You can almost hear the wheels of LG Electronics scientists’ brains cranking as they pondered the heavy topic of how to create a home speaker that outdoes Amazon Echo, Google Home, Microsoft’s in-the-works Harman/Kardon-powered home speakers. And then the final click as their scientists chimed a chorus of “Let’s make it float!”
Yes, that’s what LG Electronics is going to unveil at CES 2017 next week, according to a report from The Verge. The levitation is achieved via electromagnets, and the Bluetooth-enabled Levitating Portable Speaker is made up of two distinct components: the base, which contains the subwoofer and doubles up as the wireless charging pad, and the speakers, which float above the base for upto 10 hours of play time per charge.
Once the power starts to drop, so will the speaker, until it does a gentle lunar-style landing on to the base unit. It’ll still play music while charging, but won’t look nearly as cool as when it’s up in the air doing its thing.
The idea of a levitating speaker isn’t new, mind you. First there was the OM/ONE, which claims to be the world’s first levitating Bluetooth speaker and available on Amazon.com for a not-so-modest $453.42 + $110.90 shipping; then there’s the Air 2 (pronounced Air Squared), also on Amazon.com but for a much more reasonable $149.95 with FREE Shipping; and let’s not forget the Mars by CrazyBaby which, at the time was the world’s only levitating speaker with a Subwoofer built into the base unit, just like LG’s Levitating Portable Speaker, and retailing for $328.98.
The only problem is, none of these speakers are “smart”, in the sense that they’re not powered by an Alexa or a Google Assistant or a Cortana. They’re just floating speakers that use powerful magnets to achieve a stunning visual experience…for about five minutes.
LG hasn’t said how much their LPS will cost or when it might be out, but we should hear more from them at CES 2017 in a few days.
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Source: LG
