WIRELESS SYSTEM SENDS BACH OR BOWIE INTO YOUR LIGHT BULBS
Klipsch, the speaker manufacturer, has come up with a twist on multiroom audio: wirelessly sending music to light bulbs around
the house.
Its LightSpeaker System transmits music from a PC or iPod to a
screw-in unit that combines a 20-watt speaker with a 10-watt LED lamp.
A music source is plugged into the included transmitter, and a remote is used to both dim the lights and control the sending of the stereo signal to pairs of speakers. The transmitter can control up to four pairs of speakers, and send two different streams of music to them.
At US$600 for the starter kit, plus US$250 for each additional speaker, the system doesn’t come cheap. Klipsch argues that with the lamp’s expected 15-year life, simple installation and no need for in-wall wiring or amplifiers, the product will pay for itself in five years.
It’s doubtful that many consumers think like that; most focus on the up-front cost. Otherwise, US$80 LED replacement lamps would be selling like hotcakes.
EARBUDS THAT DANCE OR NOT, AND HAVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Technocel, an electronic accessories company, introduced what it calls the Ear Vibe, “the first stereo headset that vibrates to the beat of your music” at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month. The US$30 earbud-style headphones begin to move a bit when they encounter low-frequency notes. It’s kind of a makeshift bass enhancement.
Perhaps it’s somewhat coincidental that at the same trade show, Sennheiser, which makes audio accessories, displayed a new line of headphones that it had developed with Adidas. One of its selling points, Sennheiser says, is that the products “are insensitive to vibration.” Go figure.
For a more upscale version, serious listeners might consider Sony’s latest effort in noise-canceling technology: the Sony MDR-NC300D Digital Noise Canceling Earbuds, priced at a budget-canceling US$300.
The tweak with Sony’s headphones is artificial intelligence, which automatically selects the optimal noise cancellation mode based on the outside environment, like a plane, a train or an office. The headphones, which will run for about 20 hours on an AA battery, come with a variety of fittings to accommodate up to seven different sizes of ears. They will be available in next month.
BOLDLY GOING WHERE BOSE HAS GONE BEFORE
Bowers & Wilkins — formerly called B&W, but that clashed with BMW — is the highly regarded British sonic innovator and maker of loudspeakers. Think of the company as the British Bose.
Some years ago, Bose began to chase another segment of the consumer market beyond loudspeakers, by introducing headphones and computer desktop speakers. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Bowers & Wilkins introduced headphones and computer desktop speakers.
The Mobile headphones are Bower’s first for the consumer market, but the move is not surprising because the company has been after the iPod/iPhone customer for a couple of years with its Zeppelin and Mini Zeppelin iPod speaker docks. The Mobiles are designed as noise-isolating, not noise-canceling, and have sealed cups that wrap around the ears.
They should be available later this month, said a Bowers & Wilkins representative, who added that the ear pads were made of the “softest sheep leather from New Zealand.”
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