Cyclist's speaker does music and mobile
(Credit:
MyCyfi)
I'm not sure how well this works, but it sounds like a great idea.
A new company called CyFi is selling a clip-on, wireless speaker for bikes that is about the size of a deck of cards.
The speaker offers "CD audio quality," according to company claims. It can also receive audio commands for cell phones supporting hands-free dialing.
If you're like me, you like listening to music or a podcast while exercising outdoors, but feel unsafe wearing earbuds that block out life noise. It's hard enough to hear a regular car coming 'round the bend with headphones in. I can't tell you how many times I've almost been hit by a Prius.
I've seen many joggers and bikers doing the one earbud in and one earbud dangling routine.
(Credit:
MyCyfi)
It makes sense then, that someone would try to come up with a solution. Enter CyFi, which was invented by Jeff Lotman, an avid cyclist.
"Music makes biking more fun. It enhances the experience and motivates you to push harder," Lotman says on his site.
The iPod/iPod Nano version for $199.95 comes with a little transmitter that plugs into your iPod. You can then chuck your iPod in your backpack and control it from the speaker. The A2DP Bluetooth-capable model for $179.95 syncs with a cell phone, smartphone, or MP3 player.
The company advertises it as a sports speaker for bicyclists, but it seems like you could really use it anywhere your hands are occupied. The speaker has a range of 30 feet, and a battery life of five or six hours, depending on which model you buy.
CyFi's speaker will be available September 22 from the company's own online store.
CyFi speaker kit for the iPod or iPod Nano.
(Credit: MyCyfi)
In a software-driven world, it's easy to forget about the nuts and bolts. Whether it's cars, robots, personal gadgetry or industrial machines, Candace Lombardi examines the moving parts that keep our world rotating. A journalist who divides her time between the United States and the United Kingdom, Lombardi has written about technology for the sites of The New York Times, CNET, USA Today, MSN, ZDNet, Silicon.com, and GameSpot. E-mail her at candacelombardi@gmail.com. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET. 
I don't see much point in using a wireless device on a bicycle, where you are going to be passed by car drivers using Bluetooth headsets constantly. Yes, Bluetooth frequency hops among 79 channels, so there should be plenty of interoperability, but then, why stream audio through your body at 2400MHz when you don't need to? As to it having "CD" quality is a bunch of hooey. Bluetooth A2DP devices all use a codec called SBC, which was invented before MP3, and sounds like it, because MP3 is far superior, just as MP4 is far superior to MP3, and high quality analog recordings sound better than any digital format.
But I digress. The audio performance needed by an open-air speaker for use on a bicycle is not great from a dynamic range standpoint, but just to hear most music in most cycling environs, the volume will need to be pumped, and so the SBC codec artifacts will be audible, which leads me to preferring a hardwired SoundDock Portable(R) any day of the week.
tks
Jeff Lotman
My only concern is that this seems somewhat pricey for a device with no built-in audio player.
Same here!
tks
Jeff Lotman
- by Artrepp April 11, 2009 4:16 AM PDT
- I just purchased iPod version (price reduced to $149). This thing is amazing! I've had a few occasions to actually ride with it (since here in the northeast the rain has been a plenty!) and the sound is perfect. Yet, it's also a great little portable speaker, which will be nice on the deck, beach, boat, etc.
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