Jordan O'BrienEverything in the home needs to be ‘smart’ these days and Hidden believes it has the world’s first ‘truly smart speaker’, dubbed the HiddenHub.
Unlike other speakers, the HiddenHub promises to constantly be assessing the environment it has been placed in to deliver the best sound.
Whether the speaker is placed in a small bathroom or awkwardly shaped bedroom, the HiddenHub will analyse the room layout and dynamically adjust its audio profile to fit that space.
The company says that it wants to ‘bring the concert hall’ to users living rooms.
By distributing the frequencies and individually regulating each driver’s power, the HiddenHub can evenly fill every corner of the room with rich sound.
This should mean no more dead spots, no matter where the listener in the room is.
While that is the key feature behind the HiddenHub, that is not where its smarts end.
By constantly assessing the environment around the speaker, the HiddenHub can recognise when the user is walking by, adaptively switching the sound between rooms.
That means if you’ve got a multi-room setup, with a HiddenHub speaker in every single room; when the user moves from the living room to the kitchen, the music can move with them.
There should be no gaps in playback, as the music will begin from where the user left it.
Unlike some other multi-room systems, the HiddenHub can also work without a bridge or a central App.
It works natively with wireless audio protocols instead, like AirPlay, Bluetooth and DLNA; as well as WiFi Audio, which promises to deliver 100% lossless CD-quality music to the speakers.
Installers will find a wide range of places to install the HiddenHub as well, as it can be mounted on the wall or placed on any flat surface.
Design-conscious users will also enjoy the accent lighting around the speaker, which will deliver the right colour for every mood of music.
The HiddenHub is backward compatible with other products from Hidden, including the HiddenRadio and HiddenRadio2.
Those wanting to purchase the HiddenHub can do so on Kickstarter, with an estimated shipping date of March 2016.