soigne aircraftman: Pure unveils Jongo for low-cost multi-room audio, revamped Pure Connect app

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Pure unveils Jongo for low-cost multi-room audio, revamped Pure Connect app

Many consider Sonos the main game in town for mobile-friendly, multi-room audio. Pure wants to give us at least one major alternative. Its new Jongo speaker line delivers multi-speaker streaming for radio, podcasts and Pure Music subscriptions across the home through WiFi, rather than a proprietary network, and includes Bluetooth for those who want to skip the network altogether. The system promises to cut the traditionally high costs of spreading sound throughout the home, as well: the inaugural Jongo S340B portable speaker (at left) coming in the first quarter of the year should cost $229, or about $70 less than its stationary Play:3 rival. An A140B audio-to-WiFi bridge (bottom) and a 100W S640B flagship speaker (top) should fill out Pure's plans when they ship later in the first half of the year, although there's no immediate pricing for a point of reference.

In tandem with the hardware, there's a matching refresh of the Pure Connect app. The software update brings in the control of Jongo speakers that you'd expect, but it also promises simpler navigation, tie-ins with Audioboo's user-recorded spoken word content and a dedicated discovery area to find music beyond the beaten path. Android and iOS users should have access to the app during the first quarter. Pure Music, a music store and a social listening component should reach the app in the near future, although Americans will have to wait until sometime in 2013 to use the service that their British and German friends have today.

Gallery: Pure Jongo @ CES 2013