The post JBL debuts replaceable batteries for its new portable Bluetooth speakers at CES 2024 appeared first on Best News.
]]>The new large-format JBL PartyBox Club 120 ($400) and PartyBox Stage 320 ($600) now include easily swappable batteries so you can party well beyond the boundaries of a single charge. The next-gen personal portables include the midsize JBL Xtreme 4 ($380) and the smaller Clip 5 ($80) and Go 4 ($50), all of which have longer runtimes on a single charge. The Xtreme 4 is also now a more reliable long-term investment with a replaceable battery for serviceability.
It’s been at least a couple of years since we’ve seen a new version of these specific PartyBox models. (The PartyBox 110 was released in 2021 and the 310 came out in 2020.) Many of the general specs remain the same as the previous iterations for both models. They are still IPX4 rated, which means some drink spills or light rain should be OK. You can still do basic wireless stereo pairing with two speakers for left and right output and control themed lighting displays using the JBL PartyBox app.
Although the battery life remains the same as before with up to around 12 hours for the PartyBox 110 and 18 hours for the PartyBox 320, you can now buy additional battery packs and swap them in when needed. This takes some of the worry out of hosting long parties without an outlet nearby. We’re still waiting for more info about pricing and availability for the battery packs.
Both of these large-format speakers have Bluetooth 5.3 with LE audio and Auracast – a new Bluetooth feature that allows many devices to join the same audio stream. According to JBL, you can connect unlimited Auracast-enabled JBL speakers together for bigger sound. We’re still waiting for further details, but it would seem likely that you’d connect via the JBL PartyBox app.
The specs list two mic inputs and one guitar input for both of these devices. Previously only the 310 had capability for all three, although it was one mic input and one for dual mic/instrument. If there are indeed now three inputs, it would make sense especially considering the new accessory bundle that’s also being announced.
For those who are into karaoke or just broadcasting their voice to a crowd, there’s also a new PartyBox Wireless Mic ($150) two-mic bundle available now. It’s noted as being compatible with all PartyBox speakers. The mics boast a rechargeable 20-hour runtime with an additional 12-hour dongle attachment and 10-minute fast charging for an additional two hours of use. They’re also built to minimize handling noise and have a built-in pop filter to get dodge of unwanted breathing sounds.
One of JBL’s larger, yet still personal portable Bluetooth lines is the Xtreme series. It’s big enough to warrant a shoulder strap, easy enough to carry around, yet delivers respectable sound. This year the Xtreme 4 offers much the same as the previous generation. It’s a resilient IP67-rated speaker, so you can take it pretty much anywhere, rain or shine. And you can charge other devices with its onboard power bank via USB.
The new features include an extended battery life of up to 24 hours, plus an additional six if you use the Playtime Boost Mode. It’s a nice jump from the previous 15 hours on a charge. This time around, you can also replace the battery, although it’s not really ‘swappable’. If your battery starts to fail over time, you don’t have to worry about buying a new speaker, you can just replace the battery portion itself.
As with all of today’s new announcements, the Xtreme 4 runs Bluetooth 5.3 with LE audio and supports Auracast. That means you should be able to join up with any other JBL speakers that also have Auracast.
There’s no word on updated Flip or Charge releases yet, so JBL’s last new offerings today are the extremely portable Clip 5 and Go 4. Both retain the IP67 rating from before, which is useful considering that they’re small enough to clip on things or put in your pocket. Both run Bluetooth 5.3 with LE audio and can also connect with any other JBL Auracast-enabled speakers.
The Clip 5 is said to have increased driver power to help optimize the overall audio and provide consistent bass, at least for its size. It offers up to 12 hours of battery life, plus an extra three hours in Playtime Boost mode.
The tiny JBL Go 4 is the most portable of the bunch, with an updated exterior design and strap. Its audio output remains the same as before, but its battery life is now up to 7 hours, plus an additional two when listening in Playtime Boost mode.
The JBL Xtreme 4, Clip 5 and Go 4 should be available on the company’s website in June 2024 and both the PartyBox Club 120 and Stage 320 will be available on the site in April 2024.
We’re reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.
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]]>The post Bluetooth Auracast is everywhere at CES 2024. So, what is it? appeared first on Best News.
]]>Simply put, Auracast is broadcast audio over Bluetooth. An Auracast transmitter, which in public settings can be a pro-grade add-on to a TV or a box that looks like a Wi-Fi router mounted on the wall. You can also create your own channels from a phone or laptop to share music of the sound from a TV show. This means that you’ll be able to have the audio from muted airport TVs beamed to your headphones or earbuds when traveling. Auracast will also allow you to keep tabs on flight and gate information without interrupting your layover entertainment.
During its CES demo, Bluetooth SIG, the organization that defines Bluetooth standards, allowed show-goers to experience the aforementioned airport TV scenario. It was easy to switch between two sports broadcasts in a faux bar, simply by tapping one or the other in the Auracast menu. Another tap let us hear a private stream from a laptop, which was password protected so only the proper invitees can access it. There’s also a use case where live audio from a lecture or performance can be broadcast via Auracast directly to earbuds, hearing aids or other Bluetooth listening devices. Impressively, there’s no lag across any of the options as the visuals matched up perfectly each time.
“The analogy I would use is very similar to setting up a personal hotspot,” Chuck Saban, senior director for market development at the Bluetooth, explained about those private Auracasts. “You would set up a personal audio hotspot, it’s going to be encrypted, and then anybody who is around me who has that passcode can listen.”
Auracast will also help you link multiple Bluetooth speakers together at the press of a button. Until now, most companies had you select the devices in an app. But companies like JBL are putting dedicated Auracast buttons on some of their new devices. On the company’s PartyBox line, for example, you’ll press the button on the main speaker you connected to your phone and then all you have to do is press the button on successive units to link them. What’s more, you can chain together an infinite number of speakers in this scenario.
Auracast is a feature of Bluetooth LE Audio that arrived with Bluetooth 5.2. So technically, any earbuds, headphones, hearing aids, speakers and other devices that have that version of the wireless standard will be able to tune into Auracast. However, Bluetooth 5.3 offers a more robust implementation of the broadcast audio tool.
“What you get with 5.3 is the ISOC channels capability in the core that allows multiple independent channel capabilities,” Saban said. “You effectively can parse out the left and right [channels] from the source itself.” He further explained that the processing of all of that has been moved to the phone from the earbuds or headphones themselves, which extends battery life, performance and efficiency for Bluetooth devices.
Plenty of Bluetooth devices support Bluetooth 5.2 or 5.3 and LE Audio. Since Auracast is part of Bluetooth, there’s no extra tech needed to include it, the products just need to support the recent versions of the wireless standard. From there, it’s up to the individual companies to flip the switch on LE Audio and Auracast. Over the course of 2023 and here at CES, tons of audio brands have said they are planning to add support for the feature via over-the-air updates later in 2024.
We’re reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.
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]]>The post Samsung is upgrading a bunch of audio capabilities on its phones, tablets and earbuds appeared first on Best News.
]]>When users listen to the other person through their earbuds, they'll hear the words translated into their own language. Meanwhile, the other person can hear them in their language through the phone speaker. The user can also swap the order of speech during the conversation by tapping on their Galaxy Buds. Samsung says this eliminates the need to pass a phone back and forth when trying to converse in two different languages. When we tested out Live Translate on the Galaxy S24 with a phone call, though, we experienced a noticeable lag before Samsung's computerized system interpreted our words. Still, this could be a valuable tool for travelers visiting foreign countries.
The company has also revealed that it's expanding Auracast support to its phones and tables, including the Galaxy S24 series. Auracast is a Bluetooth technology that allows users to broadcast audio from devices, such as phones and TVs, to an unlimited number of nearby headphones, speakers and earbuds. Samsung initially made the technology available for its smart TVs only. With this Galaxy Buds update, owners will be able to use Auracast to transmit audio from their mobile devices to multiple earbuds.
In addition, Galaxy Buds2 Pro and Buds2 users will be able to enjoy 360 Audio if they pair their earbuds with certain Samsung Neo QLED, QLED and OLED TV models. By doing so, their earbuds will be able to track their head movements for an immersive watching or listening experience. Finally, Galaxy Buds2 Pro users will be able to use Samsung's Auto Switch feature to automatically switch their connection between the company's tablets, Galaxy Books and TVs and its phones if they need to take a phone call. These features are making their way to Galaxy Buds2 Pro, Buds2 and Buds FE users starting in late February.
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