FCC tango originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Sep 2011 09:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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XtremeMac showcases the Soma Stand, Soma Travel and more at IFA (video)

There were lots of cool Apple-centric products to been seen around XtremeMac’s extremely orange booth at IFA this week, proving that there’s still interesting things to be done in the world of iPhone / iPad / iPod docks.

At the top of the list is the Soma Stand, a pyramid-shaped dock that folds up for portability. The accessory is mostly speaker, which faces outward, so sound isn’t blocked when you’ve got an iPad on the thing. The Soma Stand should be hitting shelves around October, running around €100 here in Europe.

The Soma Travel, meanwhile, works without the need batteries or wires, running directly off the power from your docked Apple device. XtremeMac claims that a docked iPhone 4 playing through the speakers will get about 34 hours of audio playback on a charge. As expected, the thing doesn’t get too loud, but it should do the trick for solo listening. The peripheral will run around €50 on its release.

The Tango Bar is a style-conscious sound bar with a silver grill that fits in quite nicely with the current generation iMac. The speaker pulls both audio and power from a single USB cable and outputs audio at ten watts. Like the Soma Stand, the Tango Bar will run around €100. Check out video of the Soma Stand after the break.

Continue reading XtremeMac showcases the Soma Stand, Soma Travel and more at IFA (video)

XtremeMac showcases the Soma Stand, Soma Travel and more at IFA (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 03 Sep 2011 18:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Harman Kardon SB16 Sound Bar Lightning Review: How Much Is Good Sound Worth?

At $600, Harman Kardon’s SB16 sound bar is intended for someone who isn’t quite impressed with a $200 soundbar, but doesn’t want to drop $1000 on one that will inspire envy. More »

Jarre AeroSystem One’s music makes the audiophiles come together

We’ve all got that one friend who just cannot believe you’d listen to 128kbps MP3s. Well, forget the rent, slap a handful of Benjamins down, slot this AeroSystem One next to your IKEA furniture, and then continue to play those low bit rate tracks — it should drive’em nuts. Designed with a decidedly anti-regressive approach to sound quality, Jarre’s lamp-like audiophile rig is the Lady Liberty of digital music, accepting not only all generations of Apple’s iPods and iPhones, but also tunes recorded in any digital format. The stainless steel and toughened glass-made sound system, measuring about three and a half feet tall and weighing about 32lbs, pumps up those iTunes jams with the aid of two 30W satellite speakers and one 60W subwoofer. Oh, and that cost? Yeah, the sound of this music’s gonna run you 799 Euros (or $1,135), but hey — a month or three of ramen never hurt anybody. Right?

[Thanks, Nick]

Jarre AeroSystem One’s music makes the audiophiles come together originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony SA-NS500 HomeShare speaker knows how to work a room

Finally, a HomeShare speaker with built-in AirPlay for wireless streaming from your iThing or Apple TV. It’ll cost you though: when the NS500 arrives in stores around late October or early November you can expect to see a booming $399 price tag strapped around its logarithmic neck. Sony assures us you’ll get some heavyweight audio for that money, thanks to four drivers and a sub-woofer positioned in a “unilateral manner” to pump David Guetta into every nook and cranny. We’ll hold out for some proper review time to tell you just how good he sounds.

Sony SA-NS500 HomeShare speaker knows how to work a room originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 10:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Philips Fidelio for Android speaker docks get your little green robot bumpin’

Philips’ line of smartphone-connected sound systems has been all up on iOS for quite sometime, but now Fidelio’s ready to show Android some love. The outfit just outed three new Android-ready speaker docks — the AS851, AS351 and AS111 — and is set to debut the flossy Fidelios at IFA this week. These new docks are so anxious to get close to your Android handset, that they’re rocking a micro-USB connector that adjusts in three dimensions to allow just about any phone to stand tall in portrait or kick back in landscape. Either way, the phone syncs the jams via Bluetooth and a dedicated app. The biggie of the bunch, the AS851, promises “lifelike, distortion-less music” and 30 watts of RMS power, while the smaller AS351 lets you take the show on the road with both AC and battery options and bumps 10 watts of RMS. The smallest of the three, the AS111, is dubbed as a bedside companion. There’s no word on pricing or when the docks will have your Android getting up with the get down, but we do have full PR for you after the break.

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Philips Fidelio for Android speaker docks get your little green robot bumpin’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 00:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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