New Overpriced Speakers

The latest Beats By Dr. Dre speakers has a new look and an app to go along with it.

The new Beats Pill+ wireless Bluetooth speaker ($229.95), available in black and white, will be available at retail and on Apple.com next month. Slightly larger than the original Pill speaker, the Beats Pill+ has two tweeters and two woofers -- the previous model used four small woofers -- for improved sound.

Beats engineers have employed a two-way active crossover, an approach not often used for a small Bluetooth speaker, says company president Luke Wood. "Everything is very specific and concise as to what is going to what speaker," he said. "We think that gives us the control over tonality and the kind of sound field dispersion you don’t get with other technologies."

The speaker, which charges in three hours and has a 12-hour battery life, comes with a lightning cable that connects to its USB port so that you can charge an iPhone or iPad as it's used as a music source.