Audio experts JBL have become the first company to launch an official audio dock for Apple’s new Lightning dock-sporting gadgets, including the iPad Mini, iPhone 5 and fourth generation iPad.
The company has today launched two speaker docks featuring the new connection; the OnBeat Venue LT and the OnBeat Micro. As you might have guessed, the two are very different in size, with the Venue LT being a full-sized audio dock and the Micro being a much smaller, alarm clock-style speaker.
The OnBeat Micro can be powered by batteries, making it an ideal portable speaker for new Apple gadgets. It’s also got USB and AUX connections, should you want to plug something in that’s not got a Lightning dock.
The Venue LT offers much more in the way of functionality at around double the price of the Micro ($199 and £99 respectively), with Bluetooth connectivity that can accommodate up to eight device pairings. If having your device docked in one place is a pain and you want to switch tracks on the go, the Bluetooth connectivity offers an easy way of streaming music from your iOS device.
Apple has relationships with many different speaker manufacturers, ranging all the way up to the pricier and much more impressive Bowers and Wilkins. We’re expecting to see Lightning compatible speakers and docks from them in the near future, but for the time being these new JBL models offer a decent performance at a very reasonable price.
JBL also recently launched an NFC-compatible speaker in conjunction with Nokia’s flagship Lumia 920 – check it out here.
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