Beep Speaker Is the Chromecast of Music

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

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Boombotix Raises $4M For Its Wearable Action Speakers And Audio Sync Software

Kickstarter funding will often lead to the more traditional kind, and in the case of Boombotix, that’s exactly what happened. The California startup raised $17,000 for its music syncing app, which allows people to synchronize playback of music across multiple devices using mobile networks, and nearly $130,000 for its Boombot Rex mobile Bluetooth action-ready portable speaker. Now, it has also raised $4 million in venture funding from Social+ Capital, Baseline, Red Hills and many others.

May of its partners in this round are strategic in nature, and Boombotix co-founder Lief Storer says they were chosen for their ability to help build the brand.

“The investors’ interest is vested in amplifying our brand through product development and strategic marketing,” he explained in an interview. “There isn’t a single expense [in terms of using these funds] that stands out, but having key human capital in place to continue building the talent in the organization will be essential to the long-term strategy.”

Boombotix isn’t saying how many speakers it managed to see since its launch back in 2010, but it has seen its sales grow by triple figures since the debut of its Kickstarter campaigns, which also led to deals secured with retailers including Amazon, T-Mobile, Microsoft and Apple.com. The selling point of the Boombot REX is that it can stand up to mud, dust and some water exposure, as well as take spills, while providing quality sound, portability and also speaker phone functions, including the ability to use Siri on the iPhone from the gadget.

Its audio sync tech was designed to be an answer to user requests to broadcast to multiple speakers at once, which isn’t supported with standard Bluetooth. It isn’t perfect, but the app gets around this by allowing multiple devices (i.e. smartphones or tablets) to sync playback of music perfectly over a mobile network, which means that each can output music to their own attached Bluetooth speaker for what is effectively multi-speaker sound. Of course, you need more than one device to make it happen, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Boombot has begun to position its speakers as a wearable play, in part to capitalize on the growing interest in that device category. It’s true that they’re small and clip-mounted, and can be easily attached to clothing, but the key to growth will be holding appeal beyond the current action sports group of core buyers. With fresh funding, perhaps that kind of expansion is exactly what’s in store.

Image: Kickstarter

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Wren's Plus-Size Bluetooth Speaker Is Big on Sound, Beauty and Price

The Wren V5BT Bluetooth speaker provides full sound in an attractive package. This assessment comes despite a caveat from the makers that their AirPlay and Play-Fi models are superior.

So why go for Bluetooth? To avoid any buyers' remorse to be incurred with a switch from iOS to Android or vice versa. Either way, the V5BT will serve handsomely.

At approximately 6 x 4.25 x 16.5 inches, the Wren V5BT is svelte enough to slip into a decent-sized nook or cranny on a desktop or bookshelf. It'll fit seamlessly, too, as it's constructed with a bamboo or rosewood casing and is lusciously curved.

The speaker isn't particularly portable given its size and weight (about 6 1/2 pounds), but can still be moved from room to room easily. The wood veneer is offset by retro silver plastic edging and a matching grill.

V5BT’s power button is illuminated white, and it turns to orange in standby. Another light flashes to indicate volume changes; two more lights indicate whether it's in Bluetooth or wired mode. Pairing is as simple as pushing the "setup" button and linking via device. There is no remote control, however, so volume is adjusted with the paired device or by the buttons on the speaker.

Sound-wise, the speaker triumphs. The 50-watt V5BT delivers CD-quality music when attached to an iOS device — this despite the warning that non-CSR aptX-enabled devices aren't going to sound as good as when connected to an enabled device (Motorola, HTC, Samsung, e.g.s).

Bass is strong without being overpowering, and highs and mids are clear even at higher volumes — loud enough to fill a large room. As a bonus, there are inputs for charging USB-powered devices as well as for analog input.

Ultimately, the Wren serves its purpose like the traditional loudspeaker it's patterned after.

The Lowdown

The Good

> Clear sound, hefty bass

> Easy to connect

> Beautiful chassis

The Bad

> Device buttons support volume, but not skipping or rewinding tracks

> Heavy

> Pricey

Bottom Line: The V5BT is an all-in-one Bluetooth speaker that sounds as good as it looks.

Image: WRENSOUND

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