Here's What I'd Like to See More of: Technology Manufacturer Choice No take down one of your older cloud-connected products.
In this case, we're talking about Bose, which just a few months ago was ready to drop cloud functionality from its decade-old line of SoundTouch Wi-Fi speakers and soundbars, a move that would have essentially taken their minds away.
Now Bose is changing course, and while direct access to music streaming services is still in question, the LAN functionality will remain. More importantly, Bose is opening up its SoundTouch technology to third-party developers.
According to the original plan, SoundTouch owners will see their apps go dark by February 18th, meaning they will no longer be able to stream tunes from Spotify, Pandora, TuneIn, and the like. from the SoundTouch application. Instead, they will have to send audio to the speakers via HDMI, Toslink, AUX or Bluetooth. In other words, their SountTouch smart speakers, which cost anywhere from $400 to $1,500, are about to die.
Naturally, Angry SoundTouch users share a piece of their collective wisdom with Boseand it looks like Bose actually listened. As reported by ArsTechnicapopular home audio brand, has conceded to some extent: while it is still cutting its cloud service for SoundTouch speakers (the deadline has been extended to May 6), it retain Spotify Connect and AirPlay functionalitythe latter of which will allow multiple SoundTouch speakers to play the same tunes simultaneously.
And while the SoundTouch app will lose access to cloud features, it will still allow you to control local features of your SoundTouch speakers, including Bluetooth streaming, AirPlay and Spotify Connect, remote play, pause and volume, speaker grouping, and setup and configuration.
Moreover, Bose will allow developers to use the SoundTouch API, which means they will be able to create their own applications to control the speakers.
It's not unusual for owners of soon-to-be-disrupted technologies to urge manufacturers to open source their products before they become paperweights. This happened when Google has decided to stop supporting its first and second generation Nest thermostats.and although Google has so far remained indifferent, hackers took matters into their own hands.
So it's nice to see a big brand like Bose open up the SoundTouch API, essentially giving their nearly defunct products new life.
This news is part TechHive's in-depth review of the best smart speakers.
