SAN FRANCISCO — Ultimate Ears’ punchy portable speakers just got smart. The new Blast and Megablast speakers bring built-in support for Alexa, Amazon’s voice-operated smart assistant.
Bringing the always-listening, voice-operated helper to a battery-powered speaker proved “nontrivial,” said Benjamin Falk, principal software product manager at UE, during a demo of the new speakers.
The world’s most lovable little Bluetooth speaker just got some cute competition. It’s a case of sibling rivalry, too: The new Wonderboom from Ultimate Ears splashes onto the scene next month just in time to challenge its “big” brother, the UE Roll 2, for the title of ultimate summer speaker.
While the UE Roll looks like a flying saucer, the Wonderboom more closely resembles a hedge apple. About the size of a softball, it will make you want to pick it up and toss it around. In fact, it’s hard to keep your hands off the cute little bugger.
The people on your holiday shopping list deserve cutting-edge gifts. That’s why you won’t find ugly sweaters or gifts that are actually meant for pets not people in the Cult of Mac gift guide.
Loaded with tech gift ideas for Apple fans, this handy guide will make you the best gift-giver in the family for once.
Halloween is right around the corner, which means your local CVS probably already put out Christmas decorations. They do that for a reason, you know: It’s never too early to start thinking about the holiday season!
Following that logic, we’ve put together some of this week’s best deals from around the internet to start the gift-giving wheels turning. Even if you’re just giving the gift to yourself.
A free software update for Ultimate Ears’ popular Boom and Megaboom speakers lets you connect dozens of the Bluetooth devices to create a massive wall of sound.
The over-the-air update, coming today to the “life-proof” speaker line, enables a new feature called PartyUp that can connect “more than 50” of UE’s popular tube-shaped speakers. “More than 50” is the party line, but UE product manager Jim Saraco said his team connected 130 of the speakers at the company’s HQ.
“In reality, we’re still trying to find a cap,” Saraco told Cult of Mac.
A firmware update to Ultimate Ears’ Bluetooth speakers lets you use simple voice commands to make song requests.
After you install the over-the-air update, just tap the Bluetooth button on the top of your paired Boom 2 or Megaboom speaker, then say something like, “Play ‘Iron Man’ by Black Sabbath.” Soon the track will play as if by magic.
The UE Roll, a UFO-shaped Bluetooth speaker that’s built to withstand the rigors of your super-splashy summer, is getting a welcome upgrade. Much like this year’s refreshed MacBook line, the UE Roll 2 packs performance enhancements (and a new paint job) into a product we already know and love.
With its “lifeproof” design, and a beefy bungee cord built right in, it’s the ultimate “take your tunes anywhere” speaker. Only now it’s a wee bit better.
We loved the original UE Boom and the new 2.0 version is even better. The UE Boom 2 is stain-resistant, stylish, shock-resistant and completely waterproof. We’re not sure who is trying to listen to their tunes underwater, but if that’s your jam … you are good to go.
SAN FRANCISCO — A slick new feature coming to Ultimate Ears’ Bluetooth speakers will let you stream your friends’ music from the palm of your hand.
Called Block Party, it lets up to three friends connect to the same UE speaker. Then the self-appointed DJ can pick and choose from each person’s tunes, pulled from streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify. The DJ can skip songs and jump from playlist to playlist, and it’s all shockingly smooth and simple.
SAN FRANCISCO — Ultimate Ears could have borrowed the iPhone 6s tag line to market its new UE Boom 2 Bluetooth speakers.
Like Apple’s latest smartphones, which Cupertino hypes with the clever catchphrase “the only thing that’s changed is everything,” UE’s second-generation Bluetooth speaker is almost indistinguishable from its tubular predecessor — at least on the outside. But upgraded specs and a few pleasant surprises give the Boom 2 a welcome boost.
“There’s something magic about this design,” said Diego Gabathuler, head of brand and global marketing for Ultimate Ears, as he showed off the Boom 2 during a demo at the Cult of Mac offices. “It would have been a shame to take that magic away.”
