You probably have a Bluetooth speaker in your home, but do you know how it works? Bose hopes to make it less of a mystery with its new BOSEbuild Speaker Cube, a build-it-yourself Bluetooth speaker kit.
The Speaker Cube is the first product from Bose's new line of educational products designed to get children ages 8 and up (and perhaps adults, too) excited about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Inside the kit, you find a control panel, magnet, coil, speaker assembly, customizable covers and a chassis to house it all. The only tools you'll need are a pair of scissors and tape.
It's a shame the control panel included with the BOSEbuild Speaker cube comes pre-assembled instead of teaching kids about circuits. The speaker kit also doesn't contain any batteries, meaning you'll have to plug it into the wall.
While the speaker itself will work with any Bluetooth 3.0 or higher device, the kit works best with an Apple product. That's because the BOSEbuild Sound companion app that contains instructions and customization options only works with iOS 8.0 or above. The app allows you to program different LED colors and effects, like pulsing the lights with music. It's a real bummer Bose isn't bringing its BOSEbuild Sound app to Android, limiting its appeal to non-Apple users.
The kit will retail for $150 (about £113, AU$204), which is quite a lot for a Bluetooth speaker. Bose claims it "provides the same quality sound you've come to expect from Bose" and that it's rugged enough to last for years, so maybe $150 isn't that bad. Plus, there's a 2-year warranty in case anything goes wrong.
- The Bose QuietComfort 35 headphones finally go wireless
