Tag: multi-room

Categories
Music Networking

TurnUp lets you turn up your with the flip of a switch

Wireless, multi-room speakers are becoming increasingly popular. But they don’t come cheap –- especially if customers want to install them on the wall instead of on a table or shelf.

patent-claimedTurnUp is a multi-room, wireless speaker that fits in a light switch or wall power outlet and can be used to control not only music, but a room’s lights. The speaker uses Bluetooth 4.0 and is easy to install. It can be controlled by voice from any computer, as well as from any smartphone or tablet.

Up to eight speakers can be connected. The device also answers phone calls. It works in conjunction with an Android and iOS app. TurnUp ships in December at future pricing of $129.99. But Kickstarter backers can get one for a pledge that starts at $89 for early birds. Its makers hope to raise $77,000 by June 10.

 

 

Categories
Music Networking

Back to the Backers: mBox multi-room music system

After failing to reach its Kickstarter goal of raising $40,000 AUD last year, the Australia-based maker of the mBox multi-room music system is now giving Indiegogo a try with a new campaign for the product. But he’s opted for an even more ambitious goal of raising $50,000 by Aug. 27 this time.

MBox can send music wirelessly throughout a home to any Bluetooth, Airplay or Universal Plug and Play/Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA)-compatible speaker. The chief selling point remains that users aren’t locked into a proprietary technology and can create a multi-room audio system with speakers they already own. Included with each mBox system are two devices: an mBox hub that can be used to connect any wireless speakers and an mBox mini that will connect any wired speakers to the wireless mBox network.

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Categories
Music Technology

Stream delivers open source multi-room music streaming

Multi-room, Wi-Fi music systems have become increasingly popular as emerging technology standards in the category, including AllPlay, continue to try and gain a foothold. But Sonos and other options on the market, such as the Core multi-room speaker system, are too costly for many consumers, often coming in at $300 or higher.

Stream is being touted by its maker as a highly affordable option, coming in at $199. Like similar products, Stream enables users to listen to music from Spotify, Amazon, YouTube, iTunes and their own personal music collections in all rooms of their homes. It’s an open system that can be connected via a free app for Android and iOS devices. Alternatively, iOS users can run Stream via AirPlay. Stream will ship in May. Its maker is looking to raise $50,000 by March 24 to give the manufacturing supplier a first order and pay for research and tooling costs, according to Stream’s Indiegogo campaign.

Stream holds promise largely because of its price tag, which separates it from much of the rival pack. But it’s not clear if that will be enough of a selling advantage. For now, the actual quality of Stream’s sound isn’t known, and that’s the most important feature of any music system.

Categories
Music Technology

MÜZO Cobblestone is round and flat, plays music ’round your flat

MP3’s have long been the standard for all of our music playing devices but don’t do a fantastic job at replicating the depth and breadth of the sound originally recorded. There’s a renaissance in musical appreciation, and devices like the PONO music player are capitalizing on it by offering audiophiles lossless playback. The MÜZO Cobblestone is continuing the trend with an audio system with the capability of doing the same with any sound set-up imaginable.

The MÜZO Cobblestone acts as a hub that streams FLAC and other lossless audio formats over Wi-Fi to any and all types of wireless and wired speakers and speaker systems. Its proprietary Multi-Room Melodization supports muli-room setups to achieve true stereo sound all while adjusting EQ based on the type of music being played. The Cobblestone also sports Spotify, Pandora, and Airplay integration, just to name a few. Linkplay Technology, Inc. is looking for $100,000 to get the $59 device out to backers by January 2015.

The MÜZO Cobblestone is a promising addition to the Hi-Fi music scene. It’s ability to connect to any speaker is its biggest draw and really pushes this device forward, along with its gorgeous aesthetic. It’s in good company, too: check out the Core and the mBox to see similar executions of this idea, just without the Hi-Fi angle.

Categories
Connected Objects Music

mBox turns Bluetooth speakers into a Sonos competitor

With their ease of use and portability, Bluetooth speakers are all the rage these days. If you try to take the same utility into the home, you quickly find that isn’t the case. Before, wires all over your home tied your speakers down. Now, there are wireless multi-room systems that lock you into proprietary technology so that companies can squeeze as much money as they can out of you. The mBox is looking to liberate music lovers from this predicament by offering a Bluetooth music hub capable of receiving audio and sending it out to up to six separate Bluetooth speakers of any kind.

If you happen to have enough Bluetooth speakers in your house, the mBox mini turns any speakers into one, making sure you’re never without. The versatility this product provides by opening up the multi-room setup is unmatched. This is a killer provided it can produce audio worthy of listening to and for $195, it better. The project’s creator is looking for $40,000AUD by the end of his 30 day campaign.