Gramofan WiFi Router: Facebook, Spotify Built Into New Device; Is It Worth It?
A new Wi-Fi router hopes to solve everyone's music streaming problems.
Announced this week via the company's Kickstarter page, new Wi-Fi router Gramofon technically works with Spotify and Facebook built in, and boasts a low price. The device's dual function gives it the ability to stream music and act like a hotspot.
Gramafon is trying to raise $250,000 to launch the device. Their early bird price via Kickstarter is $30, however, the regular price should approximately be between $50 and $60, Geeky Gadgets reported. Gramofon comes from the team behind Fon, the world's largest Wi-Fi network. The essence of Fon is people sharing Wi-Fi with each other. The company claims to have reached 13 million hotspots around the world by crowdsourcing Wi-Fi via Kickstarter.
This ultra-cheap Wi-Fi wants to solve music streaming woes. The Wi-Fi looks like a plastic box, no bigger than a few ice cubes, and it has built-in support for music services such as Spotify. The system can also connect to a sound system over a standard 3.5-mm jack.
Fon boasts the largest footprint of Wi-Fi hotspots in the world by selling cheap, special routers to individuals that expose a sliver of bandwidth to the public in exchange for access to Fon's global network, The Verge reported.
Gramofon works with both "custom apps, and Spotify on Android and iOS, and anyone who is connected to the Gramofon network can add songs to the queue or control the current song using their mobile device. Whoever owns the Gramofon can sync it with their Facebook account, after which Facebook friends can connect without a password. And because it pulls media directly from the cloud to the device -- much like Google's Chrome Cast -- the music will not stop if your mobile device wanders out of range or if you receive a call," The Verge reported.
Fon is banking on Gramofon's impressive price combined with the fact that it grants users access to Fon's Wi-Fi network to set it apart.