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Sonos releases new PLAY:3 entry-level HiFi wireless speaker
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Home Entertainment, Music, Videos, Wireless / WiFi,
If you don't know, we're huge fans of Sonos here at Gear Live. There's nothing else like it if you're a music lover for managing and listening to just about anything you can think of, in any room of your home, wirelessly. Today, Sonos is introducing a new product aimed at lowering the cost of entry into Sonos ownership with the PLAY:3. The PLAY:3 is a small, Hi-Fi streaming unit that sports three integrated speakers (a tweeter and two mid-range) and three digital amps, offering big sound. There's no subwoofer (save that for the PLAY:5, formerly known as the Sonos S5) on board, but the PLAY:3 does rock a passive bass "radiator" to make up for it, and we hear it works well. You can pick up the PLAY:3 for $299 from Sonos directly, or in stores. If you're new to Sonos, you'll also need to pick up a $49 Bridge to create the Sonos wireless network in your home. Once you have that, you can then just add more Sonos zones to any room in your home, and they'll automatically pick up the network and start working. It's good times.
We expect to get a test unit of the PLAY:3 in tomorrow, and we will start testing and let you know our thoughts.
Read More 
| Sonos
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Spotify launching on July 14 in the US, invitation-only
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Music,
We know a lot of you were expecting OS X Lion tomorrow, and while we aren't saying it's o ut of the question, we do know one long-awaited product that'll definitely be launching tomorrow, and that's Spotify. It took them a hell of a long time to get everything signed, sealed, and ready to deliver, but the Spotify folks are ready to roll:
We were really adamant about bringing the service to the US, which means a really great, free experience. We wanted to be really careful about the way we did this, and the rights holders felt the same way. It took some time, but we're absolutely thrilled that all four major labels and a ton of indies are behind us, and we'll be bringing that Spotify experience to the US tomorrow.
The free service will be invite-only at first, so you'll wanna head over to the signup page now to get your email address in the hat. From there, there will also be two paid tiers--a $4.99 per month service that does away with the ads, and a $9.99 per month service that allows you to use Spotify on a mobile device like the iPhone or an Android smartphone, with the ability to cache tracks for offline access. The European version of Spotify boasts 15 million tracks, but there's no word as of yet on how many tracks they'll be launching with in the US. We'll know tomorrow!
Read More | Spotify US signup
Sonos Controller for Android brings voice search to Sonos
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Google, Home Entertainment, Music,
Sonos' stable of wireless music offerings allow listeners to have a stereo system that encompasses every room in their home, and to control the whole system simply and wirelessly. Sonos makes a hardware remote control for the system and apps for iOS devices, and today the company announced that Sonos owners can now also use their Android devices to control their music.
The Sonos Controller for Android is a free app that can access and play all the music available through the Sonos universe, which includes everything from computer-based media libraries to services like Spotify, Rhapsody, Rdio, Pandora, and Napster.
Click to continue reading Sonos Controller for Android brings voice search to Sonos
Holiday Gift Guide 2010: Sonos S5
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Music, Portable Audio / Video, Men, Techies, Under $500,
As evidenced by the fact that we saw holiday decorations up at a major retailer the other day, it seems that It's that time of year again where we dig deep and give you our daily recommendations on what you should get your loved ones in our 2010 Holiday Gift Guide. This year, we're kicking it off with the Sonos S5. If you're unfamiliar with Sonos, it's basically the best way to get music from just about any location (your computer, your iPhone, the web, the cloud, etc.) to play in any room in your house. It's super intuitive, and even years after using Sonos, the technology still blows us away. The Sonos S5 is a wireless all-in-one music system that lets you jump right into the Sonos experience. If you have an iOS or Android device, you can download the Sonos remote control app, and you can also control the system with a computer using the Sonos Desktop Controller. Here are some other Sonos products that go nicely with the Sonos S5, which itself you can get for $399 from Sonos:
Oh, and if free shipping is something you appreciate, just enter the code FREESHIPSONOS during checkout!
Bleeding Edge TV 357: Sonos Controller for iPad at GDGT Seattle event
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Gizmatic, Accessories, Apple, Features, Handhelds, Podcasts, Software, Videocasts, Videos,
The crew from GDGT rolled into town a couple of days ago, and our pals from Sonos were there to show off their upcoming Sonos Controller for iPad remote control app. We talk with Sonos rep Thomas Meyer about what makes their iPad app special and unique, and show the differences between it and the smaller Sonos Controller for iPhone. We definitely can’t wait to see this one hit the App Store, which they say will happen before the end of the year.
To use the Sonos Controller for iPad, you’ll need at least one Sonos zone. We love the product, and if you wanna get started enjoying the world of Sonos, might we recommend the Sonos S5?
Preview: Sonos Controller for iPad
Here at Gear Live, we’ve been in love with Sonos for years now. If you are a music lover, they are a company that you should definitely check out. One thing we love is that Sonos released a free app that allows you to control your system from an iPhone or iPod touch, rather than having to rely on their proprietary controller. Since the iPad hit the streets, we’d been wondering when we would see some love on that platform from Sonos as well. Now we have the answer. The Sonos Controller for iPad app will be hitting the App Store in late August, but you can see a preview of it in action above.
Bleeding Edge TV 335: Sonos S5 at IWSIV Blogger Party
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Full Episodes, Gizmatic, CES, CES 2010, Features, Home Entertainment, Music, Podcasts, Videocasts, Videos,
We are big fans of Sonos, and were glad to see them as a sponsor of the It Won’t Stay in Vegas blogger party at CES 2010. We stopped by their setup to chat with them about Sonos, and their latest releases, the Sonos S5 and their new CR200 Controller 200. Check the video out if you are interested in an all-in-one music device that can pull content from just about anywhere.
A big thank you to Bing for sponsoring Gear Live’s CES 2010 coverage.
Sonos S5 unboxing gallery
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Home Entertainment,
After reporting on the existence of the Sonos S5, we were immediately excited to get our hands on a unit to see how it stacked up against the rest of the lineup. If you’ve followed us for any length of time, you know that we at Gear Live are huge Sonos fans, so it makes sense that our unit arrived as soon as they were available, and we had it set up within minutes. Literally.
The S5 is the easiest way to get up and running with Sonos. We had it unboxed, plugged in, and playing music in under five minutes, controlling it with an iPhone. The price is right too, something we’ve previously criticized Sonos about. The entry level into Sonos used to be $999, but with the S5 that drops down to $399. Put this one on your Christmas list, folks. We’ve snapped a bunch of images of the S5, which you can find in our Sonos S5 unboxing gallery.
Read More | Sonos S5 gallery
Gallery:
Sonos ZonePlayer S5 now available
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Home Entertainment, Smart Home, Music,
Just a heads up to any of you who want to add the Sonos ZonePlayer S5 to your current Sonos setup, or those of you who want to jump into Sonos for the first time for the lowest cost possible - the S5 is now shipping, and can be had for $399. We have one set to arrive later today, so we will hit you with a review after we play with it a bit.
Read More | Sonos ZonePlayer S5
Sonos ZonePlayer S5 wireless music system, $399
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Home Entertainment, Music, Wireless / WiFi,
Sonos is looking to market to the iPhone and iPod touch crowd with their new ZonePlayer S5 wireless music system. If you’re familiar with Sonos, you know that the price of entry has always been a bit high historically. The ZonePlayer S5 brings that price down to about $400. You plug it in to a router, and you are good to go with the ability to play your entire music library, as well as music from services like Rhapsody, Napster, Last.fm, and others, by using your iPhone as the remote control.
The price rises if you don’t have an Ethernet port handy for the S5, as you would then also need to buy a ZoneBridge, which allows you to connect the ZonePlayer S5 (as well as any other ZonePlayers you have) to your network wirelessly. We definitely think this is a positive step in the right direction for Sonos. By adding an all-on-one ZonePlayer/speaker to their line-up at this much lower price point, they’ve made it enticing to check them out to see what all the fuss is about. We’d pick up a ZonePlayer S5 over a Bose Sounddock any day of the week.
Read More | Sonos ZonePlayer S5 Demo
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