The Libratone Zipp, a $400 AirPlay-ready cylinder with an array of colorful covers, will make your poor plastic speakers look like a bunch of schlubs.
As wireless technologies like Bluetooth and AirPlay have matured over the last few years, we’ve started to see a new class of speakers emerge, tune-pumping gizmos that are portable, powerful, and, in the biggest departure from their predecessors, actually kind of fun. Turns out, when you don’t have to fuss with dongles and power cords, speakers start seeming a lot less frustrating. It’s a phenomenon that’s been reflected in the look of the products, too. Take the Jambox, one of the most visible members of the fun speaker brigade; it’s a little rubber block that doesn’t look like a gadget so much as a bath toy. The Libratone Zipp follows suit. It’s a simple cylindrical speaker with a zip-up wool covering--more a piece of colorful decor that happens to play music than anything resembling a standard piece of audio gear.
The Zipp’s name is a nod to its most unique flourish: eight interchangeable zip-up coverings made from Italian wool. Not quite as beside-the-bathtub friendly as the Jambox but definitely more chic than your typical plastic speaker. The battery-powered Zipp relies on Apple’s AirPlay for wireless tuneage, and a proprietary tech called PlayDirect gives you the option of creating an ad-hoc network between the speaker and your smartphone, meaning you can connect even when you’re out and about (and without Wi-Fi). By going the Wi-Fi route, the Zipp should give you a wider wireless range and more bandwidth than you’d get with a Bluetooth speaker, in case you were really set on listening to those gigantic FLAC files during your picnic.
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