Once upon a time, we only expected to use one Bluetooth speaker at a time, but in this era of wireless multiroom audio systems, one hardly seems enough. Various manufacturers are tackling this problem in their own way, and many of the solutions only allow for stereo pairing. With the launch of the new PartyUp feature, Ultimate Ears aims to allow users to connect many more speakers than that.
The new feature, part of the apps available for the UE Boom, UE Boom 2, and UE Megaboom speakers, allows for more than 50 of those speakers to be connected at once. For those who already have the apps installed, the new feature will become available as a free over-the-air update to the existing apps. If you haven’t yet bought into the Ultimate Ears series, the feature will be available as soon as you download the app.
“Music connects people in extraordinary ways,” Ultimate Ears general manager Charlotte Johs said in a statement. “Now, when friends come together, they can easily connect their speakers without worrying about limitations. Whether you and your crew are on a rooftop without a power outlet, or 50 of your closest pals are floating down a river without a dry spot in sight, PartyUp lets the party grow within seconds.”
While the new feature allows multiple speakers to be connected at once, that isn’t all it does. Siri and Google Now voice integration is also supported, as are Tap controls, allowing playback to be controlled across multiple speakers at once from your mobile devices.
If you haven’t yet bought into the Ultimate Ears series, the feature will be available as soon as you download the app, but only for the speakers mentioned above. The company’s popular UE Roll and UE Roll 2 speakers aren’t supported.
The new PartyUp feature is available for the UE Boom and UE Megaboom apps, both of which are available for iOS and Android users in their respective app stores. For more information, see the newly added PartyUp section of the Ultimate Ears website.
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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