The Beats Pill+ is the first new speaker Beats has announced since Apple announced the acquisition of Beats Music and Beats Electronics in May 2014. The Pill+ got a sleeker redesign this time around, but its most noticeable difference is that it clearly shows Apple's mark on the company.
As CNET points out, the Pill+ charges with an included Lightning cable, just like the iPhone. That Lightning cable, along with a power supply unit, will give the Pill+ "a quick charge in 3 hours," according to the product's page on the Beats website. When it's fully charged, the Pill+ has a battery life of 12 hours, which is an improvement on the seven hours of full battery life you get out of the Beats Pill 2.0.
Having the Lightning cable support the Pill+ is obviously an added bonus of buying the speaker for current iPhone users, who won't have to carry as many cables around. However, just because Beats is owned by Apple doesn't mean the company aims at completely alienating Android users. The Beats Pill+ app is compatible with both iOS and Android devices. Since this new app allows two users to simultaneously sync their smartphones to the speaker and alternate playing music, as CNET also describes, perhaps this will bring peace among iOS and Android users once and for all. What? A girl can dream.
You can also use the new app to wirelessly pair two Pill+ speakers for a dedicated left and right stereo playback sound. Speaking of that sound, reports have noted that this speaker delivers better sound than the previous Pill release, which is probably what really matters, anyway.
The Pill+ will retail for $229.95 and hits U.S. stores in November.
