Apple officially announced that its big hardware spring event will take place next week, on April 20th, but that doesn’t mean this past week wasn’t huge — it was. A ton of new gadgets were announced. From DJI’s latest drone to fancy new bookshelf speakers, solar-powered headphones to several new webcams. Here’s what you need to know.
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JBL 4309 Bookshelf Speakers
CourtesyThe JBL 4309 studio monitors are essentially smaller and more affordable versions of the company’s high-end 4349 studio monitors, which run for $7,500. Each 4309 loudspeaker is decked out with the company’s 1-inch tweeter, 6.5-inch mid-bass driver and twin-firing reflex ports, so that it sounds as dynamic as its larger sibling. And each speaker looks stunning, with a blue baffle, wooden veneer (either walnut or black walnut) and cloth grille — they’ve already been given a 2021 Red Dot Design Award. The JBL 4309 studio monitors will be available for purchase this June.
Price: $2,000/pair
Canon EOS R3
CourtesyCanon announced the development of the EOS R3, the company’s most high-end mirrorless camera to date that’s most definitely aimed to compete against the Nikon z9. It will be the first EOS series camera to be equipped with the company’s new 35mm full-frame, back illuminated, stacked CMOS sensor. It will also have a DIGIC X image processor “for high-speed image processing that realizes high-speed continuous shooting of up to 30 frames-per-second.” And, according to the released photo (above), it will have a pretty robust body with a built-in vertical hand grip. No price or release date have been announced.
Price: TBA
Roku Voice Remote Pro
CourtesyRoku announced three different new(ish) products this week. There’s its new entry-level 4K player, the Express 4K Plus, which replaces the Roku Premiere. There’s the Streambar Pro, which is basically a renamed version of the Smart Soundbar (now defunct). And, most notably, there’s the Roku Voice Remote Pro. It’s the first Roku remote that comes with a rechargeable battery and offers hands-free “Hey Roku” voice commands. It also comes with a headphone jack and a dedicated button for Apple TV+. The Roku Voice Remote Pro costs $30 and will work with any Roku TV or streaming device.
Price: $30
Beosound Emerge
CourtesyBang & Olufsen’s newest high-end wireless speaker, the Beosound Emerge, is designed to blend in with the other books on your bookshelf (although it kind of looks a little like a shrunk down version of the Flatiron building). It’s a relatively small powered speaker supports a number of wireless connectivities, including AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, Chromecast and Bluetooth. It can be set up to work as a smart speaker that responds to “Hey Google” voice commands, too. It will be available this fall in either black or gold (the latter will cost an extra $200).
Price: $699+
Spotify Car Thing
SpotifySpotify has officially announced its first-ever gadget. It’s called Car Thing (yes, really) and it’s essentially a glorified Spotify remote for people who have cars with no built-in Bluetooth. The other feature that makes it better than just using your smartphone to control your Spotify music in your car is voice control — it responds to “Hey Spotify” voice commands to play sounds or playlists, as well as play/pause and skip tracks. In addition to voice commands, you can control Car Thing via its navigation buttons, large knob and touchscreen.
