I’ve got a Logitech Squeezebox Boom that is an absolute pleasure to use. It’s one of those products that seems interesting but maybe not necessary, until you actually get one and start using it. That’s when you get spoiled…quickly. I use mine to listen to Sirius Radio inside the house, but I also use it for exploring internet radio and streaming music from my laptop. The sound on mine is pretty amazing, and it looks great sitting under our 55″ flatscreen TV with all the other shiny black components.

Logitech has just announced two new Squeezebox WiFi music player models, and the new features are pretty impressive. The new Squeezebox Radio is a compact (5.12″ x 8.66″ x 5.04″) and portable model that can fit nearly anywhere and adds a new social networking aspect, wherein “Facebook users can share music recommendations and see their friends’ recommendations right on the display and Flickr users can show a slideshow.”

The new Squeezebox Touch “seamlessly discover a world of music and play it through the existing stereo system you already own, the Logitech Squeezebox Touch Wi-Fi music player has a stunning 4.3-inch colour touch screen that lets you easily select and play music as well as view album art. Plus, to provide a better listening experience, the Squeezebox Touch supports sampling rates of up to 24 bits at 96 kHz, delivering rich sound with very little distortion. Simply plug in the Squeezebox Touch to your existing speakers, connect to your home network and you are ready to rock out. An included USB port and SD card slot on the back of the Squeezebox Touch also lets you access music and photos stored on flash drives and memory cards.” Pretty slick, right?

Logitech Squeezebox™ Radio Wi-Fi music player
Price: $199.99
Shipping: Last week of September

Key Features
• Plays Internet radio and digital music files over your home Wi-Fi network including DRM-free iTunes Plus downloads, Internet radio, and subscription music services like Rhapsody, Napster, Pandora, Sirius, and others.
• Integrated amplifier lets you enjoy full, high-quality sound with low distortion anywhere in your home thanks to an all-in-one design that includes speakers (woofers and tweeters). Just plug it in to a power outlet – no additional wires to connect.
• Color screen can display album art, track and station information and photo screen savers.
• Social Networking support: Facebook users can share music recommendations and see their friends’ recommendations right on the display and Flickr users can show a slideshow.
• True 802.11g wireless networking optimizes wireless network speeds and provides a secure connection.
• Auto-dimming display adjusts brightness based on room lighting, making Squeezebox Radio ideal for any room, including your bedside table.
• 6 preset buttons allow one touch access to favorite radio stations and playlists.

Logitech Squeezebox™ Touch Wi-Fi music player
Price: $299.99
Shipping: December

Key Features
• 4.3-inch color touch screen lets you easily select and play music from up close using the intuitive color touch menus, and view album art or photos.
• SqueezeNetwork brings the music you love – including Internet radio, DRM-free iTunes Plus downloads, and subscription music services like Rhapsody, Napster, Pandora, Slacker, Sirius, and more – together wirelessly.
• Support for a wide variety of digital music files, including uncompressed and lossless
• USB Port and SD card slot let you access music and pictures stored on flash drives or memory cards.
• Support for high-resolution encoding gives you high quality sound with very low distortion.