We know a little more about the first product of Syng, a start-up founded by former Apple employees, and not just any, since it is Christopher Stringer, a disciple de Jony Ive, and Afrooz Family, key HomePod engineer.
Their first speaker will be called Cell Alpha, and it will be a big baby twice the size of the HomePod: 30 centimeters in diameter, 30 centimeters in height (43 cm with the included table stand) and almost 6 kg. The product has not yet been officially presented, but Protocol found a pre-order page listing a price of $ 1,500.
According to multiple images, the Cell Alpha will necessarily rest on a foot and will look like a large, partly transparent glass sphere. It makes you think of an XXL version of the legendary speakers SoundStick… Which are also the result of a collaboration between the studio of Jony Ive and Harman Kardon.
This enclosure will be equipped with two woofers, facing up and down, and three pairs of tweeters and of drivers medium frequencies, arranged at 360 °. Three microphones will be integrated to measure the acoustics of the room and adjust the sound accordingly, an aspect that Afrooz Family worked on for the HomePod.
In addition to AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect compatibility, the Cell Alpha will have an HDMI ARC port to be used as a home cinema. It will also have its own app called Syng Space.
Syng will apparently put a lot of emphasis on spatial sound (making it possible to “emulate” several distinct speakers), which will serve to offer a more striking rendering in terms of home cinema, but which could also be used for other uses, such as augmented / virtual reality. We can use three Cells simultaneously to simulate a 7.1 installation – a small discount is apparently provided for the purchase of several units.
The Cell Alpha, which is scheduled for this quarter, should be followed by other Cell speakers, or even products that will not necessarily all be marketed under the Syng brand. Following the example of Devialet, the American start-up could enter into licensing agreements with other manufacturers.
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