JBL's OnBeat Xtreme dock

The latest entry into the high-end iOS device dock space is the OnBeat Xtreme, from Harman International’s JBL brand. The product, unveiled in late 2011 and capable of connecting with the iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad, is a powerful, high-performance device, sporting big sound and unique look.

The OnBeat Xtreme sports a black and silver-accented design, with speakers crossing over each other – the “weave design,” as JBL calls it- and the dock connecter in the middle. Any of the three iOS devices fit onto the dock, with adjustable connectors making it attachable in landscape or portrait mode. The icing on the cake is Bluetooth capability, which is not typically offered in this type of docking product.

The product is also easy to set up, and everything worked on the first try- even Bluetooth.

JBL had previously released a couple of OnBeat devices, including the original and the AirPlay-equipped OnBeat Air, although the OnBeat Xtreme is bigger and packs more features.

I tested the device with both an iPhone and iPad, and the dock performed exceptionally with both. What stands out particularly about the OnBeat Xtreme is three things: the sheer quality of the sound, the 360-degree reach of the speakers and the Bluetooth capability.

I set the device on a table in the center of a room, and the sound was big and bold on all sides, whether I was playing music from an iPod-based music playlist or hearing the pulsing soundtrack of an “X-Men” action scene from the iPad. The sound, thanks to what JBL calls Ridge tweeters and Atlas woofers, is as strong as I’ve heard on a dock of this kind.
The Bluetooth meanwhile, is an added bonus; being able to wirelessly beam any song from one’s iPhone or iPad to the dock across the room has the makings of a living room game changer.

The best high-end dock product I’d reviewed in the last year, Monitor Audio’s i-Deck iPod/iPhone Dock 200, did not feature either the circular speakers or Bluetooth connectivity.

Other features include composite output to attach the dock to a TV, a USB port, and even the ability to make hands-free speakerphone calls through the device. There’s a handle on top for portability, although the dock is a bit heavy for that.

JBL also offers a free, downloadable app for interfacing with the dock, although I found the standard iPhone and iPad music functions were more functional.

The product retails for $499.95. It’s a bit pricey, but it buys you one of the best dock experiences available.

JBL OnBeat Xtreme
Speaker dock for iPhone, iPod and iPad
$499.95
www.jbl.com

If you happen to be a SiriusXM subscriber that lives in Canada and has been looking to stream the channels to a Sonos system — we have a bit of good news to pass on. As of today, the folks at Sonos have announced that SiriusXM streaming is available for those in Canada. And on that note, those looking to get this set up will need to go to the “Set up services” section for their system to get started. Of course, your SiriusXM subscription will need to be active and up to data to make that happen though.

Via [AndroidCentral]

The Bag of Rhythm is probably more accurately described as a modern boom box that you can wear like a messenger bag. It has a place for your iPhone or iPod to make it easy to listen to your music, or you can connect via the auxiliary port. It’s a fairly powerful system with two 4.5-inch high-definition woofers and two 1-inch tweeters pumping out the sound. You can control the music through touch options on the device itself, or you can do everything but change the volume from your iPhone or iPod.

The only downside to the Bag of Rhythm is that is needs old-school D batteries (6 of them to be exact), though there is also an optional rechargeable battery pack. When you’re at home you can just plug it right into the wall so as not to use your precious battery life (it should also charge your iPhone or iPod when it’s plugged into a wall).

The Bag of Rhythm will be coming out within the next few months with a price point of $349.99. It’s a bit steep, but this is a powerful device that seems to be fairly unique in it’s concept.

The iPhone/iPod dock speaker set is the Get Up Stand Up. It’s made from a curved piece of FSC wood that looks amazing. Cut into that piece of wood are two 4.5-inch woofers and two 1-inch tweeters. This is made to give you great audio that you can hear throughout the room. You can control the music either through controls along the top of the device or with the included remote in case you have it set up across your room. Of course, if you don’t have any Apple devices with a 30-pin connector you can still enjoy the great sound connecting any other source into the Get Up Stand Up via the auxiliary port but then you lose most of the control options. The Get Up Stand Up will retail for $349.99.

The second set of home speakers from House of Marley are the One Foundation (pictured above). This system use Apple’s Air Play to play your music from an iOS device without having to plug it into any sort of dock. The design on one solid piece of wood that holds the two 5.25-inch high-output woofers and two 1-inch horn-loaded tweeters. The result is a system that produces amazon sound, even when it’s demoed on the show floor at CES. The only issue with the One Foundation is the price. The system will cost $599.99 meaning it’s only for those who are passionate enough about their music or who have the money to spend.

Both speakers should be out in 2012.

Twenty is a small device that you plug your Airport Express into, then connect it to a pair of speakers that you may already have. If you set up two speakers and a powered subwoofer the Twenty will be able to give you 2.1 channel sound. With that you won’t have to go through the trouble of trying to find a brand new pair of speakers that you might not like.

The Twenty will simply act as the amplifier for your music, so the sound will still depend mostly on your speakers. It’s such a great idea, it’s surprising that nobody had thought of it before now. Griffin doesn’t have a firm release date or price for the Twenty just yet. You can be sure that it will be out sometime this year and that it will cost less than a pair of AirPlay speakers.

Read [Griffin]

The Sennheiser RS 220 is the company’s new, high-end set of headphones that are wireless, but not exactly portable. The RS 220 are audiophile headphones, so they aren’t the type of headphones you’ll be wearing outside of the house. They need to be within 300 feet of the base station in order to work, with line of sight much preferred.

The RS 220 base station has a series of ports on the bottom to take audio from a range of sources. So you plug it into your stereo system or media center to listen to your music or any other sources of audio. With the optical port you could even hook it up to your Blu-ray player for some of the best stereo sound available. At a price of $599.95 the RS 220 headphones aren’t cheap, but great audio rarely, if ever is.

Read [Sennheiser]

The Connect Bluetooth Portable Speaker is the Jambox for those who can’t or just don’t want to spend $200 on a portable Bluetooth speakers. The Connect will cost you $50 as opposed to the Jambox’s $200. It doesn’t have all the design that the Jambox does, but it does have a few more buttons, which some people might want. It also has an integrated AC adapter so you can just plug the Connect into a wall socket to listen to music or talk on the speaker phone without having to worry about the battery life.

The Connect looks like a great little device, and for the price you can’t really go wrong. Unless, of course, you save the money for a Jambox.

SiriusXM has just introduced the Lynx Portable Radio. This so called first SiriusXM 2.0 Radio offers new features as well as expanded channel lineup through satellite and Internet. Sirius Lynx is capable of storing up to 200 hours of satellite radio programming which you can playback later on. Lynx also lets you replay 5 hours of SiriusXM Internet radio programming and allows you to start the show from the beginning, pause and skip along the way as well as rewind previously broadcasted content. Available now from shop.siriusxm.com and crutfield.com, SiriusLynx  will cost you $249.99. It will also be available at retail stores nationwide.

Other features of Sirius Lynx include:

• Tune Start
• Radio Replays
• Pause, Rewind and Replay
• Featured Favorites
• Show Finder

Via [Sirius]

What is Being Reviewed?

The iKurv iPhone/iPod Speaker Dock is up for review today. It’s $79.99 and fits any kind of iPod you may have in your possession. There are a lot of iPhone/iPod docks on the market today. They continue to be a hot commodity since the iPhone and various iPods steadily become the single music player customers use everywhere they go. The iKurv iPhone/iPod Speaker Dock is just one of many solutions for amplifying music in your home. I’ve been testing this device for a while and for the most part, it does its job well.

iKurv is compatible with just about any pocket-sized iOS device you can imagine. You can go into your closet and pull out your old 80GB iPod Classic and shouldn’t experience any major problems. iKurv also comes with a lot of detachable cradles that you can set your respective iOS device into. In my time with the device, I used a 32GB third-generation iPod Touch.

You’ll also get a stereo cable and a remote control in the box. The only thing iKurv doesn’t come with is a video cable, so if you want to use this device in conjunction with your television, you’ll have to make an additional investment.

The Design

iKurv is a pretty device. It has a glossy black finish that compliments the iPod Touch’s aesthetic quite well. Its stand-out feature is a curved blue light that illuminates when power is flowing through it. iKurv also has two speakers on either side and buttons to control the volume and power. It’s a minimalist design and it helps to keep the confusion down.

On the back, iKurv has two inputs for video-out and a MP3-out port for other devices. This is a feature I really appreciated. Even though iKurv is meant to be primarily used with Apple products, you can also use the included stereo cable play to music from another device such a phone, tablet, MP3 player or other devices that have a 3.5mm headphone jack. With a simple press of the “Mode” button on the remote, iKurv will essentially exit iPod mode and enter “other device” mode. I even used iKurv as a big speakerphone with no issues.

iKurv’s remote is tiny, thin, light and functional. It comes with its own internal battery and functions like any other competent remote. The remote has access to media controls, it can control the brightness of iKurv’s light and can even navigate through albums and songs.

The Set-Up

Setting up the iKurv with my iPod Touch was a pretty simple process. I plugged it in, stuffed my iPod Touch into the dock and turned it on. I did however have difficulty inserting the iPod Touch into the dock. The proprietary connector just wasn’t lining up with the dock with ease. I had to basically jam the iPod Touch down until I got an indication it was charging. From there, I navigated to my music and began listening.

The Sound Quality

iKurv’s sound quality is quite nice. It doesn’t provide a lot of bass, but it never produced a tinny or distorted sound as I listened to music and podcasts. In its defense, iKurv is not meant to be a speaker dock that can drown out noise at a party or provide musical entertainment for an outdoor affair, but it’s perfectly acceptable for apartments and reasonably sized homes. I never had to turn iKurv all the way up in order to hear it. In fact, if I were to do that right now, my neighbors would probably become annoyed.

Connectivity Issues

I’ve used iKurv just about everyday since I got it and I never stopped anticipating potential problems. I never wanted to move iKurv after my iPod was set because iKurv had trouble keeping a connection. Even though my iPod was still in the dock, it would suddenly stop charging if was disturbed too much. By disturbed, I don’t mean picked up and shaken. I’m referring to just touching the iPod to quickly select a song. It wobbles while connected to iKurv, and that caused some errors to happen on occasion. Sometimes, an alert would appear on my iPod that said,” This accessory is not supported by iPod Touch,” or “charging is not supported by this accessory.” Other times, my iPod thought it was connected to a television. When these things happened, iKurv’s remote would not perform because it thought there was no iPod to control. I resolved these problems by reinserting the iPod and starting over.

Benefits of iOS 5

I waited until iOS 5 was available before finishing this review because I wanted to see if the performance with iKurv would somehow change after the update. I didn’t encounter any problems, but iKurv does indirectly benefit from iOS 5. Since my iPod can now sync to iTunes wirelessly, there’s no need for me to disconnect it from iKurv. I was able to download a podcast from my computer, sync it to my iPod and start listening with no problems. This wouldn’t be possible if iKurv didn’t charge the iPod while it’s docked, so that’s one feature that makes iKurv look even better.

Overall

iKurv is a solid speaker dock that will definitely stand out in a dimly lit room. The sound quality isn’t mind-blowing, but it is loud and clear. The connectivity issues I experienced were annoying and it makes me question how long iKurv will hold up over time. However, its compatibility with other music devices and the optional video-out connection are great features that make iKurv that much more versatile. To me, iKurv’s benefits outweight its flaws.

Site [Speakal]

Disclaimer: iKurv was sent to Gadgetell for the purposes of this review.

Streaming music is everywhere lately, and today it comes to a new place: Target. Starting today Sonos players will be available through Target stores and Target.com.

Now you’ll be able to walk into any Target store and get a demo of the Sonos system, and buy either a Sonos Play:3 or Play:5. You’ll be able to find out why you’d want to stream your music using Sonos, or if you already want one, it means you’ll be able to just pick up the speakers easily. Plus, if you have a Target REDcard you’ll get 5 percent off your Sonos system. With the Play:3 going for $300, that’s a pretty good deal.

Expanding to more retail is great for Sonos to get the system out there. It seems like something a lot of people would love, but only techies seem to know about it. It’s still expensive, but if you can afford it, it’s a pretty neat system.

Read [Sonos]