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How will people remember 2013? As the year of the government shutdown? The year the N.S.A. revealed that the enemy is us? The year Miley Cyrus absolutely, positively stopped playing an adorable child actress?

In consumer tech, we may remember this as the year Bluetooth speakers finally outnumbered insects on the earth. Every company and its brother has been cranking out compact, colorful, battery-powered wireless speakers.

And no wonder: these things really are awesome. Every time some company offers a new tablet, laptop or phone, you can bet that it has a better, sharper, brighter screen — but what about the sound? It’s stuck in 2004: tinny and weak. A Bluetooth speaker neatly remedies that enormous quality difference between audio and visual.

The Jawbone Jambox was one of the earliest hits. It’s a sharp-edged rectangular box, $150, that comes in a choice of colors. It pumps out surprisingly loud, clear sound — for its size, which is 6 by 1.6 by 2.8 inches.

Then came the Big Jambox, a shoebox-size $300 version with big enough sound for a backyard.

And now comes the Jambox Mini, at $180.

I love this thing. It’s actually not all that mini; in fact, it’s about as long and tall as the original (6.1 by 2.3 inches) — but it looks like someone sliced the original in half with a saber. Read more…