Wireless multiroom streaming is becoming increasingly prevalent in the realm of consumer audio and it is generally great, but one of the downsides is that most of the time it relies on a Wi-Fi network. Early this year at CES, Cassia Networks unveiled its Cassia Hub Bluetooth router and now with the debut of its BlueStream technology, wireless multiroom audio is coming to the world of Bluetooth.
The Cassia Hub with BlueStream builds on the capabilities of the existing Cassia Hub, to the point that BlueStream is available as an update for previous models. The feature allows Cassia Hub owners to set up a wireless multiroom system using any speaker they own, new or old — no special BlueStream compatibility is needed in the speaker.
“Cassia Network’s technology enables an entirely new category of IoT applications via Bluetooth that were previously not possible,” founder of Everest Capital — an investor in Cassia — Jing Wang said in a statement. “We are confident that Cassia Networks has the best team and collective experience to bring the vision of Bluetooth as a universal wireless protocol to fruition.”
Users simple connect to the Cassia Hub as if it were a normal Bluetooth speaker and it takes care of the rest, broadcasting audio to any other speaker connected to it. Once connected to the Cassia Hub, the user does not need to do anything special and can stream from any app they would normally use like Spotify, Pandora, and Apple Music.
While the sound quality may not compare to a Sonos or HEOS system — much of that depends on the speakers you own — this seems like an easy way to link speakers you already own. Cassia’s plans do not stop here either: the company is looking to continue to push Bluetooth beyond what it is used for today.
“At Cassia, we’re partnering with innovative companies aiming to develop emerging new applications for Bluetooth,” Cassia CEO Felix Zhao said. “We’ve received hundreds of inquiries about implementing our hubs in a variety of enterprise settings and industries and we’re excited about the opportunity Bluetooth has to play in the growth of the Internet of Things.”
The Cassia Hub with BlueStream is available now via the Cassia Networks website for $150. Owners of previous models of the Cassia Hub can easily add Bluetooth to their existing model via a firmware update. For more information, see the Cassia Networks website.
