Jawbone is looking to please more of the crowd with a new, larger version of the JAMBOX portable Bluetooth speaker it brought to market in late 2010. The aptly named BIG JAMBOX weighs 2.7 lbs (1.23 kg) compared to its smaller sibling's 0.8 lbs and promises longer battery life as well as bigger sound - its rechargeable lithium-ion battery provides up to 15 hours of continuous playback, and 500 hours of standby time on a single charge.
Apart from making it bigger at 10" x 3.1" x 3.6" (256 mm x 80 mm x 93 mm), the BIG JAMBOX retains the smaller unit's textured grill design. One key difference with the BIG version is that there are more controls built into the speaker. While the original model has a power button as well as volume controls, BIG JAMBOX has power, play, skip back, skip forward and volume controls at the top of the speaker.
Connectivity is via a Bluetooth connection, headphone jack or audio line out. BIG can also connect to multiple devices at once, and users can control volume and play sequences from their device in addition to the speaker.
Inside the airtight enclosure are proprietary neodymium drivers and two opposing passive bass radiators along with a newly designed omnidirectional microphone, which is capable of 360-degree sound input with improved echo-cancellation and full duplex communication.
The speaker also has LiveAudio "three-dimensional sound" technology built-in and updates to the speaker's driver system are handled through Jawbone's MyTalk online interface.
Jawbone BIG JAMBOX will be available in three colors - Graphite Hex, White Wave and Red Dot - and is due for release in the U.S. on May 15 for US$299. Jawbone expects to introduce BIG JAMBOX in other countries in coming months. The original JAMBOX is still in the Jawbone line for $199.
Source: Jawbone