Sonos

Sonos updates desktop controller apps for Mac and PC

Sonos has made a big push into the mobile space with controller apps for the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and Android smartphones and tablet, turning those devices into remotes for its multiroom wireless audio system. However, the company is now showing a little love to customers still using the Sonos desktop controller apps on Mac and Windows laptops with a new update that adds powerful new "universal" search features and a redesigned interface.

What does universal mean? Well, using a single search box, you can now find artists, albums, songs, and stations from your music library, Internet radio … Read more

Google working on home entertainment center, WSJ says

Google hasn't given up on creating its own consumer electronics gear.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the company is working on a home entertainment device that would "stream music wirelessly throughout the home" and be marketed under Google's name.

A Google spokesman declined to comment.

According to the Journal, this would mark Google's first "full-fledged effort to design and market consumer electronics devices" under its own brand. That may be, but Google has dabbled with creating consumer products before and has met with mixed results.

Google TV was software intended to … Read more

Altec's new Live 5000 Wi-Fi speaker doesn't discriminate against Android users

LAS VEGAS--Attention, Android users who've been shut out from using Apple's AirPlay feature: Altec Lansing feels for you and wants you to get in on the Wi-Fi streaming action. So much so that today it's launching the Live 5000, the first product in what it's calling "an exciting new music entertainment ecosystem."

But, sorry, Android peeps, this isn't an exclusive. Apple users also are welcome to join.

In fact, on paper anyway, Altec's new system sounds a little like a Sonos. Take Altec's description of the Live 5000:… Read more

Sonos adds Slacker streaming, Android tablet and Kindle Fire apps

Add Slacker, Android tablets, and Kindle Fire to Sonos' bag of tricks.

Starting today, the Sonos Controller app will be available on most Android tablets, as well as the Kindle Fire. The free app will be available through the Android Market (on tablets running Android OS 2.2 and higher) and via the Amazon App Store on the Fire. The controller app--already available for iOS (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch) and Android phones--essentially turns tablets and smartphones into touch-screen Wi-Fi remotes for the Sonos streaming audio products.… Read more

Sonos Play:3 speaker review: Small but loud

Following the success of its Play:5 networked speaker--formerly known as the S5--Sonos has added a smaller, less expensive speaker to its lineup, the Play:3. At $299, it's the most affordable Sonos streaming-audio component to date.

For the unfamiliar, Sonos is a streaming-audio system that lets you enjoy all manner of digital audio. Another big part of the appeal of the system is that it can stream your iTunes music collection and also easily connect to such streaming services as Aupeo, iHeartRadio, Last.fm, Mog, Napster, Pandora, Rdio, Rhapsody, SiriusXM Internet Radio, Spotify, Stitcher SmartRadio, TuneIn, and … Read more

The 404 874: Where two sticks make a fire (podcast)

Joey guest hosts The 404 Podcast today again; not because of all the Joey-related fan mail we've received, but because nobody else in the office knows how to operate the camera switcher. Just joking. Joey brings his refreshingly positive sense of humor while Jeff cools off.

Today's stories include a quick review of Spotify and the new Sonos small network speaker, a California ruling that makes Facebook trolling a crime, and a Web site that reveals previously deleted tweets of any Twitter user.

The 404 Digest for Episode 874

Sonos ships new smaller Play: 3 speaker. That story about the IQ of Internet Explorer browser users was fake! Undetweetable collects tweets you thought you deleted. California judge: trolling with someone else's Facebook is identity theft. My fake Facebook birthdays. A video voicemail from Kokesh on top of a mountain!

Episode 874 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

New Mac products galore

Roku adds motion-sensing gaming to its streaming media box, Sonos offers a lower cost, wireless Hi-Fi speaker system called the Play 3, and Apple unleashes Mac OS X Lion, updates MacBook Air and Mac Mini, and releases a Thunderbolt Display.

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded:

Apple unveilsMac OS X Lion, new MacBook Airs, new Mac minis and the Thunderbolt Display

Roku 2 gets motion-sensing video gaming

Lower-cost, Sonos Play 3 networked, wireless speakers

New T-Mobile "unlimited" smartphone plans

Google adds malware warning to search

Sonos ships new smaller Play: 3 speaker

Back in early June we reported that Sonos was in the process of prepping a smaller networked speaker, the Play: 3. Well, now that product has become official, along with its $299 price tag.

As part of the new release, Sonos is also undergoing a brand makeover, with a slightly different logo, a new naming system for its products, and a new tagline: "The wireless HiFi system." Moving beyond the smaller Play: 3, which comes in black and white versions, Sonos is now calling the larger S5 networked speaker the Play:5. It remains priced at $399, while the company's wireless Bridge drops to $50 from $100.

In recent years, as Sonos has added free iOS and Android apps to control its multiroom wireless audio system from people's existing smartphones and tablets like the iPad, the company has been growing rapidly. The introduction of the S5 (Play:5), which integrated a speaker with the wireless networking component, made setting up a multiroom system easier and has led to a big leap in sales.… Read more

How to access Spotify on your Sonos system

Spotify just launched in the US, giving American users the first taste of the highly anticipated streaming music service. Spotify provides native apps for your Mac or Windows machine, as well as iPhone and Android apps, all of which are really well done. If you have a Sonos system in your office or home, you are going to want to use your Spotify Premium account to get the most out of your Sonos.

It just so happens that Sonos has rolled out Spotify support. Read on to learn how to connect the two, and enjoy some quality music on a quality system. … Read more