tech:

taffy

Boom Unveils Bluetooth Speakers That Come Tree/Shower/Belt Ready

[Techtaffy Newsdesk]

Boom has unveiled Urchin, a Ready 4 Anything (R4A) rugged Bluetooth speaker.

The Urchin ships with a carbineer for hooking on a belt loop or backpack, a suction cup for sticking to a shower tile, and a screw mount attachment for the dash of a car, or it can be used with the optional bike mount or strap attachment. The Urchin’s silicone skin is molded with a hole at the top so it can easily be attached to most anything with everything from a screw in the wall, to a rope tied around a tree.  Its interchangeable silicone skins give the Urchin its distinct look and also make it shock and water resistant.

The Urchin is built to connect with pretty much any Bluetooth device, with support for Version 2.1 + EDR or higher, Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP), Audio/Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP), Simple Secure Pairing (SSP), Advance Audio Coding (AAC), Hands-Free Profile (HFP) 1.5 or higher, and Headset Profile (HSP).  It comes with about 10 hours of battery life and a charge time of just two hours.

The BOOM Urchin will make its debut at the International CES next year, and will be available around the same time for $149.99.

Boom is a DEI Holdings portfolio company.

Just in

Apple sued in a landmark iPhone monopoly lawsuit — CNN

The US Justice Department and more than a dozen states filed a blockbuster antitrust lawsuit against Apple on Thursday, accusing the giant company of illegally monopolizing the smartphone market, writes Brian Fung, Hannah Rabinowitz and Evan Perez.

Google is bringing satellite messaging to Android 15 — The Verge

Google’s second developer preview for Android 15 has arrived, bringing long-awaited support for satellite connectivity alongside several improvements to contactless payments, multi-language recognition, volume consistency, and interaction with PDFs via apps, writes Jess Weatherbed. 

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman is paid more than the heads of Meta, Pinterest, and Snap — combined — QZ

Reddit co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman has been blasted by Redditors and in media reports over his recently-revealed, super-sized pay package of $193 million in 2023, writes Laura Bratton. 

British AI pioneer Mustafa Suleyman joins Microsoft — BBC

Microsoft has announced British Artificial Intelligence pioneer Mustafa Suleyman will lead its newly-formed division, Microsoft AI, according to the BBC report. 

UnitedHealth Group has paid more than $2 billion to providers following cyberattack — CNBC

UnitedHealth Group said Monday that it’s paid out more than $2 billion to help health-care providers who have been affected by the cyberattack on subsidiary Change Healthcare, writes Ashley Capoot.