Mr. KOSS Himself Earlier this week, I had the opportunity and pleasure to speak with Michael J. Koss, President and CEO of KOSS Corporation, about the origins and user experience of STRIVA, and what to expect in the future...
Matt Brodnick: Tell me the story behind the STRIVA series - what drove the vision to create this platform?
Michael J. Koss Sr. : The overarching piece of information we received that was consistent through all of our interviews was that people were sick and tired of wires. We’ve always known that wires were a problem, starting back when my father built an early ‘infrared-phone’ prototype back in the 70’s, but you had to carry around two shopping bags full of batteries to get the thing to work. [chuckle] I mean, since then we’ve had infrared, 900 MHz, and Bluetooth models, so we’ve been able to do this before. But we wanted something with TCP/IP, and an increase in range, usage, and fidelity.
MB: Why WiFi?
MKS: Not only do you get increased range and super fidelity, but we had room for so much more. Listening to your music streams from any WiFi hotspot is a big plus. We first made the CAP to work in ad-hoc mode to turn anything to a WiFi signal, but we also found out that the CAP device can also act in infrastructure mode, meaning that it could broadcast its content to a wireless access point. So with myKOSS, you can probably hook up the CAP to your Satellite radio at home, and then listen in remotely from your office. So that’s great.
MB: Let’s talk about the advanced technology the goes into STRIVA Core. The hardware must be pretty small to fit into these devices.
MKS: If you take all the WiFi components, along with the microprocessor itself, they will all fit on the face of a dime - that’s the STRIVA Core. It’s very very tiny, and takes up such a small percentage of the circuit board, which is why we can make something like the Tap in-ear buds, coming soon. So it’s doing all the heavy lifting that, say, the media player on your smartphone would be doing, except it’s all built into your head - a webserver inside your ear. The only difference is, there is no screen or keyboard. That’s why we have myKOSS.
MB: Who would be ideal targeted listener for the STRIVA series?
MKS: Well, anyone who wants to get rid of cords, first of all. And if you look at all the ways you can connect, anywhere that has a WiFi signal, you’ll have all your music streams there. If you’re somewhere with no WiFi, use the CAP and listen that way. The myKOSS server sniffs through 25,000 known free streams, and sorts through the metadata to feed that data to your headphones. The listening experience is customizable, and it refines itself the more you use it.
MB: What are some other possible scenarios where listeners could enjoy STRIVA?
MKS: When I first demoed this as a prototype, I surprised everyone around me because I didn’t have my CAP with me, and there was no WiFi access point anywhere. They couldn’t figure out where the signal was coming from, and then I pulled out a MiFi puck. You can sync the Pro to any mobile wireless access point, so if you have a data plan, the headphones will work with those too. It will also search for open, unsecured WiFi access points, like at a coffee shop.
MB: Where is the music on myKOSS coming from?
MKS: The thing that makes STRIVA unique is the headphone will also work in infrastructure mode, so myKOSS sends specific IP locations to the headphones. So this isn’t a case of music streaming from the myKOSS server, instead myKOSS goes out on the internet and sniffs radio stations, and those stations are presented to the headphone as IP addresses. The headphone then looks them up and makes a direct connection to the station through the internet.
MB: What can the CAP offer for mobile devices that already have Bluetooth connectivity?
MKS: You get increased distance, up to 300 feet, and you can run it in infrastructure mode. So those are two big advantages. Also, I find you get much better fidelity than other systems we’ve architected, because you get pure digital-to-analog conversion.
MB: KOSS has had a history of wireless products, I remember the Cobalt Bluetooth from a few years ago. KOSS still manufacturers the JR900, which is also a powerful wireless platform. Why go for STRIVA, rather than the JR900?
MKS: I think you first need an interest in leading edge technology, because there isn’t another WiFi system like this out there. And what we’re seeing is people out there are always finding new unique ways of using it. Because of the technology, it will be easy for us to make enhancements as we go on. For example, we have the ability to upgrade the firmware on the STRIVA devices remotely, so we can immediately improve the experience for the listener. You don’t have to go back home to change your music, you can navigate it remotely. Along with a home base being tethered to one location with the JR900, these are all the things you can’t really do without STRIVA.
MB: What kind of future should we expect to see from STRIVA?
MKS: If you look at the right column of myKOSS, you’ll see spaces for widgets - that’s going to populate real soon. We’ll also be rolling out firmware updates in the near future, so the next time someone logs onto myKOSS, they’ll see a notification, plug in the CAP, and off it goes. There will also be some enhancements added, like tuning the headphone settings, and remember - this is all about customization. The more people that are in this ecosystem, it’s going to get better every day.
MB: I thought it would be cool if myKOSS could also explore my own library of music.
MKS: That’s an extremely good idea! Hmm... stay tuned. [laughs]
MB: Great! Well, thanks for your time, and I hope to see more from STRIVA soon!
MKS: Thank you!
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