The new Ultimate Ears Miniroll Bluetooth speaker has gone on sale, positioned as the smallest and cheapest model in the company’s line-up. It weighs less than a pound, and costs $79.99.
A built-in flexible strap means it can be easily attached to backpacks and shoulder bags, or even attached to a belt …
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Ultimate Ears’ range of Bluetooth speakers have consistently made it into our ‘best portable speakers‘ lists over the years. But if the existing color choices aren’t enough for you, the company now allows you to customize your Boom 3 …
Over the past few years, Ultimate Ears has become somewhat of a household name in the world of portable speakers. Their ever-popular Boom lineup has shown that portable speakers can have excellent battery life and sound great. Recently they’ve taken it one step further by bringing Amazon’s Alexa to the portable speaker with their new Blast speakers. Combining a smart voice assistant, with a solid Bluetooth speaker, what’s not to like?
Available for pre-order today, Ultimate Ears is bringing Amazon’s Alexa to its product roster with a new speaker lineup. Introducing the Blast and Megablast, the portable speakers incorporate Alexa to bring the virtual assistant wherever your music goes. Drawing on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless options, the speakers are set to work in whatever environment music players find themselves in.
We’re big fans of the Ultimate Ears lineup of speakers from the $89 Roll (review), to the $199 Boom 2 (review) and the huge $299 Megaboom (review). Today the company announced a new firmware and software update feature which allows multiple iPhones and Android apps to share music on one speaker or a set of paired speakers. Called ‘Block Party”, it seems like a great way to let party goers share their music on one device. I’ve had a working speaker and apps for about 24 hours and the feature seems to work in a simulated environment (hard to get a party going on a Monday afternoon).
Losing control of your speaker seems like the only downside to this new feature from Ultimate Ears which will roll out on 3 of their devices today. Press release follows:
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One of my absolute favorite Bluetooth speakers got a huge update today. The UE Boom 2 is an upgraded version of the iconic portable Bluetooth speaker from Logitech’s Ultimate Ears division. Originally released in 2013, the Boom set a new standard for Portable Bluetooth speakers with its “cupholder friendly” and colorful design, great acoustics, and iOS/Android apps.
In recent months UE has released a much bigger, more expensive MegaBoom and a much smaller, cheaper UE Roll. Both are waterproof and extremely rugged and if you’d had to have guessed, you’d be right in assuming the Boom would get these same features.
And it has. IPX 7 waterproofing means you can not only take it with you into the shower but you can drop the Boom 2 in the pool or bathtub without damage. It is also more powerful with a 100-foot wireless range, 15 hour battery life, and 25% louder and better sound than its predecessor. The UE Boom 2 also now includes a new tap control that allows you to start, pause and skip songs, without needing to have your phone in-hand.
I’ve been using the UE Boom 2 for the past week and I think this speaker is a big deal…
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At CES today, Logitech subsidiary Ultimate Ears (UE) announced its Megaboom Bluetooth speaker. Yes, it is a bigger, louder version of the popular UE Booms. That means it comes with apps that do things like equalize, set alarms and pair to stereo, with new features added all the time. The Megaboom also shares the 100-foot Bluetooth range and ability to pair with up to 8 devices with its smaller sibling.
But the bigger and louder sound of the Megaboom also comes with some nice extras not found in the other models. Megabooms are waterproof like crazy (IPX7). Bring it into the shower. Knock it in the pool (the shallow end, anyway). NBD. The MegaBoom also has a whopping 20-hour battery life but still charges via MicroUSB. Smart.
The cost: $299 is a significant $100 premium over the Booms and $200 premium over the Mini Booms and you’ll lose some portability with the bigger size. These are big and heavy and they don’t fit in a cupholder.
But if you want the banging-est sound you can find from a portable Bluetooth speaker, your search is over. I’ve secretly been reviewing a unit since last year and it is all true. The sound fills up a room, day at the beach, picnic, bikeride or destroys a car. It even works as a nice desk speaker. As I hinted in my Best Bluetooth Speaker o the year list, the Megaboom is as good, if not better than the other best $300 Bluetooth speakers we’ve reviewed: Bose Soundlink 3, Beats Pill XL and Jawbone’s Big Jambox have met their match!
Shoppers line up outside Apple’s Omotesandō retail store for the Lucky Bag sale (Image via <a href="http://ringo-sanco.com/2015/01/02/apple-lucky-bag-2015-omotesando/" target="_blank">Ringo-Sanco</a>)
The contents of Apple’s 2015 Japanese “Lucky Bag” sales have been revealed. The bags went on sale at 8 AM local time this morning, and the entire collection of deals was quickly revealed by those who had taken advantage of the limited-time offer.
The bags will cost shoppers around ¥38,000 (or about $323). There are four different types of bags available, and customers will get one at random when they make their purchase.
Here’s what shoppers will find in their Lucky Bags this year:
Apple makes great phones, tablets and computers; earphones not so much. The ones that come free with the iPhone look attractive, but they’re pretty much worth what you pay for them when it comes to sound quality.
Great sound, though, doesn’t come cheap, which is why a pair of premium headphones or earphones can make the perfect gift for someone who loves their music but perhaps doesn’t have the budget to really splash out on themselves.
If you’re buying for a musician, check out the more studio-oriented recommendations in our music gift guide. For those who will mostly use their headphones while on the move, read on …
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We’ve long held that the extra cost of high end Bluetooth speakers from Bose, Ultimate Ears, JBL and Cambridge Audio Minx (all pictured above top row) were well worth the extra money even at prices up near $200 and beyond. But the fact is that not everyone wants to spend a lot of money on a Bluetooth speaker, and portability and ruggedness are often priorities over pure sound. For those people, we went on a search for high quality Bluetooth speakers that cost much less.
Our top 5 are speakers in this category from reviewing about 20 are from Omaker, Koss, Mpow and Boombot…
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Although we’ve covered the gamut of portable Bluetooth speakers here at 9to5Mac, we typically recommend higher-end products like the Bose Soundlink Mini ($199), JBL Charge ($138) or Ultimate Ears Mini/Boom ($80/$179). It’s usually not worth cheaping out on Bluetooth speakers (unless you are looking for niche products like wearables) because the sound quality degrades heavily once you drop below the top tier. Sadly, today’s entrant into the Bluetooth speaker cage-match lot isn’t going to compete with any of the $100+speakers above. But I have to say, the Lumsing Prophet isn’t bad at all, especially if you aren’t listening to bass-heavy tracks. And, the freaky part is it only costs $20 bucks after coupon code PROPHET0 (expires 8/13) at Amazon which makes it an absolute steal…
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kwSzsCMLghc
Logitech’s UE brand is often at the top of our list when it comes to the best bluetooth speakers around, so we’re excited that today the company introduced its latest product with the announcement of the ‘UE BOOM’. Logitech is calling this “the world’s first social music player,” and that’s due to the fact that it’s the first to offer 360-degree sound and a 15-hour rechargeable battery. That’s a nice step up from the 5-8 hours you’ll get with most Bluetooth speakers.
Logitech is also following a trend that many Bluetooth speaker manufacturers have been lately: With UE BOOM you’ll be able to wirelessly connect two UE BOOMs via a free companion app to allow for traditional right/left stereo sound and other sound settings. It’s also water and stain proof:
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Need gifts quick? We got some great stuff we’ve been playing with that any Apple user would love…
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