Wireless sound systems that connect smartphones and tablets to speakers are not new, but throughout 2013 we have seen more systems that also connect wirelessly to the TV. Samsung’s new Shape speaker can do that. With Shape Samsung is trying to take on Sonos.
Shape connects wirelessly to your TV
Sonos and Airplay are the most widely used wireless audio platforms. Samsung hopes to offer an alternative with a new system called Shape and two new products. The M7 is a speaker and the Hub is the brain of the system.
Samsung Shape is a wireless sound system that can connect wirelessly to a Samsung Smart TV
The Hub can be connected to your WiFi router at home, and allows you to connect several M7 speakers, with options such as multi-room setups. From a Galaxy smartphone you can beam locally stored music on the phone or a NAS as well select streaming services. The M7 speaker can also connect wirelessly to your Samsung TV, but in this scenario it uses Bluetooth viva the SoundShare system, instead of WiFi. An obvious extension of the Shape system could be to include Shape technology directly into a Samsung Smart TV, but Samsung has not announced any plans to do so at this point.
Samsung’s Shape system could become an alternative to Sonos, who recently launched asoundbar, but right now Shape only supports Samsung’s products, such as their Smart TVs and the Galaxy devices. The M7 will be available in mid-October for $399 and Hub for $49. There is no mention of an international launch.
It is interesting to note that several wireless sound system that connect the TV to speakers have launched during 2013, and FlatpanelsHD will take a closer look in an article soon.
