Is it pronounced Wide, or Widd? It’s the GIF/JIF story all over again, but all the name related speculation aside, the Whyd is a pretty cool speaker. Its cushion aesthetic makes it look rather huggable, but behind its soft exterior is a mammoth of technology. Whyd isn’t your conventional ‘pair-and-play’ speaker unit. It’s seriously smart. You can talk to it, requesting songs, or artists, or even playlists. It pairs with your favorite music provider to give you a seamlessly hands-free music experience in a way that seems really natural. Imagine walking up to a musician and requesting a tune. That’s what talking to the Whyd is built around. For the old-school interface lovers, the Whyd has a slick capacitive glass panel on the top. Tap, swipe, pinch to control various playback features. Whyd’s cylindrical shape gives it a hardware edge too. The speaker can throw sound in 360 degrees, giving you a complete surround sound experience. You don’t even need to look for the speaker’s ‘front face’ because no matter which way you face it, you’ll have crystal clear audio backed by hard-hitting bass filling up your room. The cylindrical shape also gives it a likeness to EVE from Wall-E, doesn’t it?? Way to make audio adorable, eh? Designer: Arthur Kenzo : $299