When you have a case of the Mondays, Cone knows. It plays the music that motivates you to roll out of bed and get started. When it's Friday night and you're preparing to go out, Cone knows. It plays the music that gets you pumped up and feeling sexy. When it's "Sunday morning rain is falling, steal some cover share some skin..." well, you get the idea.
Aether's new, smart Bluetooth speaker, Cone is a revolutionary marvel for music lovers, whose moods are so very often dictated by the music they are playing in their headphones. Cone takes Apple's Genius playlists to a whole new level, by learning what you like to listen to and when you like to listen to it. Cone connects to your home's Wi-Fi signal and then to the music streaming platform of your choice, to bring you music for your mood.
The initial set up of Cone requires a computer or mobile device, but afterwards, it works without any accompaniment. It doesn't have a remote control or tons of buttons either. Cone is minimalist to the core and very, very beautiful. The speaker's shape takes after its name - it is cone-shaped. The cone features either a shiny silver-looking tip, or a bright copper one and the body comes in black or white color options.
The speaker grill on the front Cone acts as the control. When you twist it to the right it plays a different song. When you twist it to the left, it replays whatever you were just listening to. If you twist it further, it plays music that is totally unrelated to what it first gave you. It also can be controlled by voice commands. Cone's built-in battery should last up to 8 hours. It's so very simple, but that's the point, says Duncan Lamb, Aether's chief product officer.
"Nobody's addressing the human problem of 'I'm busy, I'm at home, life is happening all around me, and I want some non-silence right now,'" Lamb said. "I want to reach out and do something incredibly simple. That doesn't exist in the context of streaming music."
Cone hopes to change that, to bring you the music of the moment, in the exact moment that you need it. Although Cone may look simple, its complex learning capabilities and high-quality build will cost you. Cone will retail for $399 when it is finally available. Aether is still unsure when Cone will go on sale and which music-streaming services will work with the speaker.
