Great news for Europeans and those few U.S. users of music streaming service Spotify. Sonos, creator of the super cool (my descripton) S5 music player, is announcing today that users will soon be able to listen to streaming Spotify music through their Sonos devices. That means users will now be able to listen to music files stored on any computer in their home as well as Spotify, Rhapsody, Napster, Deezer, Pandora and other services.
U.S. users still have to wait for Spotify to launch here, of course, or find another way to access the service. On the upside, Sonos says their iPad controller app will be hitting iTunes sometime soon. So they’ve got that going for them, which is nice. → Read More
I’ve always had a soft spot in my necrotic heart for Sonos. In the face if iPods, Zunes, mobile phones, and everything else, they’ve kept pumping out great, compact products for folks with big houses. They’ve never pretended to be too high-class for the rest of us yet you basically use their products to create soundscapes, just like Disney World, Vegas, and the haunted house I made in my basement as a kid.
Sonos just announced their iPad app – probably available in August – that allows you to control your Sonos system on the iPad’s bright screen. The app allows you to browse your iTunes and Sonos collection, pick radio streams, and even set different rooms with different playlists. When I tested the Sonos kit I used to like to make my bathroom, for instance, the Drum’n'Bass room to ease evacuation.
Video after the jump. → Read More
Sonos stopped by our office in San Francisco today to show off their newest toy: the iPad controller app. Those familiar with the iPhone/iPod touch version of the controller will feel at home here, though obviously the larger screen allows Sonos to do some more creative music management things with the UI. It looks to be a pretty killer way to manage multiple Sonos systems throughout your home (it can manage up to 32 separate zones).
While the app looks polished and ready to go, Sonos says it’s still pre-beta. The plan is to have it ready to submit to Apple’s App Store by mid-August. Once approved, it will be available as a free download. → Read More
Just a quick FYI: The Sonos S5 is now available in both white and black. It’s still the same $399 price and loaded with all the wireless music goodies. → Read More
Venture capital is flowing once again to startups at a steady pace. During the first quarter of 2010, the total value of venture funding doubled to $12.8 billion from $6 billion a year before, when it was scraping the bottom of the barrel. However, the funding amount is down 16 percent from the $15.3 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, based on an analysis of CrunchBase data.
Some of the venture rounds during the first quarter include Sonos (http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/12/sonos-confirms-25-million-investment-from-index-ventures/), betaworks ($20 million), Hunch ($12 million), and Posterous ($4.4 million). → Read More
Sonos has now confirmed the Index Ventures investment we reported two days ago. The company has taken an additional $25 million in capital from Index, raising the total raised by the company to $65 million. And Index Ventures Partner Mike Volpi, a former CIsco executive, has joined their board of directors.
The funds will be used for growth equity, says the company, which signals that they are past the proof of product stage (well past, in this case) and will use the funds to speed market penetration.
From our original post: → Read More
Sonos, the Santa Barbara, California based startup that develops of wireless multi-room music systems, is taking a new round of financing from London-based Index Ventures, we’ve heard from multiple sources. Partner Mike Volpi, a forcer Cisco exec who found himself in the middle of a huge drama last year around eBay’s Skype spinoff, will join the board of directors of Sonos.
Volpi will bring real expertise to the Sonos board. As recently as 2007 he ran an $11 billion routing and access products busines for Cisco. He clearly knows how to sell products at scale.
Sonos has been around since 2003 and has raised some $40 million from private angel investors and BV Capital. Until last year the company sold very high end music products that users loved passionately, but the mutli-thousand dollar price point for a complete system made mainstream penetration difficult. → Read More
If you’re familiar with the Sonos system, then there isn’t too much news here. In fact, there’s not too much news even if you don’t know what Sonos does. Let me break it down for you: the Sonos system is a nice, comprehensive wireless music system for your house that you can control via your iPhone. If you haven’t heard of it before and you’re wondering how to get your music collection to various rooms in your house, check out the demo.
The rest of you, think on your current Sonos speakers: are they good enough? No? Well then — these ones are better. → Read More
What we have here is the Sonos CR200 controller that was leaked a couple weeks back. By now, I’d imagine most of the CG audience is familiar with Sonos and what they’re all about, so I don’t really need to dive into that. All you really need to know about the CR200 is that it features a 3.5-inch capacitive VGA touch-screen and has a kickass keyboard. Just check out the video to see what it’s capable of. Available now for $350. → Read More
Boy oh boy did I love reviewing the Sonos Bundle 150. The Sonos multi-room home audio solution is superb. One wart to the system was the controller: the scrollwheel was a little cumbersome for some actions, not to mention outrageously expensive as a stand-alone component. Looks like a new touch-screen controller is due out soon, though, which should remove one complaint from my review. Or you can keep using the free iPhone controller with its touch-screen interface right now. → Read More
Unless you’re down to hobble your own crazy homebrew set-up, tinkering with wireless audio systems is a damned expensive hobby. Everytime I read about these products, I imagine some rich old dude tango’ing himself around his mansion with a rose in his teeth and an air-partner in his arms.
Linksys’ just announced “Wireless Home Audio System” is an obvious attempt at a shot across Sonos‘ bow – we’ll have to wait until we get our hands on it to see if Sonos has any reason to be wary. → Read More
I think what they’re trying to say in this video is that the new Sonos CR100 remote is completely water proof which means you can can leave it by the pool next to that bottle of Jack Daniels without worrying that your “house guests” might drop it into the deep end. Note: you can probably stop watching this at about the 2 minute mark. → Read More
Sonos, makers of everybody’s favorite way to stream music throughout your house, has announced a partnership with Sirius. The deal: Beginning today, if you’ve got Sonos’ Zoneplayer hardware, you can download software that lets you stream 80 channels of the satellite stuff–including Howard Stern and the NFL. It’ll be free for 30 days, after which point it’ll ring up to $12.95 per month for new Sirius customers, or $2.99 if you’re already a subscriber. Of course, Sonos already streams content from Rhapsody and Pandora, meaning that this is just one more step in their every-increasing web of alliances that could make them the daddy of streaming services. Not bad for a company that doesn’t even approach the name recognition or size of the CE giants. And still no telling what effect, if any, an XM-Sirius merger would have on this deal. On the same note: Sirius is set to announce a bunch of new recievers later today, so stay tuned for what’s in store. [via BusinessWeek] → Read More
This week: Computers, set-top boxes (like AppleTV), and AV receivers are battling to be your household hub, streaming music and movies back and forth across your pad until you become sterile and glow in the dark. All this gear is versatile, but it’s hard to know which one to pick — especially when hefty sums of money are involved. Sonos and now Denon seem to have the most promising solutions, but life is passing their equipment by while gadgets like the iPhone and Archos’s 605 WiFi threaten to swoop in and take all. → Read More
Sonos is busy this week. After announcing Phil Abram as its new president and COO, the Santa Barbara based company has announced an arrangement to offer its wireless music boxes in Best Buy stores. The Sonos BU130 is available today in more than 440 stores and will be featured in more than 600 stores by the end of 2007. It will be showcased with a live, interactive multi-zone display. Depressingly, however, the wider availability does not signal a price drop for the excellent, but expensive, device — it will maintain its $999 price tag. Nevertheless, the greater visibility afforded by a prominent Best Buy display is certain to augment Sonos’ sales greatly and increase awareness of the company. Sonos Best Buy → Read More
Sonos has announced the installation of Phil Abram as its new president and chief operating officer. He comes fresh off an 11 year stint at Sony where he held a number of strategic management roles, the most recent being vice president and senior general manager of television products. The move could signal a significant strengthening of the core for Sonos, who, to date, has released superb products, but only managed to cater to a mostly niche market. As of now, however, it remains unclear what sort of impact this hire will have on the company. We’ll continue to monitor the goings-on at Camp Sonos and keep you all posted on whatever gels. → Read More
Sonos today announced the availability of the $999 Bundle 130 (BU130). The bundle includes one Sonos ZonePlayer 80 (ZP80), one ZonePlayer 100 (ZP100) and one Controller 100 (CR100). The package will allow users to wirelessly stream music to two rooms and control it remotely using the awesome controller. Users can also opt to include a Loudspeaker 100, bringing the package total to $1,149. Previous bundles will be discontinued. Sonos’ complete new pricing scheme follows the drop. Sonos also announced today that a 30-day trial of Pandora would be included with all new devices. How much effect this will have on either company is uncertain, but it is, at least, good for users. → Read More
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