Hands-on with the Libratone Zipp AirPlay speaker (gallery)

Front of the Libratone Zipp retail package

Back of the Libratone Zipp package

I enjoyed the line that you see when you open the package and get ready to check out the contents.

The retail box contains the charger, extra wool covers, and detailed instructions.

PlayDirect is Libratone's cool technology that lets you make a direct WiFi connection to the speaker with no router or network needed.

The Zipp speaker and rest of the A/C charger is found in the lower part of the retail box.

Here is the Zipp in the default gray wool blanket with the A/C adapter.

The top is white with an older iPod looking control button. You press the logo to turn the speaker on and off while the ring is used for volume with a light indicator on it.

The battery indicator, PlayDirect and AirPlay indicators and buttons are in one area with the USB port and aux jack below.

The leather strap is used to carry the speaker, but can also rotate to cover up the controls when you have it set on a table.

Here you can see how it compares to the Nokia Play 360 speaker in size.

The A/C adapter plugs in to the bottom and there is an opening so the speaker sits flat when plugged in.

Here is a shot of the naked Zipp with the wool blanket removed.

This shows how the wool cover fits around the control area. Take it slow when removing or attaching the wool in the area of the controls.

I now have the blue cover on the Zipp.

The Libratone iOS app lets you control settings on the speaker.

You can optimize the way the sound comes out of the Zipp using the iOS utility.

More connection settings in the iOS app.

There are default equalizer sound settings for you to choose from as well.

When you plug in to the Libratone Zipp via USB you get this pop-up.

When you use a music app you can tap the icon and choose the Libratone Zipp as the audio output.

Speaker firmware updates are managed via the iOS app.

As you can see the Libratone appears in your WiFi network settings.