Instead of re-modeling your living room or other parts of your home to hide a set of unsightly speakers, the Klipsch LightSpeaker system lets you stash them in pre-existing 5 or 6-inch recessed lighting fixtures. Each unit is composed of a 20-watt full range speaker with a 2.5-inch wide dispersion drive, but they also feature a 10-watt fully dimmable LED bulb rated for 40,000 hours so you don’t have to sacrifice lighting for sound.

Of course having to run speaker wire to each unit would completely negate the convenience of its design, so the whole system is wireless, relying on a 2.4GHz transmitter with a (somewhat limited) range of 50 feet that can support up to 8 different LightSpeakers at one time. And using an included remote you can setup two separate listening zones in your home with different music sources for each. “Coming soon” for around $600.

[ Klipsch LightSpeaker System ] VIA [ Uncrate ]

By Evan Ackerman

Somewhere in South Korea lives a chicken. This chicken lays eggs that are, in fact, reasonably attractive and potentially useful computer peripherals. Break one open (the two halves are joined by magnets) and inside you will find 4 watts of yolk-y audio goodness with a built-in digital amplifier. Designed for things like PMPs and Netbooks, the Eggy speakers are USB powered, and while the picture makes them look seamless and slick, the USB wire and audio-in wire and the wire that connects the left and right speakers are sure to make a mess of things, and I also have no idea where the little speaker stands come from. So, the concept is pretty cool, but in real life things may look a bit different.

S&J Co. has the right idea here: instead of designing electronics, just wait for some freak of nature to design them for you… If you have an infinite amount of chickens laying an infinite amount of eggs, you’re pretty much guaranteed that one of those eggs will be a pair of speakers (or anything else you want, for that matter). I’m sure S&J Co. doesn’t actually have an infinite amount of chickens (an infinite amount of anything presenting some significant logistical challenges), but that doesn’t preclude them from getting lucky with a finite amount of chickens, which is obviously what happened.

The Eggy speaker will be putting on an appearance at CES 2010, and if S&J Co. picks up some distribution channels, we should all feel very sorry for their poor mutant chicken.

[ Press Release ]

By Evan Ackerman

As a matter of form, it is necessary for me to object on scientific grounds to these speakers being called “DNA” speakers. DNA is a double helix, not just two wiggly polymer strands… I mean, I guess it’s possible that these speakers are DNA after a helicase enzyme has zipped through and broken all of the hydrogen bonds, but if that’s the case, then it really should have said so on the box.

Oh, wait. DNA stands for Dynamic Neural Audio? Never mind then. ‘Course, I can’t tell you what “Dynamic Neural Audio” means either, but I can tell you that these speakers are bendy, powered by USB or AC or batteries, come with an integrated volume control, and cost $40.

[ Amazon ] VIA [ Craziest Gadgets ]

The built-in speakers on the Apple MacBooks aren’t that bad, though like with most laptops, they don’t reproduce the mid to low frequencies as well as a home stereo would. So the BassJump is essentially a portable subwoofer specifically designed for the MacBook that complements its built-in speakers with a bit of extra bass. It connects to the laptop with a single USB cable which is also used for power, and it includes its own software which blends the sound coming from the MacBook’s speakers with the bass coming from the subwoofer to produce an overall fuller, richer sound. $79.99 from Twelve South.

[ BassJump ] VIA [ swissmiss ]

I find that headphones are more than sufficient for my audio needs while traveling, but if for some reason you feel the need to bring a desktop-like speaker with you then the Orbit USB from Altec Lansing should fit the bill. It’s powered by the USB connection, which usually doesn’t bode well when it comes to volume levels, but its size (it fits in the palm of a generously sized hand) and something Altec Lansing calls ‘audio alignment technology’ apparently dishes out “astonishing volume.” It’s also got a small pop-up stand on the bottom, and the 16-inch USB cable winds into the base for easy transport. $49.95 according to the Altec Lansing website.

[ Altec Lansing Orbit USB ] VIA [ Acquire ]

It’s hard to find a compact speaker that doesn’t, well, suck when it comes to sound performance. And I can’t say for sure whether or not the U-Tube i-Speaker from Brando continues in that tradition of non-excellence, but it at least includes a rechargeable lithium-ion battery so it’s not just relying on power from the headphone jack of an MP3 player or a laptop. The tube design might also be of some benefit when it comes to this speaker’s sound performance, but with a price tag of just $19 I have my doubts. It’s definitely compact though… I’ll give it that.

[ USB U-Tube i-Speaker ] VIA [ Datensklaven ]

Hot on the heels of the retro-themed Mighty Mini Speakers we brought you on Monday comes this slightly larger, though still miniature, boombox speaker dock for your iPods. And let me emphasize the ’s’ on iPods since this thing supports almost every iPod released in the past 5 years like the Mini, all iterations of the Nano and every version of the Touch and iPhone including the 3GS.

The speaker doesn’t require any batteries, which is nice, though that also means it will be draining power from your player, reducing your playtime. And since it also uses the iPod’s dock connector, you won’t be plugging in and recharging while it’s playing either.

$31.99 from USBFever.com (in your color choice of black, black or black) which doesn’t include a miniature square of cardboard so you can rekindle your fresh breakdancing moves.

[ Retro Cassette Stereo Mini Speaker for iPod / iPhone ] VIA [ Fosfor Gadgets ]

Call me cynical, but I’m finding it hard to believe these miniature Amp and Boom Box speakers provide anything other than a tinny, low-quality listening experience. Each one is barely larger than a quarter, but include a mini-USB port for charging the battery and a 3.5mm aux-in jack for connecting any external audio source. On a full charge they’re good for about 2.5 hours of playback, but something tells me the novelty will turn to annoyance somewhere around the 7-minute mark. ~$25 from BB Shopping.

[ Might Mini Speakers ] VIA [ technabob ]

By Evan Ackerman

Short on speakers? How about you try a K-box, a speaker that turns anything you stick it to into a better speaker using some kind of “patented ‘gel-audio’ technology.” Things like this have been around for a little while, but the K-box is supposed to put out clean, powerful bass (that is “guaranteed to deafen your neighbours”) all the way down to 40 hz, something that other stick-on speakers are notoriously lousy at. It’s about the size of an iPhone and comes with a 20 hour battery that recharges via USB.

Although you can supposedly buy this right now, there’s only one picture, and it’s very render-y… There are also no specs on what the audio output power actually is, or even what inputs it accepts. So, I’d maybe hold off on this until someone actually gets a pic of a real one or something. It sells for about $60 from Kerchoonz.com

[ K-box ] VIA [ Pocket-Lint ]

It seems like Buffalo decided to cast a big net when they designed this miniature iPod speaker, in order to appeal to as many users as possible. First, there’s the iPod users who think that everyone else wants to hear what they’re listening to. The OTOKORO speaker connects to your iPod (iPod Nano 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th Gen. / iPod 4th, 5th Gen. / iPod Classic 80/120/160GB / iPod Mini 1st, 2nd Gen. / iPod Touch 2nd Gen) via the dock connector which not only allows you to blare your tunes, but also control the volume via a set of + and – buttons. (Even though the iPod’s own volume controls should still work fine.)

Also, I guess since the speaker is cube-shaped and has a couple of round buttons, Buffalo figured they could go the whole nine yards and make it look like a single die, appealing to the problem gamblers. And finally, instead of leaving a single dot on one side, they replaced it with a heart graphic, which should appeal to teenage girls and those who can’t wait for Valentine’s Day to roll around every year.

You can get it from AudioCubes for $39.99, and it apparently comes in 6 different colors that each feature a different ’special mark.’

[ Buffalo OTOKORO Mini iPod Speaker ]