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Sonos Controller beta for iOS Retina displays and Android tablets

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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

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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 3.8 with new support for Mac OS X 10.8 and Android 4.0 ICS

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Today Sonos released a free software update, Sonos Version 3.8, which features support for Mac OS X Mountain Lion and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

It also offers a handful of enhancements to the Sonos Controller apps for Mac and PC. The app will now fit neatly onto computers with smaller screens, such as netbooks. You can also resize the Mini Controller by clicking an icon at the top of the window. The navigation bar at the top of the screen has also been brightened to make it easier to read.

To get it, follow the update prompts on any Sonos Controller and check your app store for the latest update.

Multi-room

Philips Streamium with Spotify

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Philips Streamium is a music streaming product line that has been around in different versions for over ten years. Steamiums offering is not as focused towards multi-room music as Squeezebox and Sonos. It ranges from alarm clocks to ipad docks and whole Hi-Fi systems. Only the top line, full Wireless Hi-Fi systems (MCi8080 and MCi900) has support for Spotify. They can be remoted in a multi-room solution through iPhone and Android devices with the Philips MyRemote app, available on both the Apple App store and Google Play.

It would have been nice if Philips had a lower priced unit without speakers with the same premium functionality also, since most people has existing rigs to fit the streaming unit into. When/if that device arrives, Philips could take on the Multi-room market more seriously.

Multi-room

Boxee spotify update

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If we are talking Boxee and multi-room music, airplay is the best bridge for a multi-room Boxee solution, as previously concluded due to the lack of powerful multi zone Boxee remote apps.

But if airplay is not an option or you just want to use that big screen tv for finding music, Boxees own Spotify app just got a whole lot better with support for searching for songs outside of you playlists. Access to the inbox and ability to play in shuffle mode.

Multi-room

Sonos PC controler revamp

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Sonos has just announce a revamp of their Sonos Controller apps for Mac and PC. Their newest software gives you a fresh GUI with greater flexibility to control your music, with streamlined search, handy drag-and-drop functionality. Try it out today by following the update prompts on your existing desktop controller, or download it for free here. Maybe the next step for Sonos is to develop a dedicated android tablet app?

Multi-room

New WD TV Live comes with Spotify and wifi

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The WD TV series has always been competent at playing audio and video. The first versions lacked network connection but has now evolved into including even wireless (802.11n). The increasing focus on streaming abilities has also brought a full implementation of Spotify. With full i mean also the ability to make and update Spotify playlists, which most other implementations actually don’t have yet (Boxee, Squeezebox and Sonos). It has HDMI, Optical and analog output. It can play almost all audio formats from either an attached disk or one on the network.

What it don’t have yet is a powerful remote app that can remote all this from your phone or other without using a TV for its on screen display menu. If this non existing app also had the ability to control multiple devices as different zones, you would have a full fledged multi-room music solution which also could play video and other things as Facebook.

As it stands now, the WD TV Live probably has one of the most competent one zone audio player but cant even compete when it comes to multi-room and is also dependent on a screen for displaying its menu.

Multi-room

Onkyo TX-NR609 review

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If you are serious about your sound, you will need a dedicated receiver in one or more zones in your multi-room solution. Probably in the living-room, hocked up to surround speakers, your zone player of choice, a big screen tv, a HTPC media center (or Tivo or other) and a game console (Xbox or PS3) . The receiver needs to have multiple input types like coaxial and optical digital (SPDIF), hdmi and a couple of RCA and 3.5mm analog inputs. It is also important that the receiver can decode audio through the hdmi inputs, not only pass it trough to a tv.

So what kind of a receiver fits those requirements? Well the Onkyo NR609 does. So lets take a closer look at it. The NR09 is Onkyos middle-class model and has all of the above and more like:

* 7.2 surround support for the latest HD audio formats.

* iPhone and Android remoting app that lets you control what source to play, volume, bass, current playlist (if using DLNA, Spotify or other supported streaming service) and more.

* Spotify support. The receiver has an integrated built-in spotify player that requires a premium account. Spotify can be remoted by the Onkyo Android app or through the on screen display.

* Automatic audio setup for multiple listening positions.

* Network ethernet input which enables DLNA streaming from your local network and firmware upgrades trough the Internet.

* Two zones support. It is possible to have a set of speakers for an additional zone attached to the NR609.

* Auto turn of when idle for a specified time.

I have been using the Onkyo for three weeks now and can conclude that it delivers great sound and it does so intelligently. It adapts its settings automatically between digital surround and stereo. The calibration lifted the sound even more and the android app finally got Spotify support on October 31. The receiver also looks great and has a smooth light ring around the volume control when turned on. The on screen menu structure feels a little strange at first. The receiver does not support Airplay, so not the optimal solution for an Airplay based multi-room system.

Multi-room

Is Boxee with Spotify ready for multi-room?

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The latest firmware brought Spotify support to Boxee which makes
“the box” interesting from a multi-room audio perspective. The D-Link Boxee Box
DSM-380 has a very competitive price, currently around 180$ and is also great
for playing movies in various formats. But we will focus on the audio
functionality. It plays virtually any audio format and has both digital and
analog outputs.

Boxee plays audio from network shares or from an attached hard drive through USB. It
also has many apps for playing Internet radio and services like Pandora and
Last.fm. That combined with the fresh Spotify support makes it a great device
for playing audio, in one location. But what about multi-room? Well the Boxee is
not designed for controlling multiple zones from one remote without an
additional display, like the Squeezebox and Sonos are. Instead Boxee requires an
attached display for showing menus which in turn requires you to be in that
actual room to make choices for it. Once started, next and paus type of
manouvers can be performed but you cant switch from Internet radio to Spotify
without using the display.

But, the Boxee also has AirPlay support which makes it an ideal part of an AirPlay multi-room solution. So even though Boxee is not really for true multi-room music solutions on its own, it fits great in an AirPlay setup and is also great at playing music
and movies remoted in the same room.

Multi-room

Audio pro

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Audio pro has a new wireless multi-room product line caled the living series, which is aimed at providing a complete multi-room solution. According to Audio pro it is not evolution, it is a revolution. So lets go through some facts about the system architecture.

1. Own dedicated network. As with Sonos, the Audio pro devices communicates (mainly streams audio) through a separate Audio pro wireless network. This makes the installation easier and the music distribution more reliable.

2. Sending music is done through the WF100 dongle that can be attached to a Computer through USB (where it replaces the system sound card) or with any music device that has a line out.(TV, Android, iPhone, iPad, stereo). So great source support BUT the mayor drawback is that your source can’t send different streams to different zones at the same time. So you can’t play Spotify in zone one and internet radio in zone two simultaneously if your only source is a PC. You need a second source to achieve that. Like going to your stereo and start a cd that is streamed to zone one and then go to your computer and start Spotify that is played in zone two.

3. Receiving music is done with either Audio pro speakers with built in receiver for this system. Or it can be done with the RX100 receiver attached to a line in at any audio system.

4. Given the architecture of the system there are no remoting apps that can control what are played in multiple sources like the ones that exist for Sonos and Squeezebox. This is of course a major drawback. Audio pro recommends using the iPad app Splashtop remote (which is a remote desktop app that clones your computer desktop) for controlling what your computer plays in one zone.

Compared to Sonos and Squeezebox, Audio pro lacks a unified remote system for controlling what will be played in which zone. It cant play Spotify in different zones at the same time with the same account, as Sonos and Squeezebox can. But if you are looking for an easy way to stream music from your old stereo across the house or to stream from your computer, Audio pro could be what you need.