Tag Archives: sonos

Multi-room

Sonos SUB

Leave a comment

Sonos is deepening its music offering with a sub-woofer, named Sonos SUB.
Sonos is promising that the SUB will “fill any room with thick layers of bottomless sound”. And it will “ let you hear and feel the weight of every chord, kick, splash and roll”, so prepare to be subbed 🙂

Sonos SUB

The SUB can, just like the play 3 and play 5, be placed anywhere in a room, it uses Sonos own wireless system to sync with the other units. The install is simple: Plug it into a power source, press the setup button and answer some prompts on your controler.

The SUB works with all Sonos amplified components: CONNECT:AMP; PLAY:5; PLAY:3. It does not work with the non-amplified Sonos CONNECT.

Launching on June 19, the SUB is available in a high-gloss black lacquer finish for $699 USD ($749 CAD, £699 EU, £599 UK). A black matte version will be available in September 2012 for $599 USD ($649 CAD, £599 EU, £499 UK).

Multi-room

Sonos adds Songza and Amazon Cloud Player

1 Comment

Sonos has announced support for both Songza and Amazon Cloud Player the last month.

Songza is a web radio option that has stations and these stations are made up by other Songza members. Songza can help users find stations based on a simple questionnaire. Songza is completely free, no fees and no ads in between song selections. Users can register for Songza through the Sonos website.

Amazon Cloud Player allows customers to stream music from the Cloud to any Sonos system. The storages is free for up to 250 songs. Or pay $24.99 per year and import up to 250,000 songs. Amazon MP3 purchases don’t count towards the limit.

Amazon Cloud Player is activated for Sonos on amazon.com.

Multi-room

New features in updated Sonos Controllers for iOS and Android

Leave a comment

The new Sonos controllers, version 3.8.1, offers a variety of enhancements for Android and iOS devices.

The Sonos Controller for Android has been optimized for both 7-inch and 10-inch Android tablets, giving customers improved control of their music. Landscape mode on Android tablets is also added. The album art screen has also been made larger to more clearly show what is currently in play.

The Sonos Controllers for iPhone and iPad now look even better with high-resolution graphics designed for Retina displays. You can now use the hard volume buttons on your iOS devices to control the volume on your Sonos system, but only when the app is active.

Sonos has not yet released an Windows Phone app.

Uncategorized

Sonos Controller beta for iOS Retina displays and Android tablets

Leave a comment

Sonos is working on new controller apps for iOS devices with Retina displays and Android Tablets.
Key features

iOS Retina Display: The Sonos Controllers for iPhone and iPad have been updated with high-resolution graphics for retina displays.
Android Tablet: Improved Tablet experience in landscape orientation.
Try them

You can try them out now by going to the My Account section on the Sonos website. Once you have logged in with the email address you used to register your Sonos, click on Sonos Beta. You will see a program called iOS Retina Display and Android Tablet Beta which you can join. Once joined, please follow the provided instructions to upgrade your controllers.

Multi-room

New Multi-room contenders

1 Comment

The interest in smart music solutions is huge, wetter it be as part of a home automation system, a stand-alone wireless multi-room system or simply be able to stream from your phone to a set of speakers.

The mainstream market leaders, Sonos, Logitech Squeezebox and Apple AirPlay seems relatively unthreatened at the moment. But new solutions are constantly being planed and developed. So lets have a look at some of the new contenders.

Xbox Music and SmartGlass

When Windows 8 launches this autumn, Microsoft is also launching their renamed Music service (Previously Zune) and their new media sharing solution, SmartGlass. If you have an Xbox Music subscription (and Live gold for Xbox) you will be able to play that music across the Microsoft board (Windows 8, Xbox and Windows Phone 8). You probably cant play it on Android and iOS devices even though they can be used as remotes for playing the music on a Xbox. Xbox ability as a dedicated music zone player could be disputed on grouds like high noice (non slim versions) and high energy consumption. But IF the remoting and zone handling would be implemented nicely, they could have a chance.

Samsung Music Hub

Samsung launched Music Hub at the same time as their new flag ship phone, Galaxy S III. It has a big online catalog of music that can be streamed and a matching service for music already owned. So both a Spotify and iTunes match contender. But only supported by Samsung Galaxy S III for now. Samsung plans to incorporate Music Hub in their TVs, fridges, phones and so on. From a multi-room perspective, they need to implement a proper zone player that can be connected to existing setups or stand-alone. Playing music through fridges and TVs just don’t cut it in the long run, though fun complements.

Google Music

There has been reports that Google is working on devices for streaming media, including audio. They would presumably, connect to their already existing music streaming service, Google Music and have an open platform for others to contribute to.

Sony Music Unlimited and HomeShare

Music Unlimited is a subscription service (as Xbox Music, Spotify, Music Hub) that lets users stream music and also upload/match owned music a.la iTunes match. It is supported by a broad range of Sony products like phones, playstation and blu-ray players. They also have a new iPhone app. The downside of Sonys broad offering is that it lacks clarity, from a multi-room perspective.

Multi-room

Sonos play:3

Leave a comment


Sonos new Play:3 is a  smaller, lower-priced edition of the popular Zoneplayer S5 speaker. The Play:3 has three integrated speakers (the S5 has five) and three digital amplifiers.

It features three Class-D digital amplifiers and three drivers – one tweeter, two 3-inch mid-range and one passive, rear-firing bass radiator for rich sound.

Features

Like the S5, the Play:3 can play music wirelessly via the Sonos Player software, which integrates Spotify as well as digital radio and your own MP3s; there are also free Android and iOS apps to control the music from your phone or tablet. You’ll need a Sonos Bridge (sold separately) to connect your router and the speakers, however.

Works together

You can have just one Play:3, but two can also creating a stereo sound, or place them in multiple rooms, which we like here! The Play:3 can be wall mounted, and has feet both on the long side and the short side so you can position it portrait or landscape.

The Zoneplayer S5 has been rebranded to the Play:5. Existing Sonos users will also see an update to the Sonos Software which simply adds Play:3 support and some minor updates to the Android app.

Multi-room

AirPlay with Sonos in Party Mode

Leave a comment


If you’ve got a Sonos music system and an Apple AirPort
Express, you have an AirPlay compatible multi-room Sonos system, sort of. You
can play your music in one or many zones synced. But not target different
specific zones, if they do not have separate AirPort Expresses.

Plug in your Apple AirPort Express into your ZonePlayer’s line-in (3.5mm and ethernet)
and the music can be played across multiple systems across the house — so-called
Party Mode.

“Sonos improves the AirPlay experience with party mode so a
music lover can send a song from his iPhone or iPad to all the rooms in a home
with perfect synchronization,” said John MacFarlane, founder and CEO of Sonos.
Sonos System Software 3.4 or later is required.

You can have your Autoplay Zone mapped to one or many
zones.
Read more at Sonos