Look, the iPad is a great device in many, many ways, but even Apple will freely admit that its speakers are not exactly going to rock the world of audio. They are okay for what they need to do, but they’re not great.
The ORA looks to fix that by giving it eight speakers pointed directly at the user.
Here’s the obligatory Kickstarter pitch video to explain things:
Essentially, the ORA solves two problems. One, it points the speakers towards you instead of away from you (yes, the iPad’s speakers are pointed away from you). Two, it puts two set of speakers on either side of the screen, meaning you can get a truer stereo representation.
In addition, it has digital signal processing and a built-in equalizer.
The two drawbacks here are weight and power: the ORA needs its own battery to work properly, and it weighs more than the actual iPad.
That said, if you use your iPad to watch movies or play games, you are missing out, and this would solve that. The ORA is on Kickstarter now; pre-ordering one will run you $100.
ORA [Kickstarter]