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Connected Objects Displays

Z4 Aurora punches above its weight for portable projectors

The typical portable LED projector offers consumers a pretty good way to display video and other content on any flat surface wherever they are. But most aren’t designed to offer a complete entertainment experience including good-quality sound.

Z4 Aurora, however, is a smart, portable LED projector that features integrated Android functionality and stereo sound from audio company Harmon/Kardon. The projector can turn any surface into a 300-inch screen. Apps and games can be wirelessly streamed onto the projector, which also supports active-shutter, stereoscopic 3D video, as well as MP4, 4K and Blu-ray video. It uses an energy-conserving bulb and has a projected lifetime of 30,000 hours, more than the average expected lifetime of several rival projectors.

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Connected Objects

Duo Bluetooth speaker splits apart to produce true stereo output

This is truly the age of the Bluetooth speaker. They come in every shape, size, color, and price point, from the extremely small and portable to the huge formidable types intended to replace your actual stereo. One of their most glaring problems, though, especially in the larger ones, is their lack of true stereo sound. With the vast majority of Bluetooth speakers comprised of just a single speaker, the ability to create that room-filling sound is compromised for convenience.

The team behind the Duo Speakers gives you the best of both worlds. The product’s looks are deceiving: although it is packaged as a single Bluetooth speaker, its magnetic connection can be loosened to free both halves. This results in two Bluetooth speakers connected to a single device such as a smartphone that provide a more mature sound. Bluetooth 4.0 allows the speakers t0 be placed up to 32 feet apart and can work for up to seven hours on a single charge, making them mighty versatile. The campaign is looking for $17,500 to get the $75 speakers delivered by March 2015.

The Duo Speakers seem to be a well-crafted device, and pretty attractive to boot. Being that it boasts 3W Hi-Fi speakers, it should pump out some quality sound as well. It’s small form factor makes it multi-functional too, as opposed to other solutions that use existing speakers to spread sound around or a single speaker to omni-directionally fill the room and, as a result, are stuck in the home.