SPEAKING TO A SPEAKER: You can text commands to the latest LG wireless speakers.
The company has added some very smart features to its latest Music Flow sound bars and speakers that will be welcomed by music and movie-loving consumers, whether they're in the Android or Apple smartphone and tablet camp.
The four new editions to the range, a battery-powered portable wireless speaker, two sound bars and a streaming 3D Blu-ray Player, can be controlled by either an Android or iOS app but what's more, they're all on the HomeChat platform.
That means that if you have the Line social messaging app installed on your smartphone, you can text the speakers with instructions in natural English such as "switch off in an hour" or "start party playlist" and they will oblige.
But it's the new portable speaker (Model H4 Portable), that is the most impressive addition. It is the first LG has made with an integrated rechargeable battery, the idea being that it can be placed pretty much anywhere within a home.
It works on its own or can be paired with other Music Flow speakers and connects via WiFi and Bluetooth. It can play music from pretty much any source -- a handset or computer's music library or any of the most popular music streaming services including Spotify and Deezer.
And if you enter the house listening to music on your handset via headphone, it can automatically pick up the track being played once you pass within 30cm of the device.
The other nice touch is that unlike other wireless speakers that can connect to a phone via Bluetooth, the connection isn't interrupted when the phone receives an incoming call. Instead the music carries on playing rather than broadcasting the phone conversation.
The new range of Music Flow speakers will make their official debut at the 2015 International CES which gets underway in Las Vegas, Nevada on Jan 6. — Reuters
