Sonos announced that it is adding some third-party app integrations to its wireless speaker products. Most intriguingly, one of the first partnerships for app support is with Amazon. People who have both Sonos speakers and one of Amazon’s Alexa-enabled devices – the Echo or Echo Dot – can now use the Amazon voice-controlled product to operate their Sonos system. Continue Reading
Sonos has opened its first physical retail location in New York City’s tony Soho neighborhood. The store places a high value on creating listening environments to best showcase its speaker products. In addition to the usual shelves of merchandise, the store has seven listening rooms designed to look like real rooms in houses. Continue Reading
Como Audio has launched a Kickstarter campaign for two home audio players. Solo and Duetto are the new creations from the company, which is led by founder Tom DeVesto, whose past resume includes Cambridge Soundworks and Tivoli Audio. Continue Reading
Another new Kickstarter project is seeking support to release a new WiFi speaker product. The HUB by ekko audio can cast high-resolution audio to up to 10 speakers or headphones. Continue Reading
Sonos announced a big business shakeup, including layoffs and a new focus in how it will bring music into the home. In a blog post discussing the changes, CEO John MacFarlane spoke about how the home audio landscape is changing and how the company wants to stay at the forefront of that transition. He pointed to the growth of streaming, and subscription tiers in particular, and the increased interest in voice controls as the reasons for the pivot. Continue Reading
Amazon has created a new Echo product that’s smaller, cheaper, and designed to amp up your music options. The Amazon Echo Dot has the same type of features as the company’s original voice assistant: control smart devices, check the weather, fetch information, and play music. But it’s intended to make the music component sound a little better than the first Echo. Continue Reading
The Amazon Echo has added support for Spotify. However, the voice-controlled speaker will only work for subscribers of the streaming service. The Echo is one of many new challengers in the field of WiFi speakers and connected home audio, where Sonos has been the leader for some time. Continue Reading
WiFi speakers have been a recurring topic of interest at CES, and this year’s show has not disappointed. Several tech companies, both large and small, have presented new products in this vertical.
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Brief news items and worthy reads about the latest happenings from CES 2016. Sony debuts a turntable; New Google Cast partners; and new products from Pioneer. Continue Reading
At the start of the year, annual tech show CES signaled heavy interest in at-home wireless speaker systems. And that trend has indeed been an undercurrent of the music and tech worlds through this year. Despite the arrival of more competition, Sonos is still one of the top choices in the field. Continue Reading
Parks Associates conducted market research into the connections between broadband Internet and streaming music. The results showed that of the 97.64 million U.S. households with broadband access, 66% use a streaming audio service. That figure could grow as more home audio technology adapts to keep up with the shifting preferences to digital music. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Cost analysis of Pandora’s anniversary celebration; Rdio on more Wi-fi speakers; HTC + Spotify + selfies; focus on podcasting in India. Continue Reading