Speaker

From iDevices, the iPeople behind the iGrill, comes iShower - a battery-powered, Bluetooth-enabled, water-resistant speaker for what its makers charmingly refer to as "aqua-centric environments." The iShower can stream music from any Bluetooth-enabled Apple or Android device, apparently to an impressive range of up to 200 feet (60 meters). Well iNever. Read More

For the last few weeks, there has been a ripple of a rumor that Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) was about to release a new product, and now the company has come clean and revealed its new PM1 bookshelf speaker. Designed by Morten Warren's Native - the same people responsible for work on the iconic Zeppelin docks - the new mini-monitors have been veritably crammed with high-end audio technology including a newly designed tapering tweeter, new bass/midrange driver dampening technology, and a shake-resistant internal structure known as Matrix. Read More

Altec Lansing has come to the rescue of music lovers who like the idea of streaming music wirelessly around the home, but can't afford to invest in systems from Olive or Sonos, or who don't want to be shackled to Apple Air or iOS devices. The inMotion Air universal wireless speaker can pump out any audio stored on a computer up to 333 feet away via an included adapter, while mobile devices can also supply the music via Bluetooth. Audio enhancement technology offers CD-quality performance, regardless of source compression encoding. Read More

Jawbone, a company better known for its Bluetooth headsets, has now released a Bluetooth speaker system that makes use of two powerful acoustic drivers and ultra-small speakers that work in concert with an innovative moving-wall passive bass radiator and airtight enclosure. The company says this is the first time this technology has been seen in a personal speaker system and delivers more punch than you'd expect from such a small unit. Read More

Danish audio innovator Libratone has been showing off its first consumer product at this year's IFA Consumer Electronics Show in Berlin. The Beat is a high-end wireless speaker that promises listeners an audio sweet spot wherever they may be in a room. An iPod, iPhone or iPad is connected to a wireless transmitter which sends an audio signal to the speaker, then FullRoom technology reflects the sound off the room's walls to provide 360 degrees of sonic enjoyment. So does it live up to its promise? Gizmag stopped by to check it out. Read More

Two years ago, Chinese scientists coated one side of a flag with a thin sheet of nanotubes, then played a song using the flapping sheet-coated flag as a speaker. It was a demonstration of flexible speaker technology, in which nanotubes can be made to generate sound waves via a thermoacoustic effect – every time an electrical pulse is sent through the microscopic layer of nanotubes, it causes the air around them to heat up, which in turn creates a sound wave. Now, an American scientist has taken that technology underwater, where he claims it could allow submariners to detect other submarines, and to remain hidden themselves. Read More

It's been a good while since Magnepan International updated its audiophile-pleasing and critically-acclaimed Magneplanar 1.6 speakers and the new model marks a technology departure for the company. For over 40 years, Magnepan has used planar magnetic drivers for the bass or lower midrange in its speakers but with the Maggie 1.7's the company has switched all the speaker drivers to something called quasi-ribbon technology. Read More

Waterproofing mobile devices such as phones, MP3 players and cameras is becoming ever more common. But devices sporting little holes to let the sound out pose a bit of a leakage problem. Rather than potentially reduce sound quality by covering them up, Murata has produced a tiny piezoelectric speaker which is itself waterproof. Read More

To any who work in audio or communications, the name Sennheiser is synonymous with the absolute top quality in sound; indeed there are many who wouldn't dream of using anything less. So it is with regret that this year the industry loses the founding father of the brand, Fritz Sennheiser, who died on May 17th a few days after his 98th birthday. Read More