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Bleeding Edge TV 313: Sonos Controller 200 CR200
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Full Episodes, Gizmatic, Accessories, Features, Home Entertainment, Music, Podcasts, Product Reviews, Videocasts, Videos, Wireless / WiFi,
Tom Cullen of Sonos stopped by to give us a first-hand look at the new Sonos Controller 200 CR200 remote control. A marked improvement over the original Sonos Controller 100, the CR200 is a full touchscreen device that allows you to interact with music from a vast amount of sources and services, both on your network and from the Internet, with relative ease. We give you a look at how it all comes together in this episode.
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Sonos announces the Sonos Controller 200 CR200 touchscreen remote
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Features, Home Entertainment, Music, Wireless / WiFi,
We’ve been waiting on this for a long, long time, and we are happy to share the news that Sonos has officially announced the Sonos Controller 200 CR200 remote. Why is this news to be excited about? Well, if you’re a Sonos owner (or a potential owner,) this means that you get a touchscreen Sonos remote, rather than the old-school click wheel version of the remote. Like the rest of the Sonos gear, this will work anywhere in the home, is meant to be a shared device that can be left in a common area, is more intuitive, turns on instantly when picked up, and has a nice capacitive VGA touchscreen. It even has a replaceable battery. The only thing that the old remote has that this new one doesn’t is that the new one isn’t water-resistant and splash proof. The Sonos CR200 goes on sale tomorrow, and will sell for $349, $50 less than the older model. Even better, the Sonos Controller 100 will be heavily discounted until they are sold out, so if you do want a splash-proof Sonos Controller that you can take to the hot tub, now’s your chance.
We’ve played with the new remote (video coming shortly!) and we can very easily recommend it - it makes finding music from the vast number of libraries and services that Sonos can connect to a breeze, because when you have that much music, a clickwheel just won’t measure up. Be sure to check out our Sonos Controller 200 gallery for a bunch of images of the new remote.
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Sonos CR200 controller to have touch-screen
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Design, Home Entertainment, Music,
After a month suspicion, the first image of the new Sonos CR200 controller has finally popped up. Sonos will be releasing a new portrait controller, which is said to include a touchscreen, which would include a QWERTY keyboard for searching for artists, albums, or song titles. As we’ve seen with the iPhone Sonos Controller app, the Sonos system and touch-screens go very nicely together. Let’s just hope the CR200 doesn’t cost $400 like the current Sonos Controller.
Read More | Automated Home
Sonos Controller for iPhone 2.8.1
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Music, App Updates, Free Apps,
The latest version of the Sonos Controller for iPhone has been released, and it is the one we’ve been personally waiting for since the app was first made available. Why is that? Well, aside from all the other features, Sonos Controller 2.8.1 now supports DRM-protected Windows Media files, and Windows Media shares show up and are now browsable, as they’ve always been on the regular Sonos Controller. This means I can browse all my Zune music from the iPhone, and that makes me a happy boy. Here’s a look at all the new features:
- Full-featured alarm and timer functionality so you can wake up or fall asleep to your favorite music. Set, edit and delete Sonos alarms right from your iPhone.
- Support for 7 languages. Now you can control Sonos from your iPhone or iPod touch in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch, and Swedish.
- PC-free setup of your network music folders.
- Support for DRM-protected WMA files.
In order to take advantage of these, you’ll also need to update your Sonos system as well, to software version 2.8.
Read More | Sonos Controller for iPhone
Bleeding Edge TV 295: Sonos iPhone app, Sonos 2.7 features
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Full Episodes, Gizmatic, Apple, Cell Phones, Features, Handhelds, Home Entertainment, Music, Podcasts, Videocasts, Videos, Wireless / WiFi,
So this morning we gave you the scoop on the new Sonos 2.7 features, along with the news of the new (and free) Sonos Controller for iPhone and iPod touch, but we figured you’d be interested in seeing how all this worked. Luckily, Sonos CEO John MacFarlane was able to stop by to give us a first look at all the announcements. In this episode, John walks us through all the new hotness that Sonos announced this morning. That includes a walkthrough of the new iPhone app, which incorporates and supports all those slick new Sonos 2.7 features that we’ve been raving about so early in the morning over here. If you are a music fan, you owe it to yourself to look into Sonos, if you haven’t already.
Oh, and be sure to check our Sonos for iPhone gallery if you wanna see some screenshots of the app in high resolution.
Sonos Controller for iPhone hits App Store
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Home Entertainment, Hot Deals, Music, Software,
If you thought we were done with today’s Sonos news, think again - they’re on a roll, having just announced the availability of Sonos Controller for iPhone and iPod touch, for free. If you’re a Sonos fan, then you immediately understand what this means. If you own an iPhone or iPod touch, you get a touchscreen Sonos controller, at no extra cost. Seriously, that rocks. The new app gives you access to all the new Sonos 2.7 features we told you about earlier as well, like Rhapsody, Sirius, Last.fm, and tons of radio from across the globe. In fact, with the Sonos Controller for iPhone, you can access music from any computer on your network, a NAS drive, or even a Time Capsule. When you realize that one of the standard Sonos Controller remote costs $400, you begin to see how big a deal this is. Releasing this as a free download makes Sonos instantly easier to use, especially in a multi-zone, multi-iPhone household, like mine.
Be sure to check out our Sonos Controller for iPhone gallery for some high resolution stills of the app, which is available now on the App Store.
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Sonos 2.7 goes live: Multi-room Last.fm, Pandora, Sirius, 15,000 radio stations, more
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Home Entertainment, Internet, Music, Wireless / WiFi,
We are big fans of Sonos here at Gear Live, which is why we are super excited about the new Sonos 2.7 update that is launching today. This one truly fits in with the whole goal of filling your home with music from anywhere on the planet. Let’s jump into this. The new update provides computer-free access to services like Last.fm, Pandora, and more than 15,000 radio stations from around the globe, all at no additional fee. If you subscribe to a subscription service like Napster, Rhapsody, or Sirius, they’ve got you covered there too. They’ll all stream directly to your Sonos system, with no need for a computer or server running in the background. That’s some slick stuff.
Even better, the Last.fm integration is fantastic. Every song you listen to through a subscription service, or your music library, is scrobbled and added to your Last.fm profile. A few other new features in Sonos System Software 2.7:
- Rhapsody now streams at 192 kbps MP3 as opposed to 128 kbps WMA
- RTSP streaming protocol now supported, allowing for greater Internet radio coverage
- Better language support
The update is free to all Sonos owners.
CES 2007: Sonos Now Plays Zune, Napster, et al.
Posted by Chris Cardinal Categories: CES, CES 2007, Features, Home Entertainment, Portable Audio / Video,
Sonos announced today that they’re tacking on support for Zune, MTV, Napster and AOL Music, in addition to Rhapsody, which they’ve supported since September. The software is free, available now, and you can bet a hefty expense for them to undertake, but a bright move to offer universal music store compatibility.
Good times, indeed, Sonos owners. Good times.
Software Update Page | [via Gizmodo]
Sonos System Software 2.0 Connects Rhapsody Without PC
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Home Entertainment, Music, Wireless / WiFi,
Sonos, Inc. has updated its service and released its system software version 2.0. Teamed up with RealNetworks’ Rhapsody web service, the new version enables a direct link with millions of songs from all genres and thousands of radio stations without the need of an installed application or computer.
Sonos allows you this access by means of their wireless controller - see our Sonos review on The Bleeding Edge. Simply plug and play the controller in any of up to 32 rooms in your home or office, and you get tunes with the aid of a 3.5-inch color LCD screen, scroll wheel, and a button. Choose the same music for each room, or have blues in the bedroom and classical in the bathroom. You can even download music that has been taking up all that valuable space on your PC.
The controller permits you to pick your fave artist and Rhapsody can build your very own commercial-free radio station that will include other artists from the same music genre. Select from their top 100 song charts or be your own jock. This 2.0 upgrade allows you to update daily with audible content or podcasts or choose a randomized shuffle mode. Also featured is improved multinational Internet radio and alarm functionality, as well as French, Italian, and Spanish language support.
Sonos is available at a whopping price of $999.99, but think of it as a way of getting rid of obnoxious DJ’s, endless commercials, and hunting in vain for that track that got lost somewhere in the bowels of your PC. Can musical life get any better? Sure it can. Rhapsody is offering a 30-day free trial of its service with your new Sonos.
Read More | Sonos 2.0 Release
