Motorola's $50 Moto Stream box turns your existing audio system into Bluetooth speakers

[Justin Kahn]

There are many music streaming hardware devices out there designed to allow you to beam tunes around your home or office, and now Motorola has its own solution with the Moto Stream. The tiny unit works much the same way other audio streaming devices do, essentially turning your existing wired audio system into wireless speakers.

Users can simultaneously pair up to five smartphones, tablets and other Bluetooth devices to the small streaming box. Devices can be connected through the traditional means or with a simple tap using NFC. It uses an included micro USB cable to charge and, according to Motorola, users with Class 1 Bluetooth devices can control the tiny streamer from up to 300 feet away.

It also has something called "Heist Mode" which allows connected devices to take over the stream and switch to a new song. A Motorola blog post says that "anyone can jump in and drop a track. And if you don’t like their choice, heist it."

Some have drawn comparisons between the Moto Stream and Google's Android-only NexusQ streamer the company pulled off the market back in 2012. Some major differences are that, unlike Google's streamer, the Moto Stream has multi platform support so it will work with Windows, iOS and Android devices. It is also a fraction of the $200 Google wanted for its box, with a suggested retail price of $49.99. 

Moto Stream is available today on Motorola's site and will be available at Radio Shack locations starting on June 6th.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/56979-motorolas-50-moto-stream-box-turns-your-existing-audio-system-into-bluetooth-speakers.html

 

[Guest]

Other than the fact that multiple devices can "Simultaneously connect" (Why would you want more than one audio source at a time??) what is the difference between this and my 5 year old Bluetooth receiver that I bought for $20?

If anything, I'm waiting for small devices like this that can "bridge" their bluetooth connection to allow better wireless streaming among multiple speakers (ie A speaker in the front of a room and one in the back, without being attached via speaker wires) would that not make more sense??

 

[Guest]

Does anyone know what the latency will be. Is there any chance I could use this for amateur DJ-ing?

 

[mctommy]

Other than the fact that multiple devices can "Simultaneously connect" (Why would you want more than one audio source at a time??) what is the difference between this and my 5 year old Bluetooth receiver that I bought for $20?

If anything, I'm waiting for small devices like this that can "bridge" their bluetooth connection to allow better wireless streaming among multiple speakers (ie A speaker in the front of a room and one in the back, without being attached via speaker wires) would that not make more sense??

Your 5-year old BT device can be attached to a receiver? and if so, would you be able to control it from your phone?

Some of the middle to higher end receiver have this functionality but you have to buy a separate BT attachment ($100+ for my Pioneer receiver).

 

[Teko03]

I'd like to purchase, but a little pricey at $50 for the functionality it offers.

 

[Guest]

Other than the fact that multiple devices can "Simultaneously connect" (Why would you want more than one audio source at a time??) what is the difference between this and my 5 year old Bluetooth receiver that I bought for $20?

If anything, I'm waiting for small devices like this that can "bridge" their bluetooth connection to allow better wireless streaming among multiple speakers (ie A speaker in the front of a room and one in the back, without being attached via speaker wires) would that not make more sense??
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Your 5-year old BT device can be attached to a receiver? and if so, would you be able to control it from your phone?

Some of the middle to higher end receiver have this functionality but you have to buy a separate BT attachment ($100+ for my Pioneer receiver).

My 5 year old BT device can be attached to any receiver (Audio Out to the Blue Tooth Device, which is then paired with any compatible laptop/tablet/smart phone). If control it you mean streaming audio to the device with simple volume up & down then yes - Even when Vista came out I could use a laptop with a bluetooth adapter to stream from my laptop to a bluetooth receiver? Any Blutooth device with a headphone jack can be connected to 10+ year old radios, most had the RCA inputs, which you can get an adapter for mic>RCA and be able to stream from your device to the radio? Bought my recent receiver for $15? Google "Bluetooth Audio Receiver" the price range is huge but I've never had a single complaint about my $15-$20 receivers.