Blackfire Research partner, Harman Kardon, began shipping an updated version of their Omni Wireless Speakers last month, which they are calling The Omni+ Series. Like the first generation, the new Omni+ Series features Blackfire technology, “Wireless HD Audio”, for whole home connectivity. It also features the same lightweight, portable design of the Omni 10 and Omni 20, but now, they’re trading in the glossy exterior for a more sophisticated matte finish (in black and white.) Additionally, Harman Kardon has added another speaker to the series: The Omni 50+, a wireless HD indoor/outdoor speaker with a rechargeable battery (up to 5 hours of playback time), that is also “splash-proof,” so it’s perfect for your next backyard BBQ, no matter the weather.
The most exciting update that comes with the Harman/Kardon Omni+ Series is the addition of built-in Spotify Connect, which lets you play your Spotify library through the Omni+ wireless speakers directly from the internet – freeing up your phone to take calls and browse through your apps. If you have one or two of the first generation Omni wireless speakers and want to play music from your Spotify account throughout your home, you can, easily! With the addition of one or more Omni+ wireless speakers to your existing collection, you can re-broadcast Spotify Connect to your Omni speakers. Check out this blog post to learn how!
You can learn more about the new Omni+ Series on the Harman/Kardon website!
Blackfire Research partner, Harman Kardon, recently released an updated version of their Omni Wireless Speakers, which they are calling The Omni+ Series. Like the first generation, the new series features the same lightweight, portable design of the Omni 10 and Omni 20, but this time, they’re trading in the glossy exterior for a more sophisticated matte finish (in both black and white.) Additionally, Harman Kardon has added another speaker to the series: The Omni 50+, a wireless HD indoor/outdoor speaker with a rechargeable battery, perfect for your next backyard BBQ. And of course, all speakers in The Omni+ Series feature Blackfire wireless multiroom technology built-in, so your favorite song can follow you from room to room.
One of the most exciting updates in the Harman/Kardon Omni+ Series is the addition of built-in Spotify Connect which lets you play your Spotify library through the Omni+ wireless speakers directly from the internet – freeing up your phone to take calls and do other things. But what if you have one or more of the first generation Omni wireless speakers and want to play music from your Spotify account throughout your home? With the addition of one or more Omni+ wireless speakers to your home, re-broadcasting Spotify Connect to your existing Omni collection is as easy as pressing a button. Literally.
Whether you have an Omni 10, an Omni 20, or Adapt, the process will be exactly the same. After you add any speaker from the Omni+ Series to your collection, initiate normal setup (make sure you have the latest version of the Harman/Kardon App first):
Place the speaker in your desired location
Connect it to a power source
Open the Harman/Kardon app and follow the easy setup instructions
Make sure you have added the new speaker to the same Wi-Fi network as your other speaker(s) and your source device(s)
Now that you have chosen a location, a name, and the correct network for the new speaker, you can begin to re-broadcast Spotify Connect throughout your home!
With all your Omni and Omni+ wireless speakers on and connected to the same Wi-Fi network, open the Spotify App from your phone, tablet, or desktop
With the Spotify App open, click on “Devices Available” at the bottom of the page
Find the name you’ve given to your new Omni+ Wireless Speaker on the list of available devices. Since the Omni+ speakers all have Spotify Connect built-in, it will show up as an available device on the Spotify App automatically
Choose your Omni+ Speaker from the list as your playback device
Test the connection by choosing a song to play from your Spotify account – music should now be playing from your new Omni+ speaker
While music plays from your new Omni+ speaker, you have two options of how to re-broadcast Spotify Connect from you Omni+ speaker to your Omni speaker(s). You can either:
Press and hold down the “Slash Button” on the top of your Omni+ speaker until all of the Omni speakers in your collection start playing the same song
OR
Press the “Slash Button” on each individual Omni speaker so you can control which specific speaker(s) to re-broadcast to (in case you don’t want to re-broadcast Spotify Connect to all of your wireless speakers.
These same steps apply if you want to stop re-broadcasting Spotify Connect to your Omni speakers: simply press and hold down the “Slash Button” on your Omni+ speaker, or, press the “Slash Button” on each individual Omni speaker to stop the re-broadcasting.
And that’s it! Re-broadcasting Spotify Connect from an Omni+ Wireless Speaker to your first generation Omni collection is as easy as pressing a button. Now you can enjoy music from your Spotify account played from any speaker, throughout your entire home. Did someone say “Party?”
Blackfire Research kicked off 2017 in Viva Las Vegas to participate in the world’s largest, annual consumer electronics trade show, CES. At the start of each year, CES (and roughly 4,000 exhibiting companies) takes over the Las Vegas Strip, showcasing the latest in hi-tech innovations and prototypes for technology of the future. The exhibition floors were abuzz with the soon-to-be year’s hottest trends: unbelievably thin TVs,autonomous vehicles, multi-screen gaming laptops, Virtual Reality headsets, and – in what tech bloggers are dubbing “The Amazon Home Takeover,” – a wide range of smart home appliances, such as toasters, washer & dryer units, refrigerators, security systems, fans, and more, all aided by Amazon’s voice-activated speaker – Alexa.
As exciting and eye-catching as the exhibition floors were, we at Blackfire couldn’t get too distracted, for we were on a mission to present the industry’s best wireless audio solutions for a wide variety of home entertainment systems and applications.
Over the course of four days, Blackfire held meetings at a suite in the luxurious Venetian, with global industry leaders, partners, investors, and old friends, to demonstrate why we are setting the standard for wireless home entertainment. Among those who visited our suite was Arabian Prince, founding member of the rap group NWA, and driving force behind INNOV8 NEXT. As you may recall, this past November, Arabian and Blackfire’s founder and CEO, Ravi Rajapakse, sat together on a panel to discuss innovation in the music industry at the annual Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal.
This year at CES, Blackfire had plenty to boast, unveiling not one, but three wireless solutions ready for product integration: Blackfire MA – a cost-effective wireless audio solution for smartphones and multiroom music systems; Blackfire MXD – delivering high-resolution multiroom music with native GoogleCast Audio and Spotify Connect support; and Blackfire IXD – the industry’s first low-latency Wi-Fi surround sound solution enabling smart TVs and set top boxes to deliver the ultimate home theater experience. Blackfire IXD also supports multiroom media streaming, transforming the smart TV or set top box into a whole home media center.
In addition to presenting our audio solutions upstairs at the Venetian, we had the opportunity to visit products with Blackfire’s patented streaming technology on display downstairs at the Onkyo/Pioneer booth. The Onkyo SBT-A500 Network Surround Sound Bar System, The Pioneer SC-LX701 Network A/V Receiver, and the Pioneer MRX-3 Wireless Speaker all proudly displayed the Blackfire Logo. CES also revealed a new, Blackfire enabled 6.1-Channel A/V Receiver and Object-Based Surround Sound Bar from luxury consumer audio company, Integra.
At the Harman/Kardon floor in the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, we caught a glimpse of the wireless HD Audio line, The Omni+ Series, featuring Blackfire’s patented streaming technology. Recently, the Omni 10+ and the Omni 20+ were joined by the Omni Soundbar System, a 2.1 channel soundbar with a wireless subwoofer, powered by Blackfire wireless streaming technology. So, at the end of a long, but successful conference, the Blackfire Team had plenty to celebrate (over margaritas) before packing up “The Beast” and heading back to San Francisco. Here’s to a great start to 2017!
Blackfire Research is proud to partner with Harman/Kardon – a leading global manufacturer of audio systems – to make the best wireless speakers on the market. Blackfire’s technology can be found in any of Harman’s wireless Omni speakers. Previously, we discussed the Harman/Kardon Omni 10 Wireless HD Loudspeaker. Today, we’ll take another look inside a Harman/Kardon speaker, powered by Blackfire’s patented technology. This time: the Omni 20, a wireless HD stereo loudspeaker.
With a weight of 2125 grams, the Omni 20 is much larger than its predecessor, the Omni 10, and is a more powerful speaker for larger rooms, with a rated power of 4 x 15W. Compared to the smaller, circular shape of the Omni 10, the Omni 20 is an oval, with a width of 260mm.
Like the Omni 10, the Omni 20 allows for multi-room and multi-channel wireless surround sound with a multi-speaker setup. Harman/Kardon’s user-friendly design allows you to enjoy your music from anywhere in your home, all with the touch of a button: enjoy the same song throughout the entire home through “Party Mode,” or Press “Link” on the speaker to continue playing your music on another device. Multi-room and multi-channel wireless audio also lets you play different songs in different rooms.
You can stream music from your smartphone or tablet through the Harman/Kardon controller app, or, take advantage of the Omni 10’s Bluetooth capability by streaming music from your tablet or phone. While using Bluetooth, “the speaker will automatically translate the signal to Wi-Fi…all over your house for a truly flexible whole home audio experience”so you never have to worry about range limitations, dropouts, or low quality audio.
The Omni 20 supports superior, lossless HD audio without synchronization issues, playback lag or dropouts between multiple speakers, and streams up to 24bit/96kHz studio quality sound, all through Wi-Fi.
Harman/Kardon’s Omni 20 wireless HD Stereo Loudspeaker powered by Blackfire comes in either black or white and can be purchased for $299.95 each.
