Tag Archives: speakers

Portable Battery-free iPhone Speaker for Immersive Music Anywhere

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The ubiquity of smartphones has made these communication tools the perfect portable media players as well, allowing owners to enjoy their tunes, podcasts, and even videos at any given time or place. But while smartphones are great for private listening, even the most powerful smartphone speakers have limits, especially once the sound starts to distort at maximum volumes. Speakers can help spread the sound, but only as much and as far as their batteries or power cords take them. This distinctive smartphone speaker, in contrast, harnesses the laws of physics to take your tunes farther and immerse you and your friends in moving sounds, all without using any power and looking quite handsome to boot!

Designer: Ooi Masato of Pit-A-Pat for Shimawa

Click Here to Buy Now: $152 $179 (15% off at checkout). Hurry, Holiday Sale ends in 24 hours!

At one point in time, there was a breed of speakers that boasted requiring no electricity, no batteries, and absolutely no power at all to operate. These accessories acted as echo chambers to naturally amplify sounds, offering a simple and sustainable option to common speakers. Most of these, however, used plastic or at most wood to avoid the effects of vibrations, leaving their aesthetics and textures much to be desired.

The speaker is an innovative and unique take on this kind of no-power smartphone speaker that, unlike the rest of its kin, uses metal to offer a product whose value goes beyond its function. It uses Duralumin, a type of aluminum alloy that’s used in the aviation and aerospace industries because of its vibration-resistant properties and durability. Thanks to this, all you need to do is insert your smartphone into the speaker and feel the sound envelope you from all sides.

The choice of metal for this speaker’s material also gives the battery-free speaker a unique aesthetic you’d be hard-pressed to find in similar products. With a minimalist and retro industrial style, the speaker adds some character to any surface or space it is placed on. This elegant design is achieved through the use of the famed golden ratio to create a more natural proportion of the form’s shapes, particularly the different sizes of the speaker holes. Whether standing on its own or holding your smartphone, the speaker easily grabs your attention without being dominating or distracting.

And if you want to give the speaker a little more oomph, figuratively and literally, there are custom accessories you can screw into the holes to tweak the experience a bit. Reminiscent of airplane engines, Jet focuses and delivers sound in the direction the attachments are facing. Bloom, on the other hand, diffuses sound along the curves that try to resemble a blooming flower. Enjoy an immersive audio experience with this electricity-free smartphone speaker that requires no power to use and looks captivating anywhere you place it.

Click Here to Buy Now: $152 $179 (15% off at checkout). Hurry, Holiday Sale ends in 24 hours!

The post Portable Battery-free iPhone Speaker for Immersive Music Anywhere first appeared on Yanko Design.

Futuristic Bluetooth speaker concept is inspired by electric cars

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Bluetooth speakers are a dime a dozen these days, but the majority of them share one particular trait. They’re designed with aesthetics to fit inside the house, sometimes looking like elegant pieces of interior decoration even. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, but they do imply or even explicitly state that these speakers should not be taken out of the house. There will always be times when you wish you could bring your trusty wireless speaker along with you, but at the same time don’t want to take out what looks like a military weapon out of your bag or car. This Bluetooth speaker aims to strike a balance between durability and bold design, and it does so by taking a few pages out of an electric vehicle’s design book.

Designer: Billy Ernst

Electric vehicles or EVs are touted to be the cars of the future, mostly because of their more eco-friendly mode of operation and advanced electronics, but there are some EV makers that take that identity beyond just internal components. Rivian’s adventure vehicles, for example, employ a combination of angular and muscular elements, sharp lines, bold proportions, and distinctive lighting that make the EVs look like TRON vehicles come to life. It’s no wonder, then, that the RIFT Bluetooth speaker concept gives off that same futuristic vibe, demonstrating a design that looks great not just outdoors but indoors as well.

Unlike regular speakers, RIFT comes in an oval ring shape that leaves its middle completely hollow. With the speaker mesh that wraps around the exterior surface, it almost looks like the tread of a tank. Although it comes in different colors, the options are limited to earthy tones that match the EV maker’s own selection, including Glacier White, Rivian Blue, Compass Yellow, and Midnight Black. The LED lighting on the rim serves as a unique accent that brings a sci-fi aesthetic while also providing functionality as a battery level and pairing indicator.

There aren’t too many details in the design that distract from the overall appearance. There are only four control buttons for power, volume, and pairing, and they’re mostly hidden from view on the inner surface of the loop. The more visible button on the top serves both as pause/play control as well as branding. Other than these, the entire body of the speaker is one unbroken ring, giving it a unified and bold appearance while also evoking a sense of stability and reliability.

Given the shape of the speaker, there might be some concerns about the direction that the sound will travel because of the positioning of the speakers. There’s also mention of any dust and water resistance that is a must-have for any adventurous pieces of electronic equipment. Of course, these are just implementation details that wouldn’t really affect the core concept of a bold and daring speaker that can accompany you on your adventures, even if that means just staying at home.

The post Futuristic Bluetooth speaker concept is inspired by electric cars first appeared on Yanko Design.

Portable sound monitors helps you create music from the comfort of your room

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Gone are the days when you will have to book studio time and spend a lot of money to be able to produce, mix, and create your own music. One tool that artists and producers need to be able to create music is to have great studio monitors so they will be able to fine tune the music they’re creating. We’re now seeing these monitors become more portable and lighter to cater to those who want to produce music from the comfort of their own homes.

Designer: AIAIAI

The Unit-4 monitors by Danish audio makers AIAIAI is one such tool that these indie music creators can use to produce their works of art. These studio monitors portable (weighing at just 2.5kg), battery-powered, and completely wireless. This means you can lug it around to wherever you are working in your house and you will not be bogged down by cables and power cords. Well, at least until the battery runs out after around 20 hours.

When it comes to quality, it can be comparable to the boxy, bigger sound monitors that studios use. It has Flat +/-2dB frequency response from 50Hz to 20kHz and can give a bass extension down to 40Hz with its 2-way active sound monitors. It has a 4-inch woofer and 1-inch silk-dome tweeter with crossover at 3kHz. It is also eco-friendly as the bass reflex enclosure is made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic which also contributes to the sound quality since it minimizes resonance.

If you want to use the speakers the old school way, there is a 3.5mm mini-jack and 6.3mm balanced TRS inputs. It comes with a magnetic steel grill to protect the woofer and tweeter but you also have the option to not use it if you feel it interferes with the sound. You can get a pair of the AIAIAI UNIT-4 for $800.

The post Portable sound monitors helps you create music from the comfort of your room first appeared on Yanko Design.