Teenage Engineering call their new product the world’s first cloud speaker. By that, they mean the OD-11 Cloud Speaker will pull its content exclusively over WiFi, presumably from your virtual storage hosted somewhere in the web (although it could probably get it from your shared devices on the network, too).
If you keep most of your music in the cloud for streaming to your phone, this new device will simply mirror that process. That way, you don’t have to leave your phone by the speaker dock when you want to stream content from your cloud drive at home, leaving the phone free for playing side-scrollers and taking pictures of your food for posting on Instagram.
Based on the original Carlsson Foundation OD-11 from 1974, the OD-11 Cloud Speaker embraces the original form factor of a simple cube with the speaker grille positioned on top to face the ceiling and spread sound throughout the room. Inside sits a 100W amp, a sound processor, a high-efficiency neodymium cone tweeter, and a long throw pulp cone woofer. For controls, it comes with a puck-shaped Bluetooth 4.0 remote that can run for years on a single button cell battery.
The speaker features a magnetized backing that allows you to mount it quickly on any metal surface, such as fridge doors, steel bed headboards or, we’re guessing, your Magic Wall. That way, you can use the speakers conveniently around the whole house even without an empty countertop to set it on.
The OD-11 Cloud Speaker is slated for release in the summer, tentatively priced at $800.