Two former Google staffers launched a new startup on Thursday called Beep that aims to change the way you listen to music at home.
The Beep, available in copper and gunmetal colors for $99, allows users to stream music wirelessly from any speaker with an input. Think of it like a Chromecast for music — instead of making a TV Wi-Fi-enabled, the Beep plugs into any speaker and makes it wireless.
Beep is the brainchild of former Google employees Daniel Conrad and Shawn Lewis.
"Bluetooth is a great portable listening solution, but it falls short in the home — you quickly run into range issues, and of course, you can't synchronize a bunch of Bluetooth devices together in different rooms," Lewis said. "We also found more and more users gravitating towards streaming services, like Pandora, but are unable to listen to streaming music on their existing speakers. Beep easily connects any speaker to the cloud."
To get started, users connect the Beep to the speaker and by touching the hardware, it plays the last song or station accessed on your mobile device. Another tap will turn it off.
From there, you can play music files or stream music directly from streaming services like Pandora or Spotify. The volume can be controlled via the accompanying Android or iOS app, but also be adjusted by turning a dial on the front of the Beep.
"In terms of the design, we’re referencing audio equipment of yesteryear," Lewis said. "Music used to be such a tactile experience, so we wanted Beep to bring back that experience with our volume knob and push to play or pause function."
You can also play audio from one room or many, depending on how many Beeps you have. Most Wi-Fi networks can hold up to about five.
"Music following you from room to room in your home is a magical experience, and we wanted to bring that to everyone. It was something we'd experienced, but felt was inaccessible, so we decided to build it and make connecting your speakers to your music easy," Lewis added.
The device, which is available for pre-order now, will still allow you to get phone calls without interrupting the music.
The product will ship this fall, when the price will jump to $149.
IMAGE: BEEP BEEP