Bose launches its smallest smart speaker, announces Google Assistant support

Bose is bringing its most compact smart speaker yet with the Home Speaker 300. It’s a two-pound speaker that is just a little over six inches tall and promises “powerful bass and true 360-degree sound.” In the US it retails for US$259.95. Its looks mirror that of the Home Speaker 500, but shrinking it down means it loses the LCD screen that shows album artwork. It does, however, retain the same playback controls on top as well as several preset buttons to let you do things like pull up your favourite internet radio station or playlist. You can use voice commands to request music to be played or a device that supports AirPlay 2 or Bluetooth. A thin LED strip in the front will let you know if the mic is activated. This speaker can link up with other Bose smart speakers and soundbars to create a multi-room music system. There is no wireless listening here, though, as it doesn’t come with a built-in battery. In the US, the Home Speaker 300 will be available for pre-order starting June 4^th and it’ll hit stores then starting June 20^th.

Aside from launching this new speaker, Bose also announced that its Home Speaker 500, Soundbar 700, and Soundbar 500 now support Google Assistant. If you have the latest Bose Music app, you will be able to pick Google Assistant as your preferred voice assistant instead of Alexa.

Source: The Verge

Leak of Bose QuietComfort 35 II tipped to get Google Assistant support

Last month we reported about a leaked headset from Bose and now we get more details about it and its features. Bose is reportedly releasing the QuietComfort 35 II and with it includes support for Google Assistant. The Verge previously spotted an unidentified button the QC35 II but they didn’t know what it was for. 9to5Google got their hands on the QC35 II’s fact sheet from Bose retail employees and they saw information on Google Assistant information there which states: “With your Google Assistant built in, you can control music, send & receive texts, and get answers using just your voice. Just press and hold the Action button, and start talking.” Android Police got a copy of a leaked official product video in French, which you can check out in this link.

The QC 35 II looks similar to its predecessor with the exception of the button. It also comes in the same black and silver color options. It has “adjustable noise cancelation” and “noise-rejecting dual microphone” for “clear calls and accurate Google Assistant response in noisy environments.” This pair is supposedly lighter at 5.7oz (compared to the 8.3oz of the original QC 35), which should be great for longer use. Battery is still rated at 20 hours. Price might be the same as the original QC35 as was reported from a buyer in Australia who made a down payment for AU$499 (around CA$490) for a pair of QC35 IIs, which is the price of the current model.

Bose might have accidentally leaked upcoming/unreleased headphones via email newsletter

It looks like Bose’s team in charge of sending out its email newsletter might have let a secret slip. Some keen-eyed recipients of the company’s email newsletter noticed something odd about the featured image, which you can see above. It looks like the company’s noise-cancelling QC35 headphones but upon deeper inspection it features a button that isn’t there on said headset. Underneath the left earcup there is a pill-shaped button. The image’s filename is even more telling: email_QC35upgrade_img3.png. People are starting to speculate that this could be a new iteration of the QC35. It might be due an upgrade as the original one came out in June last year.

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What our tech lovin' mommy friends want for Mother's Day

By Sonya Davidson

Ask any mom (myself included) what we want for Mother's Day. We will tell you that we'd like to stay out of the kitchen (especially the cleaning up part) and we'd really just like some time to do something we enjoy doing like reading, sleeping in, do something creative, watching movies, time to take care of ourselves without interruption by someone asking what's for lunch? Where are my soccer socks? or is the laundry done yet? We love you all but seriously, just a few hours of peace is bliss. 

So, when we asked some of our tech lovin' mommy friends what would be on their gift lists, it came to no surprise that their ideas tie right into our collective desire for "me time" and of course, the kids can shower us with all the hugs and kisses too!  

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