Sonos integrates Apple AirPlay and launches Android app
Sonos has released a software update that brings Apple AirPlay support to the multiroom music system – provided you buy yourself an Apple Airport Express.
The latest 3.4 software update, available to download from 2pm today, will allow you to stream music direct from an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad to your Sonos system.
Also included in the update is support for iOS multitasking support and a promise of faster wireless control using your iPhone or iPad as a remote.
Last but not least on a big day for Sonos, is the launch of the Sonos Controller for Android, bringing the Sonos remote controller application to all Android smartphones with Android 2.1 software or later.
Adding AirPlay to your Sonos systems requires an Apple Airport Express – yours for around £80 – to be connected to any one of your Sonos ZonePlayers via an audio and an ethernet cable.
This will then connect to all your Sonos devices. An AirPlay tab will then appear, once you've installed the Sonos 3.4 software update, allowing you to stream to Sonos from an Apple portable device.
Sonos claims it's now the only system that can send music from one Apple portable device to multiple rooms using 'AirPlay Party Mode'.
The company is also keen to reiterate that it's the only system that allows you to play different tracks from your iTunes library in different rooms in your house.
Also out today is the Sonos Controller for Android. Available for free on Android Market, it allows you to remotely control your Sonos system from an Android smartphone.
You'll need a smartphone that sports Android 2.1 or higher and a screen with an HVGA 320 x 480, WVGA 480 x 800 or WVGA 480 x 854 resolution.
The app sports voice search and uses your handsets hard keys as volume controls as well as offering the standard Sonos controls.
The 3.4 software should be live now, as should the Controller for Android. And if you've got an Airport Express, you can activate AirPlay on your Sonos today.
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Jeepers... went a bit overboard in the formatting there didn't I... sorry guys - copied it in from word, LOL!
“Sonos claims it's now the only system that can send music from one Apple portable device to multiple rooms using 'AirPlay Party Mode'.”
Surely Denon have had this for a while I thought – albeit that Airplay Party Mode is not what denon call it – but The Denon’s have Airplay and their own proprietary party mode.
Setup=
1 Denon N7 Ceol & 3 Denon ASD51w iPod Docks with DM37/38 in each room
(extra benefits in zoned bedrooms is that they also get a Cd Player, DAB Radio, USB Media Playback, Net radio, Napster, Music Server etc in each room) as well as being able to stream the Airplay audio from the main AVR3311.
You can pick up the ASD51w for about £190 (less on ebay) and the old DM37 for about £150
Costs the same as the sonos more or less BUT with all the extra benefits of the above, and sounds better too (subjective - my own personal opinion)
Practice=
Enable Airplay to an N7 Ceol in room 1 - also enable Party Mode
Enable Party mode on each ASD51w in the other rooms,
Share audio being streamed from the Apple Airplay Device to the N7/Ceol which will share it on to the other Party Mode devices
Personally I much prefer the sound of the Award winning DM37’s and the N7 over the sound of the Sonos Amps.
That’s my two pennies spent…. I think??
Thanks
Ok, so I have a sonos 3 zone setup and have all my music on a NAS visible to the Sonos.
So far so good, but this is a really welcome addition. Friends with iphone or now android phones can stream their music when they come to visit, plus I can now listen to a couple of previous incompatible podcasts without having to turn on my PC or play them direct on my phone.
Maybe I'm biased because I already had an airport express but I don't understand the negativity being aimed at Sonos for implementing a much requested feature in a clever and low cost manner.
@scene Bingo, it does seem to be aimed at existing Apple users who can't or won't share their existing iTunes library for Sonos to use directly. Still, if it gets their toe in the Sonos waters then all well and good.
@grantsteve, no I don't think you could use an AE/ZB in this manner, the Zonebridge doesn't handle audio, it just extends the network, you'd need a Zoneplayer of some description, the AE requires an ethernet AND an audio connection to the Zoneplayer.
I've got an iPad and a Sonos system (4xS5, Bridge and ZP90). Thinking about Airplay, streaming from an iThing to the Sonos probably wouldn't make much sense per se at the moment, as the music on my iPad isn't lossless and is sourced from the NAS where the lossless files my Sonos system sees anyway. Similar to a lot of Sonos users, probably.
This does seem to be more about market positioning, than anything.
Yes, if Sonos started doing AV streaming, then being able to stream from my iPad to my AV amp and display via the Sonos would be a big thing - taking the SONOS into the wonderful world of (video) media streamer.
Why would you want to stream from your iPhone? Well it means you don't need to have the content on your computer/storage device, which could be useful for all sorts of reasons. A friend can come round and play a tune through your system straight away from their phone, for example. Also AirPlay allows you to stream audio direct from apps such as YouTube, giving you access to even more on-demand content. Sounds good to me. Audio quality is of course crucial but it's not the be-all and end-all.
Just thinking if an how I could use this to my advantage as an existing Apple user and with a wireless music system based around the AE, but also as someone who will be buying 2 or 3 S5s and a ZB for a new house. Could I plug one of my AEs into the spare ethernet on the ZB and connect some active speakers to the AE to create an extra zone on my Sonos system, or can I only connect my AE to a ZP?
Sonos CEO's comments about AirPlay back at CES here:
http://www.whathifi.com/news/ces-2011-sonos-plans-new-form-factors-for-m...
He didn't say they wouldn't do it, just that it'd be difficult (hence the AirPort Express addition, I guess).....
So I own a Sonos system and I also own an iPhone but I must be missing something........Why would I want to stream from my phone to the Sonos?
As already stated it seems pointless and a retro step, why would a quality product such as Sonos integrate with a style driven product which is not know for its high performance?????????????
Glad to see the Android app is out now though so I can finally change my phone.
The Android controller is not big news, arguably it's not even news as we knew about it months ago. As for Airplay, I seem to recall it was only at CES this year when the Sonos CEO said they wouldn't be doing it as it was "a step backward".
I'd argue they haven't actually done anything beyond recognising when an Airport Express is attached to the line in and renaming it Airplay, you could do exactly the same with an AE now, as any line-in input can be sent to every zone, you still need the AE to do it, so it's not like it's direct Airplay support.
It's a fop to the Apple masses, fair enough, I can't help thinking it's going to come back to haunt them, nobody's going to buy a Sonos ZP to do this if they still have to buy an AE. If they already own an AE or any amp that already supports Airplay why would anybody bother buying a ZP on the strength of this?
That's HUGE news. Rather than seeing Apple AirPlay as a threat, Sonos is seeing it as an opportunity. Good to see in an industry more typically used to ignoring competition and hoping it'll go away....
Well I'm fairly interested...
Would be very interested if I didn't have to splash out on the Airport Express...
Well, given the millions who own iPhones/iPods/iPads, it's certainly of interest to a large part of our audience, even if you're not interested lhc. Oh, and I gather Android is quite popular too.
That's it? That's the "BIG" news? Pathetic.