speaker

Bluetooth speakers are everywhere, so it's hard to come up with a way to distinguish a new design. An Indiegogo project called Petite Square is looking to stand out by building its enclosures out of ancient history. The speakers are crafted from 50,000-year-old wood excavated from bogs in New Zealand.

Ancient Kauri has been called the the oldest workable wood in the world. It's certainly easier to work with than petrified wood. The giant logs have to be raised out of prehistoric bogs, adding to the expense and rarity of the material. Still, there seems to be plenty available on the market for craftspeople to make musical instruments, carvings, and the Petite Square speakers.… Read more

When it comes to choosing a bookshelf speaker, you're often forced to decide between one with a dock and one that supports Bluetooth.

Thankfully, you can have the best of both worlds. Today only, and while supplies last, Tech.woot has the refurbished XtremeMac Tango TRX Bluetooth speaker with 30-pin dock for $39.99, plus $5 for shipping. It originally sold for $179.99, and the best price I've seen elsewhere (for a new unit) is $99.

As you can see in the photo, the Tango TRX sports a dock that can accommodate nearly any iPhone, iPod, or … Read more

Tech startup Coleridge Design Associates is trying to raise $45,000 on Kickstarter to manufacture a sleek-looking and transparent-sounding desktop speaker system, the aCube BMR. I've covered Kickstarter projects before, but this time I had a chance to listen to the product, and the sound definitely piqued my interest.

The aCube uses an advanced 4.5-inch BMR (Balanced Mode Radiator) driver mounted in handmade clear-cast acrylic 6.5-inch cube enclosures. The $180 speaker houses a stereo 20-watt Class-D amplifier, but if you want stereo sound, you have to buy a second speaker (without the amp) for $120. Optional at … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Eton has unveiled a few different solar charging Bluetooth speakers here in Las Vegas. Earlier we highlighted the Rokus XL, but here's a closer look at the Rugged Rukus, the company's more compact model, which is due to hit stores in the next few months for $99.99.

The lightweight Rugged Rukus has a splashproof rubberized exterior, a 20-square-inch solar panel and a USB port for charging cell phones.

The internal lithium ion battery gives you about 8 hours of audio streaming via its wireless Bluetooth connection and it takes about 5 hours to charge in full … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Wireless audio at CES 2013 has been almost entirely dominated by the idea of streaming music directly from your smartphone, usually via Bluetooth.

Teenage Engineering's newly announced OD-11 is taking a different approach, which it calls the Cloud Speaker. The cubelike speaker actually borrows its design from Swedish audio engineer Stig Carlsson, whose original OD-11 in 1974 featured the same angled tweeter and woofer that directs sound out the the top of the speaker, rather than a more traditional front-facing design. The idea is to throw the sound into a room, without a defined sweet spot that standard … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Wireless peripheral maker Parrot is showing off an update to its Philippe Starck-designed Zikmu Solo wireless speaker system. Due sometime this year, the system doesn't differ much aesthetically from the original model introduced back in 2009. The latest version, does, however, offer improved innards, powerful sound, and a lower price point.

The $999 Zikmu Solo has 2x100-watt output and a built-in 1GHz ARM A8 processor that the company says "controls the path of the coil of the bass loudspeaker in real time" to greatly reduce distortion during playback.

The 2.1 stereo audio speaker system features built-in Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and NFC (for quick pairing). Aside from the array of connectivity features, the Zikmu also jives with DLNA for networked streaming and can even connect with another Zikmu (over Wi-Fi) for even more output. A built-in speaker dock at the top of the device works with older iPhones and iPods with a 30-pin power port.… Read more

LAS VEGAS--If you can't decide whether to buy a portable or desktop speaker for your smartphone, here's a solution that may give you the best of both worlds.

The Zagg Origin, spotted at the Digital Experience event here at CES, is a 2-in-1 speaker system. It consists of a portable Bluetooth speaker that can be used on the go for more than 10 hours with its onboard rechargeable battery.

When this portable unit is docked into the desktop component, sound output is seamlessly transferred to the larger speaker, enabling it to fill a bigger room. Meanwhile, the portable … Read more

It doesn't get any cuter than Priscilla Pink or Charlie Chimp when it come to speaker equipment for kids.

Zagg -- which specializes in accessories for electronics -- introduced the Animatone Snug, a stuffed animal that doubles as a portable speaker, at CES 2013.

The company decided to drop its BoostPlus speaker into a fluffy doll and add it to its children's products line, Frogz. The BoostPlus is a speaker that amplifies the sound of a media device when it's placed on top of it, no wires or Bluetooth required.

Add a device pouch to the doll … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Plantronics has long had Bluetooth-compatible headsets and speakers, but people with PCs have largely been left out of the party.

Until now. At CES this week, Plantronics is showing a wide array of its headphones and speakers, many of which focus exclusively on Bluetooth compatibility. But with the Voyager Legend UC and the Calisto 620, PC users wanting to listen to their favorite music on their mobile devices or wanting to make VoIP calls from their PCs can play along.

With its Voyager Legend UC headphones, Plantronics is now offering the ability to listen in on audio from mobile … Read more