BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS – Zagg, who you surely know better for its excellent iPad keyboards, also makes a speaker. Or two speakers, to be precise. This is the Zagg Origin, and it consists of a pocket-sized Bluetooth speaker which docks into a desktop mothership.
Now that you’ve upgraded to the latest iOS devices, you’re probably wondering what to do with all your old 30-pin speaker docks. You could get a $30 Lightning to 30-pin adapter from Apple and continue to use them, but for just $15 extra, you can get the auris and turn them into wireless Bluetooth speakers.
Another day, another awesome-looking Bluetooth speaker WHICH I TOTALLY WANT. Today’s chunky rectangle of wireless audio goodness is the Switch from Native Union, and it has one distinguishing feature: a big round volume knob on one end.
I’ve been in love with the iPhone for the past five years. I got the original as soon as it went on sale in the U.K. in November 2007, and I’ve had every model Apple has released ever since. My job has given me the opportunity to play with plenty of other devices over the years — including those powered by Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone — but I’ve always remained loyal to the iPhone and iOS.
That was until a couple months ago, when my contract ended and it was time to decide which smartphone I wanted for the next two years. I already have the iPhone 5 — I bought it unlocked when it was launched back in September — and I wanted an Android device to replace the Samsung Galaxy Nexus I broke late last year. So I decided to pick up the new LG Nexus 4.
I was lucky; I didn’t have to wait six weeks for the device to arrive from Google Play. My carrier had plenty in stock, so a unit was delivered to my door the day after I ordered it. I was looking forward to testing it out, but I figured I’d play around with it for a little bit, then switch straight back to my iPhone 5 for everyday use. Like the Galaxy Nexus, I thought the Nexus 4 would be mostly used for work — testing apps and writing the odd tutorial for Cult of Android.
But boy, how wrong was I.
Bem’s new Outlet has a new take on portable Bluetooth speakers. Instead of packing a rechargeable battery, it just comes with a pair of prongs on the back so you can stick it straight into a power outlet. This does of course mean that you’re out of luck if you want to run it anywhere that doesn’t have mains electricity, but if you never use your $200 Jambox away from your kitchen counter, then you could have bought two Outlets for the same price.
Find the perfect volume level on your Mac can be tricky sometimes when you’re listening to music or watching a movie. Sometimes it’s like you move your volume one tick up things get too loud, one tick down and it’s too soft.
Until today I never knew that you can actually adjust your Mac’s volume in 1/4 increments by pressing Shift + Option (Alt) + the volume key on your keyboard. It’ll raise your volume at smaller increments so you can find the perfect level. Try it out. You’ll probably never just use the old buttons again.
Source: Little Big Details
Via: BI
Forget about lame-o portable Bluetooth speakers for your iDevices and take a look at this monster instead. It’s the PylePro soundbar, and it’ll sit up on your wall and blast 300 (three hundred) watts of sound into your living room.
It won’t — unlike a boat — float, but Braven’s new BRV-1 All Weather Speaker will survive squally showers and poolside splashes with aplomb. It’s a battery-powered Bluetooth speaker, and it looks ideal for taking anywhere this summer.
SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD/iWORLD 2013 –
While the iPad’s audio has always been certainly passable in most situations, the tiny speakers that Apple crammed into the device aren’t anywhere near a suitable replacement for the sound quality that can be produced from larger, more substantial speakers.
In order to bridge this gap, Belkin is showing off at Macworld this year what they call the Thunderstorm Handheld Home Theater, a case for your iPad that integrates 2 4-watt speakers for a more immersive experience. Cult Of Mac’s Erfon Elijah talked to Brandon from Belkin at Macworld to learn more about the product.
The Rocksteady XS is a Bluetooth speaker with a big difference: it’s designed to be “as loud as possible.” To that end, it features a sealed design so that the sound can punch harder out of the end-mounted speakers. It’s also tough (with an aluminum shell) and cheap at just $99, making it ideal for outdoor use.
According to the manufacturer Teenage Engineering, the original OD-11 speaker was hot stuff in Sweden in the 1970s. The OD-11 was a cube which packed an amp, subwoofer and speaker into one box, and it sold over 100,000 pairs in Sweden alone.
Now it’s back. The new version is called the Cloud Speaker, and it packs Wi-Fi and Bluetooth along with all the rest.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – I love my Jambox, but I’m always perplexed why I can’t charge my iPhone using it. After all, it’s essentially a big battery brick with a speaker attached… why can’t I siphon some juice off the top?
The answer is that, in reality, the Jambox has a pretty tiny battery. It’s good for powering a speaker, but it would die pretty quick if you tried to juice an iPhone or (heaven!) an iPad with it. The JBL Charge, though, remedies that problem: it’s a great sounding Jambox-style speaker with a massive battery inside.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – Most Bluetooth speakers are pitched as being ideal for taking out onto the patio for barbecues and parties. But none of them is really loud enough. And that’s where Samson’s new Expedition Express Bluetooth PA comes in. It’s a Bluetooth speaker which is so powerful that it runs off a 12-volt motorcycle battery.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – Lightning accessories for the iPhone are starting to show up at last, but who really wants a speaker dock anymore anyway? ILuv seems to think that somebody out there will buy one, and the result is this Aud 5 dock, a device which is fully CES-buzzword compliant.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – Last year, Supertooth promised to make its Disco 2 speakers stereo, with each separate Bluetooth speaker becoming either the left or right speaker in the pair.
At the last minute, it switched out this feature in favor of low-power Bluetooth 4, which is probably way more useful to most buyers. Now, stereo is back, and it sounds great.
Wireless speakers are often the best way to enjoy the music you have stored on your smartphone or tablet, but like other electronics, there are some places you wouldn’t want to take them — such as the beach or the lake. Filling them with sand and water will kill them incredibly quickly.
That’s not a worry with the NUU Splash, however, because it’s both dust and water resistant.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – There are many ways that you can annoy pedestrians and motorists with your bike: riding on the sidewalk; ringing the bell constantly as if you were a five-year-old child; running red lights without looking first.
And my favorite: riding a municipal bike-share bike the wrong way down a one-way street, whilst texting (not talking – texting) on a cellphone.
Now, Scosche adds to the long list with a speaker that sits in a bike’s bottle-cage.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – Braven, the maker of some of the best Bluetooth portable speakers we have used, has just announced its new Big Jambox competitor – the 850.
Like the 650, the new speaker comes in a drilled aluminum case which is both stylish and light. Unlike the 650, it is huge, with a sound to match.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – The idea behind Felt Audio’s lineup of iPhone accessories is simple. We’re going to let you take the sound from your iPhone and snap it on anywhere.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – When I videochatted over Skype with one of Belkin‘s PR people a few days ago, I told them I was dumbfounded at the sound coming from the tiny speakers built into the pre-production Thunderstorm case they sent me to play around with (the review notes I scrawled down actually read “pretty fucking amazed with this thing”). Nate, whose face I could see gazing at me from Belkin’s Los Angeles office, seemed stoic. “Invariably people have that same reaction… we call it ‘the thirty seconds of wow.’ ”
And so it begins… iHome has kicked off the CES Lightning accessory announcements with a typically indigestible press release containing roughly one zillion new gadgets.
If you want to hear about the Bluetooth headphones and alarm clocks, and all the other stuff, then visit the link below. For the neat new do-everything iDL100 alarm dock, read on.
One of the better Yuletide traditions is the venerable holiday Advent Calendar, in which each day of December leading up to Christmas is marked off on a special calendar by opening its corresponding door to find a small gift, toy or chocolate squirreled away inside.
This year, we here at Cult of Mac decided we wanted to give our readers their very own Apple-themed advent calendar, filled with the year’s best apps, gadgets, stories and other curios. So each day in December, we’re going to lovingly peel back the door on the Cult of Mac 2012 Advent Calendar to reveal another delicious morsel, something really special that came out this year that we think every one of you should enjoy.
Day 23 is here, and today, we’re talking about JamBox’s bulkier big bro: the Big JamBox.
Would you pay $53 for these Apple logo speakers? They’re beautiful right? Granny apple green cut in the precise shape of a famous Cupertino computer company’s logo. They’re mighty, just like Apple’s old mouse, except they probably got bass for days too, and I need me some bass cause I’m bossy.
We’re not exactly sure where you can purchase these stunning speakers, but we want them. According to Reddit you can find them at retail locations in Europe, and a Google search led us to this Direct Promotions website that let’s you purchase them in bulk. If you find out where to get them please let me know. My Jony Ive shrine needs some sitar music flowing from these holy speakers.
I’m pretty sure I have some speakers on my desk. I say “pretty sure” because, while I can hear them loud and clear, I haven’t been able to see them amongst the clutter for many months now. I’m just terrified of unplugging the little cable from my MacBook’s jack socket in case I can never listen to music again. Not that I can find my MacBook either.
But the UCubes might be the answer. First, they hook up via USB, sucking both sound and power out through the bus, meaning I can leave my existing speakers hooked up, just in case.
Second, they are so handsome that I might be inspired to do my annual spring clean a few months early to allow them full aesthetic access to my desk. Where by “spring clean” I mean “sweep everything but my computer into a box and start over.”
One of the better Yuletide traditions is the venerable holiday Advent Calendar, in which each day of December leading up to Christmas is marked off on a special calendar by opening its corresponding door to find a small gift, toy or chocolate squirreled away inside.
This year, we here at Cult of Mac decided we wanted to give our readers their very own Apple-themed advent calendar, filled with the year’s best apps, gadgets, stories and other curios. So each day in December, we’re going to lovingly peel back the door on the Cult of Mac 2012 Advent Calendar to reveal another delicious morsel, something really special that came out this year that we think every one of you should enjoy.
On day 18 we’re kicking out the jams with the Libratone Zipp.
