Ultimate Ears introduces Ultimate Ears BLAST and Ultimate Ears MEGABLAST with Amazon Alexa: portable, wireless, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth^Ⓡ speakers with immersive 360-degree sound and hands-free voice-control, for at home and on-the-go.

When connected to Wi-Fi, music fans in the US, UK, Germany and Austria can use the power of their voice to ask Alexa to control music from Amazon Music and TuneIn, and we expect to add voice control for Deezer in the future. With Bluetooth, you can enjoy music from any of your favourite music services.

As Ultimate Ears’ loudest, most powerful and best sounding speaker to date, MEGABLAST is meticulously engineered from the ground up with custom drivers that produce a full and crisp sound. The result is a speaker with more powerful mid-range, deeper bass, vocals and instruments that are produced clearer than ever before in our highly portable, battery-powered speakers. With a maximum sound pressure level of 93 dBC, MEGABLAST is the loudest speaker from Ultimate Ears and is 40 per cent louder than Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM.

“With BLAST and MEGABLAST, we brought together everything that our fans loved about our Bluetooth speakers - amazing sound quality, waterproof, ready-for-anything design - and upped the ante with Wi-Fi and far-field voice recognition with Amazon Alexa,” said Charlotte Johs, general manager of Ultimate Ears. “And with a battery life of up to 12 hours for BLAST and 16 hours for MEGABLAST, you can take these portable speakers everywhere and enjoy great sound all day.”

Today Ultimate Ears also announced Ultimate Ears POWER UP, a sleek charging dock that makes charging easier and more seamless for BLAST and MEGABLAST. With POWER UP, say goodbye to messy wires and keep the music playing while charging.

You can now take your music and Alexa anywhere your BLAST and MEGABLAST can go, from party to pool to park. When connected to Wi-Fi or a mobile hotspot, just ask Alexa to play music, order pizza, control smart home devices or try any of the more than 25,000 skills available for Alexa.

“Alexa should go everywhere you want to go, and the BLAST and MEGABLAST speakers make that even easier,” said Steve Rabuchin, vice president, Amazon Alexa. “We’re excited that these devices will bring great-sounding music, durability, portability and hands-free access to Alexa to more customers, even outside of their homes.”

Other features from BLAST and MEGABLAST include:

Music never stops: When connected to Wi-Fi, you can take calls on your phone while the music continues to play uninterrupted on the speakers. And with hands-free voice control, anyone can play DJ -- just ask Alexa to play a song, turn up the volume or cue your favorite playlist. BLAST and MEGABLAST also give you the ability to stream music from the cloud, and a bigger range to roam and dance with a range of 100 metre on Wi-Fi. Both speakers have a Bluetooth range of 45 metre.

Seriously waterproof and long-lasting battery life: Both BLAST and MEGABLAST are IP67 rated, so they are dustproof, waterproof and can be immersed in up to one metre of water for up to 30 minutes. Keep the party going with a battery life of up to 12 hours for BLAST and up to 16 hours for MEGABLAST.

Smarter over time: Featuring a new Ultimate Ears app, BLAST and MEGABLAST get smarter and better over time. Using the app, you can update the speakers for new experiences and features as they become available.

Subtle yet stunning colours for every style: A twist on classic saturated primary hues, BLAST and MEGABLAST are available in six colours: Graphite (Black), Blizzard (White), Blue Steel, Merlot (Red), Mojito (Green) and Lemonade (Yellow). Colour availability varies by country.

Amazon Music Unlimited

Any​ ​purchase​ ​of​ ​BLAST​ ​and/or​ ​MEGABLAST​ ​​through​ ​January​ ​23,​ ​2018​ ​will come​ ​with​ ​a​ ​three-month​ ​subscription​ ​to​ ​Amazon​ ​Music​ ​Unlimited.​ ​Amazon​ ​Music​ ​Unlimited​, the full catalogue on-demand streaming service, offers access to more than 40 million songs and thousands of hand-curated playlists and personalised stations, as well as natural language voice controls powered by Alexa. This​ ​promotion​ ​is​ ​only​ ​available​ ​to​ ​new​ ​subscribers​ ​of Amazon​ ​Music​ ​Unlimited.

Pricing and Availability

Pre-orders start today. Ultimate Ears BLAST, Ultimate Ears MEGABLAST and Ultimate Ears POWER UP are expected to be available in the United Kingdom beginning late October for suggested retail prices of £199.99 for BLAST, £269.99 for MEGABLAST and £34.99 for POWER UP. Pricing varies by country. All speakers and charging dock sold separately. The free Ultimate Ears app is available for iPhone on App Store and for Android™ on Google Play. For more information, please visit www.ultimateears.com or connect with us on Instagram.

“This Amazon collaboration gives the Logitech ZeroTouch even more superpowers,” said Patric Frank, head of new ventures at Logitech. “Now, the possibilities are endless – even while on the road. The marriage of Logitech ZeroTouch and Alexa make it possible for drivers to not only use their voice to control more than just their smartphone, but all smart devices kept at home, before they even get there.”

Logitech ZeroTouch smart car mounts let you use your voice to place calls, text back and forth and engage with apps, such as Yelp, all without using your hands. Now, with Alexa, you can do more while keeping your hands on the wheel and eyes on the road, including:

● Quickly access the weather, news or more than 8,000 Alexa skills, such as to-do lists, ordering products from the road, or listening to a joke

● Ask Alexa to change your compatible thermostat from the road, so when you get home, your house is heated or cooled

● Tell Alexa to turn on your compatible smart lights on your way home from work

● Listen to your favourite Kindle books from the road during a long drive

● Ask Alexa to lock the front door when you’ve already left the home

“We’re excited to collaborate with Logitech to bring Alexa into the vehicle,” said Aaron Brown, Director of Amazon Alexa. “Voice is the future, and this is particularly true in cars. The ability to use your voice to control your smart home, manage to-do lists, access Kindle content, and more makes for a safer, more enjoyable driving experience. We can’t wait for Logitech customers to try this out.”

Logitech continues to update the voice-controlled app, so drivers always have access to the best features of a connected car, without needing to purchase a new car. In addition to Alexa, Logitech ZeroTouch has also introduced the ability to read out and respond to emails, accept or decline calendar invites, and read out calendar meetings for the day. To connect your car, simply snap your phone to the magnetic air vent or dashboard mount to activate the Android app, and speak freely.

Availability

The newly updated ZeroTouch app with the Alexa feature is now available in the U.S. and UK for free on the Google Play store. Users need an Amazon account to access the newest Alexa feature within the ZeroTouch app.

The ZeroTouch Air Vent and ZeroTouch Dashboard are available at Logitech.com and Amazon.com for a suggested retail price of £49.99 or £59.99 respectively. For more information, please visit Logitech.com, our blog or connect with us on Facebook.

About Logitech

Logitech designs products that have an everyday place in people's lives, connecting them to the digital experiences they care about. Over 30 years ago, Logitech started connecting people through computers, and now it’s designing products that bring people together through music, gaming, video and computing. Founded in 1981, Logitech International is a Swiss public company listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (LOGN) and on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (LOGI). Find Logitech at www.logitech.com, the company blog or @Logitech.

Logitech announced the UK availability of its new Amazon Alexa skill that enables voice control of your entertainment experience using a Logitech Harmony Hub through Alexa-enabled devices such as the Amazon Echo or Echo Dot.

With this new skill, you can start and stop Harmony Activities, control your volume, pause and resume your movies, or even directly tune your channels, hands free, using only your voice. Harmony users can simply say “Alexa, tell Harmony to turn on the TV,” or “Alexa, tell Harmony to turn on Netflix” to control the TV as well as other entertainment and smart home devices, and Harmony makes it happen. As new skills continue to be added, users can also control media playback by simply telling Alexa to play, pause, stop, eject or record.

“We are thrilled to extend voice control capabilities to more Harmony users worldwide,” said Renee Niemi, vice president general manager of the smart home business at Logitech. “After receiving a lot of positive feedback on the Amazon Alexa integration in the U.S., this move is our next step in the process of bringing more control of the living room entertainment experience to the world.”

With Harmony Activities, different actions and more than 270,000 devices can be combined to bring an entire scene to life. For example, with a Good Morning activity, you can turn on the lights, bring up the blinds and turn your TV to BBC One - all with one voice command to Alexa.

“Controlling your home entertainment system with your voice takes convenience to a whole new level,” said Rob Pulciani, Director, Amazon Alexa. “Alexa integration with Harmony makes home entertainment easier than ever, enabling customers to change channel, switch content services, control playback, adjust their volume, and more, across different inputs—all without lifting a finger.”

Logitech continually adds new features and functionality to Harmony remotes, so people always have access to the latest home entertainment and control experiences. These updates are delivered for free and over the air to our remotes, so our users can rest assured that a purchase today will also deliver the key features they will want tomorrow.

Availability

The Logitech Harmony Alexa skill will be available to users in the UK now. To take advantage of this new capability, launch the Alexa app on your smartphone, select Skills from the left-hand navigation menu, and search for ‘Harmony.’ A Logitech hub-based remote, such as the Logitech Harmony Elite or Logitech Harmony Companion, and an Alexa-enabled device such as the Amazon Echo or Echo Dot, are required. For additional information on using Logitech Harmony remotes with Amazon Alexa, please visit myharmony.com/alexa, our blog or connect with us on Facebook.

About Logitech

Logitech designs products that have an everyday place in people's lives, connecting them to the digital experiences they care about. Over 30 years ago, Logitech started connecting people through computers, and now it’s designing products that bring people together through music, gaming, video and computing. Founded in 1981, Logitech International is a Swiss public company listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (LOGN) and on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (LOGI). Find Logitech at www.logitech.com, the company blog or @Logitech.

2016 Logitech, Logicool, Logi and other Logitech marks are owned by Logitech and may be registered. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. For more information about Logitech and its products, visit the company’s website at www.logitech.com.