Last November, Bose announced that its SoundTouch speakers would become unusable starting next month. Now, there appears to be a small glimmer of hope.
Why some manufacturers keep thinking they can get away with rendering their products unusable after a certain lifespan remains a mystery. Time and again it leads to terrible PR and a flood of complaints, eventually forcing them to backtrack anyway. We’ve seen this before with the Sonos debacle, and now it’s Bose’s turn. Contrary to earlier announcements, Bose’s SoundTouch speakers will in fact retain some limited functionality. At least, that’s what the American manufacturer now promises.
After February, the speakers should still work to some extent via Bluetooth, AUX, or HDMI. All online connectivity, however, will be discontinued regardless.