The Squeezebox Radio is the cheaper of the two, coming in at $US200. It’s got a built-in amplifier and speakers to pump out music streamed from online or from your music collection stored on your computer without needing to plug into your stereo. It’ll download from iTunes or stream from Napster, Pandora, Rhapsody, Sirius or Last.fm. The screen isn’t a touchscreen, but it’s got six buttons for navigating or selecting what you want to stream.

The Squeezebox Touch is the fancier of the two at $US300, and looks just like those leaked pictures. Designed to plug into your existing stereo, it’s got a 4.3-inch touchscreen for choosing music to play and viewing album art, and it streams everything that the Radio does. Since it doesn’t have built-in speakers, it supports sampling rates of up to 24 bits at 96kHz. It’s also got a USB port and SD card slot for listening to music stored on thumb drives or memory cards.

The Squeezebox Radio drops later this month, while the Squeezebox Touch arrives in December.

Limitless Choices: Logitech Brings Your Digital Music Together, Unveils Two New Squeezebox Wi-Fi Music Players
Logitech Squeezebox Radio, Logitech Squeezebox Touch Deliver All The Music On Your Computer, All The Music On Internet Into Your Home;
Feature Streamlined Interface, Facebook App

FREMONT, Calif. – Sept. 3, 2009 – You’re a 21st century music lover but your stereo is stuck in the 20th century. To help bring the digital world into your home, Logitech (SIX: LOGN) (NASDAQ: LOGI) today unveiled the Logitech Squeezebox™ Radio Wi-Fi music player and the Logitech Squeezebox™ Touch Wi-Fi music player. Both Logitech Squeezebox Wi-Fi music players give people simple, intuitive access to a wide variety of music choices including free Internet radio, personal digital music files and music subscription services.

“Digital music and the Internet have radically changed how we discover, share and listen to the music we love,” said Sam Feng, product marketing director of Logitech’s Streaming Media business unit. “Now, millions of people are downloading music through iTunes® and listening to Internet radio stations and music services and our newest Logitech Squeezebox Wi-Fi music players bring it all together. Just plug one in and you can be ready to discover and enjoy music from around the world.”

Logitech Squeezebox Radio – Small Package, Big Sound
The Internet has changed everything, including your radio. With the Logitech Squeezebox Radio, you’ll get the simplicity of old-fashioned radio with the power of the Internet wherever you want to listen to music.

Unlike other complex Wi-Fi music systems, Squeezebox Radio sets up easily. You just plug it in, turn it on, connect to your home network and like magic, you’ve got access to a world of music – Internet radio, your personal music collection including DRM-free iTunes Plus downloads, and subscription services such as Napster®, Pandora®, Rhapsody®, SIRIUS®, and Last.fm™. And the Squeezebox Radio’s colour screen can display album art, track and station information, visualizers and more.

With six preset buttons located on the side of display, at the touch of a button the Squeezebox Radio makes it easy to enjoy your favourite song, Internet radio station or playlist. With automatic brightness adjustment and a built-in alarm clock, the Logitech Squeezebox Radio is even ideal for your bedside table. And if you want to listen to music in private, a 3.5 mm jack lets you plug in your headphones.

At just 5.12 inches (130 mm) by 8.66 inches (220 mm) by 5.04 inches (8.5 cm), the compact design makes the Squeezebox Radio ideal for your living room, kitchen, bedroom – even your patio. While it’s a space-saver, the Squeezebox Radio still delivers clear sound with minimal distortion – no extra speakers required – thanks to the 3/4-inch high-definition, soft-dome tweeter and 3-inch high-power, long-throw woofer.

For your convenience, a rechargeable battery pack that is sold separately will let you move the Squeezebox Radio around your home without interrupting the music. The battery can power your Squeezebox Radio for up to six hours and recharges automatically when it’s plugged in.

Logitech Squeezebox Touch – colour Touch Screen Puts Music at Your Fingertips
So you can seamlessly discover a world of music and play it through the stereo system you already own, the Logitech Squeezebox Touch Wi-Fi music player has a stunning 4.3-inch colour touch screen that lets you easily select and play music – and even view album art. Plus, to provide a better listening experience, the Squeezebox Touch supports sampling rates of up to 24 bits at 96 kHz, delivering rich sound with very little distortion. Simply plug in the Squeezebox Touch to your existing speakers, connect to your home network and you’re ready to rock out. An included USB port and SD card slot on the back of the Squeezebox Touch also lets you access music and photos stored on flash drives and memory cards.

To put control within reach, a wall-mount bracket (sold separately) lets you put your Squeezebox Touch at eye level – near the stereo, over your kitchen table or wherever you want convenient control of your music. With the optional Logitech Squeezebox Touch Wall-Mount Bracket, the power cord and speaker wires can be run inside your walls so cords or cables aren’t dangling from your Squeezebox.

Streamlined Interface, Facebook App and Flickr Support
The intuitive Squeezebox interface was designed for speed and convenience. The colour display found on the Squeezebox Radio and Squeezebox Touch help you quickly locate your favourite radio stations, playlists or music services. And, with its redesigned menu system, you can easily choose from a variety of applications to enhance your listening experience.
Plus, if you’re a Facebook fan, you can share music recommendations, as well as check out your friends’ statuses, recommendations, and full-color photos right on your new Squeezebox. Photo slide shows from the popular photo-sharing site Flickr are also supported on both new Squeezebox Wi-Fi music players.

The Squeezebox Family
Both the Logitech Squeezebox Radio and Logitech Squeezebox Touch can seamlessly integrate into your existing Wi-Fi or Ethernet-based home network, as well as with the Squeezebox family of products, which includes the award-winning Logitech Squeezebox™ Boom Wi-Fi music player, Logitech Squeezebox™ Duet Wi-Fi music player, and the audiophiles’ choice, the Logitech Transporter® Wi-Fi music player.

All of the products in the Squeezebox family work together so it’s easy to expand your system. Simply add additional Squeezebox Wi-Fi media players to any room you like and then you can listen to one song throughout your entire home – perfect for a party – or enjoy a different song in every room.

Pricing and Availability
The Logitech Squeezebox Radio Wi-Fi music player is expected to be available in the U.S. and Europe beginning in September for a suggested retail price of $US199.99 (U.S.). For a limited time, a special edition Logitech Squeezebox Radio Wi-Fi music player will be available in red at http://www.logitech.com and select retailers. The Logitech Squeezebox Touch Wi-Fi music player is expected to be available in the U.S. and Europe beginning in December for a suggested retail price of $US299.99 (U.S.). The Logitech Squeezebox Radio Accessory Pack (which includes a battery pack and IR remote) is expected to be available in the U.S. and Europe beginning in November for a suggested retail price of $US49.99 (U.S.). The Logitech Squeezebox Touch Wall-Mount Bracket is expected to be available in the U.S. and Europe beginning in December for a suggested retail price of $US99.99 (U.S.).

The Price: $US300

The Verdict: This is one awesome little Wi-Fi radio. It is super-compact, versatile, set-up was nearly effortless and it sounds great. The device can handle just about any non-DRM format including MP3, FLAC, WMA, WMA Lossless, AAC, Apple Lossless, WAV, and AIFF and it accessed music seamlessly from my iTunes account thanks to the SqueezeCenter software (works with Windows, Mac and Linux).

The device integrates with Logitec’s SqueezeNetwork to tap into internet radio and manage subscriptions from Pandora, Rhapsody, Sirius, Last.fm, Slacker, MP3tunes, RadioTime, Radio IO and Live365. Again, setting up an account and integrating the service with the Squeezebox itself was easy, and navigating between all of the options wasn’t too much of a problem using the remote and the simplified display (although the fact that you can only view one menu option at a time can be a bit frustrating). The sleek design also had a couple nice extras, like a magnetised remote that can be stuck to the top of the unit—or to your fridge if you prefer. It also has an alarm clock function and an auto-dimming display that automatically adjusts to the ambient light.

As mentioned earlier, I was surprised at how well the Squeezebox Boom sounds. I didn’t notice any major artifacts or distortion and it handles bass-heavy songs superbly—cranking out a crisp, heavy sound. Very impressive for Wi-Fi.

The bottom line is that there isn’t much to complain about with the Squeezebox Boom. I mean, it beats the hell out of an iPod dock, that’s for sure. The UI could have been a bit better and it may be a bit pricey for some at $US300, but all in all this is a great little machine. [Logitech]

FREMONT, Calif. – Aug. 28, 2008 — Today, Logitech (SWX: LOGN) (NASDAQ: LOGI) unveiled the Logitech® Squeezebox™ Boom all-in-one network music player, featuring an integrated amplifier, high-performance speakers and a simplified setup. Now, it’s easier than ever before to bring digital music to any room in your home.

“The network music player will be the CD player of the 21st century, and Squeezebox Boom is the first player in its class to deliver high-quality audio in a compact, all-in-one design,” said Robin Selden, vice president and general manager of Logitech’s Streaming Media business unit. “From the streamlined setup to the breakthrough acoustics, the Squeezebox Boom is an entirely new type of network music player. Just plug it in and you’re ready to rock the house.”

No Additional Audio Gear, Wires Needed
With the Logitech Squeezebox Boom all-in-one network music player, you can listen to your digital music in the kitchen, the bedroom or any other room in your home – without needing to attach external speakers. Just plug the new Logitech network music player into a power outlet – there are no additional wires to connect. Then, using your existing home network, you can listen to the music you love from the personal collection on your computer, your favourite Internet radio stations, and subscription services such as Rhapsody®, Last.FM, Slacker, Pandora® and Sirius – even when the computer is off.

Adding Squeezebox Boom to your network is simple. The new Logitech player will automatically detect the available networks. Once you select your network, simply enter your password – for your convenience, Squeezebox Boom automatically remembers it for future use.

For different music in another room of your home, you can easily expand your Squeezebox network music system. Simply add additional Squeezebox Boom players in any room you like or, if you already have an existing stereo system, add another player from the Squeezebox family to your network music setup, including the Logitech® Squeezebox™ Duet network music system.

Listen to Thousands of Internet Radio Stations on High-Performance Speakers
Upon registering your Squeezebox Boom network music player, you can access thousands of radio stations and millions of songs, aggregated by SqueezeNetwork™ – Logitech’s free, online service – without having to remember Internet addresses or passwords. So you enjoy an optimised wireless-network speed and a secure connection, Squeezebox Boom uses true 802.11g wireless technology and dual internal antennas.

To fill your room with sound, the Squeezebox Boom network music player offers an integrated, all-digital 30-watt amplifier accompanied by two ¾-inch, high-definition, soft-dome tweeters and two 3-inch, high-power, long-throw woofers. A bi-amplified design – which includes a high-performance signal processor, class-D amplifier and digital crossover – delivers crystal clear sound with minimal noise and distortion. For bass lovers, the Squeezebox Boom even includes a subwoofer connection. And if you want to listen to music in private, the 3.5 mm jack lets you plug in your headphones.

The Logitech Squeezebox Boom network music player works as an alarm clock and can wake you up to your favourite tunes. Six preset buttons, located under the display, make it easy to get to your favourite song, Internet radio station or playlist.

The included remote control gives you control of the Squeezebox Boom from across the room. And the remote includes a tiny magnet that lets you easily attach it to the top of the Squeezebox Boom or, for example, your refrigerator.

The Squeezebox Family
The new Squeezebox Boom is part of the Squeezebox family of products, which includes the award-winning Logitech Squeezebox Duet network music system, Logitech® Squeezebox™ network music player, as well as the audiophiles’ choice, the Logitech® Transporter™ network music player.

Pricing and Availability
The Logitech Squeezebox Boom network music player is expected to be available in the U.S. and Europe beginning in September for a suggested retail price of $299.99 (U.S.).

That’s right, in living video, our buddy John Falcone explains the Wi-Fi-powered system, and notes that, aside from DRM protected content, the Squeezebox Duet gets at “any music, anywhere” including stuff from Rhapsody, Slacker, and Pandora, plus internet radio and podcasts.

Falcone was particularly excited about the Squeeze network, which lets you manage all your music online, and says that because of the open-source and Linux-friendly nature of Squeeze, the “tweaker or hacker type” will have lots of fun.

In the written portion of the review, Falcone mentioned that “it lacks the iPod’s speed-sensitive ability to quickly jump up and down through long lists,” something that scares me a bit because I have lots of music and very little patience. Also in the prose, Sonos is mentioned as an expensive rival good for people who want to fill five or more rooms with sound, or people who already own Sonos.

In the end, Falcone says he “couldn’t be more pleased with it,” which is good news for those of us unwilling to start at US$1,000 for a wireless audio system, and bad news for the good people over at Sonos. Sorry dudes! [CNet]