Bose is prepping a pair of Bluetooth speakers that shift the Soundlink line into a new, vertical orientation. Visually, the Bose Soundlink Revolve looks quite similar in form to the Amazon Echo while the Revolve Plus is more like a larger Google Home given is bulbous shape. And both share some resemblance to the Amazon Tap – due to its optional charging stand. The speakers, providing at least 10 hours of juice, will be offered in both black and grey, with the smaller model clocking in at 2.2lbs and the slightly larger model tipping the scales at 2.9lbs (with handle). Beyond music and podcast duties, like the original line of Soundlink speakers these also feature speakerphone capabilities with integrated mic and similar top-mounted button including volume, power, bluetooth, aux, and mic. Sadly, there’s not yet any confirmation of Alexa voice assistant or WiFi integration — perhaps maintaining the distinction between Bose’s Soundlink and the more Sonos-like Soundtouch lines.
Audio
3 Weeks With Apple AirPods
I admit it. I was one of those skeptics who initially mocked the wireless Apple AirPods ($159). But quickly changed my tune upon release.
After several minutes with a buddy's AirPods, I take back all negatory, snarkified commentary. Very cool, extremely thoughtful design.
— Dave Zatz (@davezatz) December 20, 2016
And, having picked up my own pair of AirPods a few weeks back, I stand by my reassessment. They’re inferior in most ways to the wired Bose QuietComfort earbuds tips and Plantronics Voyager Edge that they replace. Yet the Apple experience, in totality, is far greater than the sum of its parts. It’s hard to articulate exactly why, but I’m taking more phone calls and listening to more audio with Apple.
Amazon Expands Echo Line (with its component pieces)
Amazon has unveiled two new Alexa-powered devices in the Amazon Tap speaker ($130) and the multifunction Echo Dot puck ($90). As with the original Amazon Echo, which I found compelling but unnecessary (at the time), both these units respond to voice comments – controlling an ever-growing list of products and services, such as Philips Hue lighting and … Read more
Bose SoundTouch Improves Spotify & iHeartRadio
A couple weeks back, I began acquiring Bose SoundTouch connected speakers to replace Sonos. I’m no audiophile and not really equipped to compare acoustic properties, other than to say both platforms sound good. Whereas the Bose app experience and linked music service offerings are generally and significantly inferior to Sonos… the Bose-bundled physical remote control to tune up to six pre-assigned stations or playlists and adjust volume is priceless — it pretty much trumps all else. (Which makes me sad given the beautiful new Sonos Play:5.)
My initial experiences with SoundTouch were somewhat frustrating given my currently preferred music streaming services: iHeartRadio and Spotify. The Pandora-esque iHeart stations I’d created were inaccessible and would error out while Spotify access was largely and bizarrely managed via the Spotify app. But I held out hope, given this product’s intent, that things would improve. And, yesterday, Bose delivered — resolving both my issues.
Chromecast Audio: The Poor Man’s Sonos?
When Google recently held their big event, I was surprisingly interested in the new Chromecast Audio dongle announcement. I’d lost interest in the original Chromecast over the past year, instead meeting my streaming needs via the Roku platform, with a little Amazon Fire TV and Samsung Smart TV thrown in for good measure. That first generation Chromecast had sat unused for a few months.
I jumped onto Google Play the day they announced the $35 Chromecast Audio and ordered myself one to try out. It came two days later and the family has been enjoying it for the past week.
The full potential remains to be seen because multi-room streaming—similar to what a Sonos system can do—is promised “in a few months.” However, I wanted to try it out as an alternative to Bluetooth speakers and our 2008-era Sony S-Air wireless speaker system.
Summary: I like it.
Amazon Echo app rebranded as Amazon Alexa
In other Amazon Echo news, the companion iPhone app has been rechristened. Where “Amazon Echo” once lived, I now find “Amazon Alexa” — curious, no? CNET’s John Falcone reasonably wonders if this signals additional Alexa-capable hardware in the pipeline. Indeed, Amazon has opened the voice-powered platform up to third parties and this might be a nice, centralized … Read more
Amazon Echo: The Coolest Gadget I Don’t Need
So the big news is that Amazon Echo is now available for all to purchase, with a July 14th ETA. And, instead of going mass market at $200 as originally presented, it arrives at an even more palatable $180 (having dropped the physical remote). Considering a decent Bluetooth speaker could run that much or more, the voice-controlled, multi-function Echo is really a fantabulous deal when you consider all it offers.
When originally introduced as an Amazon Prime exclusive in limited numbers for $99, I picked up two. Back then, it didn’t do a whole lot — it was largely a silo-ed experience that I mainly used as a voice-controlled alarm clock and iHeartRadio terminal. But the product team has been iterating at a furious pace, bringing native Pandora, Hue control (!), and Audible integration… with promises of more to come and a developer SDK.