Last year at IFA we took a look at the then-new Moto X4, checking out (among other features) its Wireless Sound System from Tempow, allowing it to sync audio across multiple Bluetooth speakers or headphones at the same time. This week we got to learn about the next evolution of Tempow's system, TAP Smart, shown off with the help of the Android-powered Keecker home robot.

Tempow is all about leveraging cheap, readily available Bluetooth audio devices to enhance the capabilities of existing systems. We already saw the start of that with the Moto X4, and now the company's got smart speakers and home assistants squarely in its sights. While it's hoping to attract the attention of Google or Amazon for integration with Assistant or Alexa devices, it's getting things started with Keecker.

The Keecker robot is at its core an Android TV device, basically a projector on wheels. It can mosey around your house, pumping out tunes on its internal 4.1 speaker system, and casting video content onto nearby walls and ceilings. And with both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa support, it's just the sort of product Tempow's interested in.

With a new software update, the Keecker will be able to extend its audio capabilities by linking to nearby Bluetooth speakers, spreading its audio output even further. If you've got a number of speakers dotted about your living room, Keecker will be able to stream to all of them, broadening the soundstage and increasing stereo separation. Tempow's tech can even selectively route audio components to specific devices, using your small Bluetooth speakers as tweeters and tapping the Keecker itself for the subwoofer role.

Tempow's software turning a pair of Bluetooth speakers into a versatile Android TV stereo

That's neat, but the really interesting stuff concerns what Tempow would like to see happen next. The company is pursuing the idea of getting its Bluetooth stack into more types of connected-home devices, with smart speakers and TVs at the top of that list. Were a firm like Google to bring Tempow's software to the Google Home family, you could stream its audio to a bunch of additional Bluetooth speakers, sure. But beyond that, the company's interested in using the microphones present on many Bluetooth speakers to turn them into what are effectively remotes for your primary smart speaker, relaying commands and receiving responses.

With televisions, Tempow hopes to give users a lot more versatility for how they listen to their entertainment. We got to experience a TAP TV demo running on Shield Android TV hardware that allowed users to set up their own wireless mutli-speaker system, configuring which devices should carry which audio channels. More than that, it can even deliver separate audio streams to individual Bluetooth units, so viewers who speak different languages can watch the same video together, but each receive a native-language audio feed on their own headphones. Or for users with hearing issues, the system could deliver custom-balanced audio that's adapted to their specific needs.

All of this, though, requires getting other companies on board, and Tempow hopes that showing them what's possible with the Keecker robot may inspire them to integrate this Bluetooth system for themselves. For now, the team's got some good ideas with a lot of potential, but it remains to be seen just how ubiquitous its tech might become.

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