Sonos®, Inc., the leading developer of wireless multi-room music systems for the home, today released Sonos System Software 2.7. Sonos 2.7 delivers a world of music to every room of the house—free of charge—by providing instant, computer-free access to Last.fm and Pandora® personalized radio services, plus more than 15,000 radio stations and shows via Sonos Radio. The free one-button software update is available to all Sonos customers and is available now for download.

The Sonos Multi-Room Music System is a unique multi-room music experience that keeps getting better over time with free software updates that connect music lovers to new content, features and more. Sonos now offers an unmatched suite of both subscription-based services (Napster®, Rhapsody® and SIRIUS®) and free music services (Last.fm, Pandora and Sonos Radio) right out of the box. All of these services stream music directly from the Internet to the house so they work even when the computer is turned off – no need to download songs or have a server running.

“Sonos now brings music from every corner of the world to every corner of the house with control from the palm of the hand," said Phil Abram, President & COO, Sonos, Inc. “By offering our customers a suite of free content with this update, we continue to provide even more ways to listen to the music they love, all over their home."

Sonos’ new Radio guide, powered by RadioTime, lets you tune in to more than 15,000 free Internet radio stations, radio shows and more. You can browse easily for both local and international stations or use Search to find a specific station, show or host. When you find what you want, simply add it to Favorites for your future listening.

Last.fm on Sonos is a free global music service that lets you discover, play and share new songs and artists based on your unique musical tastes — right from any Sonos Controller. After an account is created on Last.fm, Sonos customers can enjoy continuous music streaming all over the house. Simply enter the name of a favorite artist or tag keywords and Last.fm’s unique recommendation system instantly creates a personalized radio station featuring music you’re sure to love. Last.fm on Sonos also features the capability to scrobble all of the music you play on your Sonos Multi-Room Music System. Every song you listen to on Sonos — whether it’s from your personal music library or a music service like Napster®, Rhapsody®, Pandora®, and of course, Last.fm — is automatically added to your personal music profile. This allows Last.fm to customize your music recommendations and open the doors to even more music discovery, in more rooms of the house.

Pandora, the popular personal radio service is now available for free on Sonos. After creating a free account on Pandora.com, Pandora lets you create and play up to 100 radio stations based on your favorite songs or artists. Using Pandora’s Music Genome Project®, Pandora’s highly-trained musicians analyze songs, one at a time, using close to 400 musical traits including melody, harmony, instrumentation, rhythm, vocals, lyrics, and more to automatically build a station with songs that share interesting musical similarities. With a Sonos Controller in hand, you can rate the music you hear to further refine the station’s playlist on the fly. Play the same Pandora radio station in each room, perfectly synchronized; or, play different stations in different rooms to fit the mood.

Other new features of Sonos System Software 2.7 include:
• Updated Rhapsody support with improved sound quality. Rhapsody now streams at 192 MP3 (versus 128 kbps WMA previously).
• Support for RTSP streaming protocol which allows for expanded Internet Radio coverage.
• Dutch and Swedish languages are now supported in the Sonos system software. Sonos already supports English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.
• For more information about the features of Sonos Software 2.7, please visit: http://www.sonos.com/support/software_update.aspx.

In conjunction with today’s software update, Sonos also introduced the brand new Sonos Controller for iPhone™ which is a free download on the iPhone App Store. Now, you can use your iPhone, iPhone 3G or iPod® touch to control the best multi-room music system in the world. The Sonos Controller for iPhone is the only iPhone Controller app that provides multi-room music control and direct access to a world of music including Last.fm, Napster, Pandora, Rhapsody, SIRIUS® Internet Radio, 15,000 radio stations, shows and more. Plus, the Sonos Controller for iPhone gives music lovers control over their entire music collection* located on any computer on their home network, a Network Attached Storage (NAS) and even an Apple® Time Capsule.

Further info, and a demo video, available here:

http://vowe.net/archives/010026.html

An unofficial Q/A I composed, related to today's release, which may help potential new buyers:

Q: Are Sonos going to release a new controller?
A: Following the release of Sonos V2.7, an iPhone or iPod touch can now be used as a fully functional Sonos controller.

Q: I wish the Sonos controller was smaller, do Sonos plan to release a smaller device?
A: You can now use an iPod touch as a Sonos controller which is small enough to easily fit into the pocket of your jeans.

Q: I wish the Sonos controller was touchscreen, which would make it easier to enter artist names and track titles during a search. Do Sonos plan to release a touchscreen device?
A: If you want a touchscreen controller, you can now use an iPod Touch with Sonos and use it's multi-touch capabilities.

Q: Do Sonos intend to add a headphone port to the Sonos controller?
A: If you'd prefer a controller device from which you can also listen to your music through earphones, then you can use an iPod Touch.

Q: The existing Sonos controller is quite expensive, are there any plans to reduce it's price?
A: If you'd like a reduced cost controller option, you can use an iPod touch with free Sonos controller software. The iPod Touch starts at $220 compared to $400 for the Sonos controller...a significant saving for new owners.

Q: I'd prefer my controller device to run over standard wifi so I can store all my zoneplayers centrally in the basement. Do Sonos plan to reduce a controller than will work on standard wifi?
A: The iPod Touch controller integrates with your existing wifi network making it ideal to deploy alongside "home run" style audio systems.

Q: How much does the iPhone & iPod Touch controller software cost?
A: It's free of charge to all new and existing Sonos owners.

awesome playing with it now. puts sonos controller to shame

awesome playing with it now. puts sonos controller to shame

It is a Sonos controller :)

An unofficial Q/A I composed, related to today's release, which may help potential new buyers:

Q: Are Sonos going to release a new controller?
A: Following the release of Sonos V2.7, an iPhone or iPod touch can now be used as a fully functional Sonos controller.

Q: I wish the Sonos controller was smaller, do Sonos plan to release a smaller device?
A: You can now use an iPod touch as a Sonos controller which is small enough to easily fit into the pocket of your jeans.

Q: I wish the Sonos controller was touchscreen, which would make it easier to enter artist names and track titles during a search. Do Sonos plan to release a touchscreen device?
A: If you want a touchscreen controller, you can now use an iPod Touch with Sonos and use it's multi-touch capabilities.

Q: Do Sonos intend to add a headphone port to the Sonos controller?
A: If you'd prefer a controller device from which you can also listen to your music through earphones, then you can use an iPod Touch.

Q: The existing Sonos controller is quite expensive, are there any plans to reduce it's price?
A: If you'd like a reduced cost controller option, you can use an iPod touch with free Sonos controller software. The iPod Touch starts at $220 compared to $400 for the Sonos controller...a significant saving for new owners.

Q: I'd prefer my controller device to run over standard wifi so I can store all my zoneplayers centrally in the basement. Do Sonos plan to reduce a controller than will work on standard wifi?
A: The iPod Touch controller integrates with your existing wifi network making it ideal to deploy alongside "home run" style audio systems.

Q: How much does the iPhone & iPod Touch controller software cost?
A: It's free of charge to all new and existing Sonos owners.

That's amazing, it's hard to believe you can get a better controller for less money and one that does so much. Does this mean that if you wanted a bunch of controllers for a large house, that you would be better served by a bunch of Ipod touches rather than controllers (and save $180 per each controller).

This is also a fantastic deal for those that already have iphones or touches as it makes the cost of entry much easier.

That's amazing, it's hard to believe you can get a better controller for less money and one that does so much. Does this mean that if you wanted a bunch of controllers for a large house, that you would be better served by a bunch of Ipod touches rather than controllers (and save $180 per each controller).

This is also a fantastic deal for those that already have iphones or touches as it makes the cost of entry much easier.

It's exactly what it means. Sonos have lowered the entry cost for many people and also made it so you get a controller and a portable player in one.

It's exactly what it means. Sonos have lowered the entry cost for many people and also made it so you get a controller and a portable player in one.

While I basically agree with this answer I would have to qualify it by stating the the original Sonos controller has a much better battery life. So this COULD be an issue for someone although there are ways around it.

One question though (since I haven't gotten home to play with mine yet). If you let the iPod Touch timeout, when you wake it back up will it go directly back to the Sonos Controller App? If not, this could be a potential issue for people wanting to use it as a dedicated controller.

But either way - this is a HUGE upgrade that Sonos has rolled out and I'm very pleased to see it.

can we get a mod to merge this in the official thread. its much easier to keep track of info there and this is exciting stuff

While I basically agree with this answer I would have to qualify it by stating the the original Sonos controller has a much better battery life. So this COULD be an issue for someone although there are ways around it.


Totally see your point but, depending on use, the iPod Touch has pretty reasonable battery life. Just like the Sonos controller, wifi is only used when necessary and some users find that they only charge their iPod Sonos controller every 3-4 days.


One question though (since I haven't gotten home to play with mine yet). If you let the iPod Touch timeout, when you wake it back up will it go directly back to the Sonos Controller App? If not, this could be a potential issue for people wanting to use it as a dedicated controller.


Yes, it wakes up straight back to the controller app as you would desire. You will need to slide to unlock the controller though, which will stop unwanted key presses in your pocket etc.

Great piece of software, I'm using on the Iphone it as I write. I just wish I could have a similar control for all my other gear

Yes, it wakes up straight back to the controller app as you would desire. You will need to slide to unlock the controller though, which will stop unwanted key presses in your pocket etc.

Yep - I found that out last night when I tried it out. This is a great addition to my Sonos system. Now all I need to do is get a iPod charging dock so that I can keep my iPod charged when not in use.

This app is VERY good. It's fast, beautiful, and full functional. About the only thing missing is the ability to set alarms from the app. I'm very impressed.

I would have to think that Sonos is now diligently working on their own touch screen controller. I view the iPhone app as the same thing as their free desktop controller software. It's not meant to be the primary controlling device for the system but rather a supplement to it. This leads me to believe that they will be coming out with their own touch screen controller in the near future.

I'm probably dreaming but I can tell you that I'd buy it - even if it cost $500.

Q: Do Sonos intend to add a headphone port to the Sonos controller?
A: If you'd prefer a controller device from which you can also listen to your music through earphones, then you can use an iPod Touch.


Can someone give me a little more detail on how this works? This app is just plain awesome, so I'm trying to see if I can use and iPod Touch to actually listen to music on my NAS/Sonos system around the house without having to put files on the iTouch. Is that what this FAQ is saying? If so, how does it work - streaming via SonosNet / WiFi? Also, to confirm, this is NOT possible with the iPhone 3G? (Can anyone explain why?)

Thanks in advance for the info.

Can someone give me a little more detail on how this works? This app is just plain awesome, so I'm trying to see if I can use and iPod Touch to actually listen to music on my NAS/Sonos system around the house without having to put files on the iTouch. Is that what this FAQ is saying? If so, how does it work - streaming via SonosNet / WiFi? Also, to confirm, this is NOT possible with the iPhone 3G? (Can anyone explain why?)

Thanks in advance for the info.

Regarding the headphone port, Sonos adds no functionality over and above that which is already provided on the Apple device. You do, however, end up with single device from which you can both control Sonos and listen to music through earphones. Previously you needed a Sonos controller AND an iPod.

Can someone give me a little more detail on how this works? This app is just plain awesome, so I'm trying to see if I can use and iPod Touch to actually listen to music on my NAS/Sonos system around the house without having to put files on the iTouch. Is that what this FAQ is saying? If so, how does it work - streaming via SonosNet / WiFi? Also, to confirm, this is NOT possible with the iPhone 3G? (Can anyone explain why?)

Thanks in advance for the info.

No, the FAQ is saying that you do not lose iPhone/iTouch capabilities when you are controlling Sonos. I was a little thrown by that answer also, it really does seem to say you can listen to Sonos content via the headphones jack.

Jaffa,
In the interest of clarity, you may want to edit that part to say only files that are physically on the device are able to be played via headphones.