House of Marley’s portable boombox is finally coming to market after months of teasing.

The House of Marley Bag of Rhythm is a giant portable boombox for your iOS device or any portable device with a 3.5mm headphone jack. The boombox’s giant 4-inch speakers will give you a ton of sound. I was able to see it working at CES this year, and the sound will definitely fill a small room, or a large outdoor radius. Plus you’ll be able to carry it around by the handles, hanging from the shoulder strap, or you can hold it on your shoulder as you would an old-school boombox.

At $349.99 the Bag of Rhythm isn’t exactly inexpensive, but it seems to be worth the price. You get the huge portable sound with an internal battery or just plain batteries. Plus, it’s made of entirely recycled materials, so you get not just a great portable speaker, but one that’s environmentally friendly as well. Current orders will ship between February 15-18, so it misses the cutoff for an expensive, Valentine’s Day gift, but you’ll get it in time before and Spring adventures you might be planning.

Read [House of Marley]

Scosche has just released a new speaker dock that works with all iPad models. Dubbed the bassDock, this adjustable speaker dock that supports the iPad 1 and iPad 2 rotates to allow both horizontal and vertical viewing angles. It also charges your iPad as you listen to music, watch movies and more.  The speaker dock features a 2.1 sound system with dual 1.6″ stereo speakers which according to Scosche produces the right mids and highs and a subwoofer that produces rich and powerful bass. In short, this speaker dock transforms your iPad into a powerful entertainment system. Other features of the Scosche bassDock include adjustable stand that tilts for convenient viewing, 10 Watts (2.1 Amps) for fast charging, and adapters for securely holding your iPad. This speaker dock retails for $149.99. To learn more about its features, a video demo is attached below after the product link.

Product [Scosche bassDock]

It looks like Jawbone is ready to expand the Jambox line by adding in a bigger brother to the Bluetooth speaker.

A recent FCC filing shows that Jawbone has a new Big Jambox on the way in the near future. There’s no photos of the new device, so all we know for now is that it’s also a Bluetooth speakers, and that it’s bigger than the original Jambox. We don’t even have measurements of the new device, we only know that it’s bigger because Jawbone filed is as “Big Jambox.”

The size could mean bigger drivers in the device, which could produce better sound. Or at least more sound. That’s really just speculation, though. We really don’t know much about this at all.

Read [Wireless Goodness]

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 smaller speaker is the Djembe, a single speaker that does in it’s own carrying case that includes a carabiner so you can just clip it to your bag. While it is small and requires an auxiliary connection, that doesn’t mean it’s not powered. the Djembe has an internal battery that needs to be either connected to something via USB or powered four AAA batteries. It’s a neat little speaker, and one that can just be thrown into or attached to a bag so you always have a way to share your music with friends.

The other two speakers are the Block Party and the Nomad. Both are portable Bluetooth speaker sets that can also be plugged in a used inside. The Block Party looks almost like it’s the younger sibling to the Bag of Rhythm, with a similar bag style. The difference, of course, is that the Block Party doesn’t have an Apple 30-pin connection, it only has Bluetooth and auxiliary input. It is, however, also a very powerful system for it’s size. The Block party has two 3.5-inch high-definition woofers and two 1-inch tweeters which can produce a lot of sound.

The Nomad is interesting because it can easily be mistake for an iPad bag because it has a canvas flap that covers the speakers. Between the woofers and passive radiators there’s also a pocket that will fir your mobile device so you can make sure it’s never too far from the speaker. Removing the flap will obviously give you a better sound, but the flap can be used to make sure the speakers don’t get damaged at all when you’re use the Nomad someplace outside, say while camping or at the beach.

All three speakers are set to come out sometime in 2012, with prices ranging from $59.99 for the Djembe to $249.99 for the Block Party and $199.99 for the Nomad.

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.

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.

AT&T is running a discounted sale of the Jawbone Jambox Bluetooth speaker. Said accessory is currently being sold for only $149.99 which is $50-off from its regular price of $199.99. If you’re looking to spice up your living room with good music coming from your Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices, the Jambox Bluetooth Speaker may be a good device to have. According to AT&T, the speakers have an output capacity of 85 decibles which is loud enough to fill up even the largest rooms. In addition, the Jambox is powered by a pair of proprietary, highly sophisticated acoustic drivers which produces extreme high (tweeter) and low (woofer) frequencies coming from a single, ultra-small dome speaker. This music accessory also works in concert with moving-wall passive brass radiator and airtight enclosure that delivers highs and lows. In other words, the Jambox Bluetooth speaker should produce good quality sound. The speakers supports most Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices such as tablets, smartphones and media players. The discounted price is running for a limited time only. But the product site doesn’t say until when so you better hurry up and grab yourself one of these devices if you have a need for a Bluetooth speaker right now.

Via [AT&T]