Aperion Aris fumbles for Windows music lovers (pictures)

At its announcement in May 2012, the Aperion Aris was billed as the world's first wireless speaker for Windows. While there are dozens of Apple AirPlay speakers, and even an Android speaker or two, why has no one thought to make a Windows one? Apart from sounding unfashionable, play with the Aperion Aris for 5 minutes and you'll find out why.

The problems with the Aperion aren't exactly the fault of the speaker, as Windows' Play To feature is fairly unreliable, but it does make us pine for the Apple AirPlay option that's due for the Aris this spring. Sound quality is fairly good for a device of this type, and it can go plenty loud. If only it weren't so expensive.

These lights are used to denote volume and sound mode.

At the rear of the unit you'll find a PC Card-like expansion port and a 3.5mm input. Included in the box is a compatible adapter that adds wireless connectivity (with WPS) and an Ethernet jack.

Here we see volume, mute, power, and settings.

Two passive radiators dominate the rear of the unit.