Sonos S5 Hits The Mark

As a long time reseller of Sonos music distribution products, I've always praised the products that Sonos has put out over the years. Well thought out, engineered, and most importantly, designed. By taking a page from the Apple Computers page of giving the customer cutting edge products, Sonos has developed demand products over the years that music buffs everywhere can be proud to sing the praises of. A cult following of sort-despite the somewhat steep for most budgets price tags. But that changes somewhat with Sonos' latest product release, the Sonos S5.

Up till now, Sonos always kept the speaker and the amplifier in its product seperate. Enter the S5 zone product. The Sonos ZonePlayer S5 is a high-performance wireless music system with 5 speakers powered by 5 dedicated digital amplifiers. With 2 tweeters, 2 mid-range drivers and 1 subwoofer, the S5 unlike previous Sonos zone units incorporates it all in one. And wow! It looks sleek, sexy, and sounds fantastic at any volume! I would say it sounds as good as just about any Bose mini system out there. Yes, it sounds that good! Much like other Sonos zone products that connect to your home network via hard-wired ethernet or wireless 802.11x, the simple 2-minute setup is a no brainer. Plug in, pair up, and listen to any number of music libraries, online radio stations, or any of the subscription music services like Deezer, Last.fm, Napster®, Pandora®, Rhapsody®, SIRIUS® Internet Radio, and downloads from any service offering DRM-free tracks. You can purchase a seperate LCD remote, download a FREE iPhone or iPod Touch app, or download the FREE PC desktop controller software to navigate and play your music or playlists.

The Sonos S5 is a hit, and currently backordered from most if not all dealers including the Sonos website itself, an indication of how well this product has taken the Sonos community by storm, and also an indication that a product of this kind is a long time coming. I've been using Sonos since it was introduced at CES a few years back. Sonos does a great job of updating and providing technical suppot. Simply put, you pay a bit more, but what you get back is a life-long partner in keeping up with the latest technology (like iPhone and iPod touch apps). With over 25,000 online radio stations, you'll never run out of music to listen to. And the Sonos system never fails to deliver on it's promise, to keep you rockin 24/7. For music buffs who appreciate an elegant way to accesss their music libary without the hassle of firing up a PC, Sonos delivers. The S5 sells for a retail of $399 and you can connect up to 8 to a single network with each playing a unique track at any given time. This is true for all zone players Sonos offers.

While the Sonos system is not for everyone or every budget, it's not just an iPod on steroids by an stretch of the imagination. Sure you can plug in an iPod to a dock and listen. But this has it's limitations of course. Sonos allows you to access your iTunes or music library on a NAS (Network Attached Storage Unit) so your PC doesn't have to be on at all. Sonos uses it's own private wireless network to communicate, so it really doesn't tie up your existing data network for the most part. All in all, Sonos has another winner on it's hands, and the S5 is just another great product in a series that keeps getting better all the time. Now excuse me while I crank up the volume.

CES 2010 Updates Coming Soon From Gadget Maniac

2009 is almost a memory and 2010 is coming on fast. This can only mean one thing. CES is upon us. For those who aren't so tech savvy, CES stands for Consumer Electronics Show. This is the annual Las Vegas Expo that always comes after everyone has had more Egg Nog than they care to admit, and right after most New Years hangovers have become a distant enough memory to forget your pledge to never allow your lips to grace another alcohol laced drink ever again. Yes folks, It's that time of year again and boy are we ready to bring you the best CES 2010 has to offer.

This won't be a booth by booth rundown. No sir. We will leave that type of coverage to the big fellows at sites like Engadget or Gizmodo. Our reporting will encompass more of the real unique, innovative and cutting edge tech items announced or introduced at the show that have been vastly improved, or are new to the world of tech. This of course will be at my personal discretion based on what I see as tech newsworthy. I will do my best to provide writings on items that are of interest to everyone.

CES officially kicks off on Thursday January 7, 2010, and runs through Sunday January 10th. Press-Preview day is Wednesday January 8th where Bloggers and members of the Press are invited by the major (as well as some minor) consumer electronics companies to attend 45 minute news conferences outlining each of their major announcements and product introductions for the show, as well as demonstrating consumer electronics items in public for the first time ever. Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Toshiba, LG, and Sony usually have the most elaborate press conferences on Wednesday. These conferences usually happen on the expo floor at the Las Vegas Convention Center where CES itself is held, but some are also held off-site at hotels like the Venetian since most conference speakers have to compete with the remnants of buzzing saws and pounding hammers putting the finishing touches on the mammoth displays still being constructed the convention center floor.

The consensus is that CES 2010 will be a bit toned down or muted somewhat if you will, from years past given the current world-wide economic condition, with most corporate discretionary spending all but vanished. Shows past usually featured elaborate stage shows, major celebrity sightings, and plenty of concerts from the hottest artists on the scene today. Most of those types of EXTRAS probably will be far and few between. However make no mistake, CES is an electronics showcase that sets the pace for the year to come in consumer electronics. All eyes around the world will be on Las Vegas this coming weekend, with over 100,000 consumer electronics industry related attendees converging on the City of Sin, all to see, feel, and touch the latest gadgets coming from the giants of tech in the coming year. It is where buyers for major consumer electronics chains like Best-Buy and Wal-Mart come to map out their purchasing strategy for the year ahead. CES can launch a new product into the stratosphere, and it can be the last place you ever see an ill conceived tech product. One never knows.

So my fellow tech guru's, electronic aficionados and gadget hungry humans, sit back, relax and enjoy our unique coverage of CES 2010. We look forward to providing you with information on the best of the best at CES. Check back here starting late Wednesday evening for a preview of what we were previed to, and every day after that till the end of the show. We will try to post as often as possible, whenever possible. That is as long as our hands aren't so full of swag that we simply can't put it down to type.

Logitech Squeezebox Radio Embraces Facebook

Many of my readers know that I'm an avid audio and music buff who embraces the various technologies that allow for a more diverse mix and ability to stream music in various forms to different platforms wherever I may be. An early adapter one might say of anything tech that gives me the ability to take my music anywhere. Logitech has long been in the computer keyboard and mouse game, and recently bought a small company called Squeezebox. Squeezebox is a basically a system that allows you to stream the music from your computer to play anywhere you like in your home.

Enter Squeezebox Radio (SR), a new and quite impressive little box that can from Logitech. With it's very intuitive interface and vivid 2.4" color screen, you have to love this clock-radioesque mini boom-box. Once you've connected this little marvel to your home 802.11x wireless network or hard-wired ethernet install a small piece of server software you must download to the PC or Mac that holds your music collection, you're ready to rock & roll--literally. The SR then finds the computer running the SR serer and streams your music by your choice of playlist, artist, album, genre, song or entire library. But that is only the beginning of SR's capabilities.

Logitech spent a lot of time refining this product, and I have to admit, they did their homework. If you're a subscriber to Rhapsody, Slacker Radio, Napster, Pandora, or even Sirius Satellite Radio, your SR is capable of streaming those music subscription services to you without the need for a PC or other hardware. Simply enter your credentials once and you're good to go for future needs. With six preset buttons, you can designate each button to a certain playlist, certain channels from Sirius, or any one of the thousands of online internet Radio stations available in just about every language and genre with one-touch. SR can play songs or music that has been converted to MP3, FLAC, WMA, WMA Lossless, AAC, Apple Lossless, WAV, and AIFF, which just about covers most libraries. These are the most common CD ripping formats. Of course it cannot play any songs you bought on iTunes that are still have DRM. (Digital Right Management-the copy protection that every iTunes download had before this Summer) You now have the ability to strip that copy protection thru iTunes by paying Apple a few pennies per song. That money pretty much goes to the record companies.

The SR interface is pretty straight forward, although entering ID's and passwords for the various subscription services can be a bit tedious given that you have to turn a single large knob to pick and choose each character that needs to be entered (no keyboard) but fortunately you only have to do this once for each service you wish to use. The SR also features a pretty nice digital clock and acts as an alarm clock that you can be programmed to wake you up with up to six different preset alarms each waking you up to six different stations or playlists. The automatic screen dimming feature works well and makes this unit the perfect bedside companion which is where I have been using this unit since I got my hands on it almost a month ago. The sound and fidelity from this little box is pretty good even at higher volumes, but don't expect audiophile quality playback. Even though the SR does not have an iPod dock (why would you need to plug in your iPod if you have access to your entire iTunes library) the SR does have an audio input if you choose to tether your iPod when you'd rather do so.

Overall, I'm impressed with this product. It does what it is supposed to do and it does it well. If you are looking for a great holiday gift for that music buff on your list, this is it. Street price on this unit is already down a cool $50 since it started shipping in October, going for about $150 today--somewhat steep for the average budget. However if you want something that is pretty practical and functional, there isn't anything else out there that comes close in features. An optional remote and battery are available for portable use for another $49 something I think Logitech should have included in the package to begin with. The SR comes in two colors-piano black or fire-engine red. For most, the music is what this is all about, but this little marvel also lets you view your Facebook status updates as well as those of your friends, and even lets you share/post your music tastes with them. That feature alone is worth the price of admission if you're an avid Facebook junkie!

CES 2009 Leaves Much To Be Desired

Goodby CES 2009. We barely knew ya!

After spending five long days & somewhat sleepless nights in sin-city, we think we trekked across more carpet than a 10 year old vacuum cleaner. After searching far & wide across three mammoth convention halls for the ultimate gadgets and latest tech gear that would strike our fancy so we could share our thoughts, we concluded it simply didn't exist at CES 2009. Although we came across allot of lame gadgets here and there, we have to admit that we walked away with sore feet and nothing substantial or even worth reporting on to show for it. We Pretty much are feeling shortchanged this year somehow.

Of course we did expect CES 2009 to be more subdued than years past given worldwide economic conditions. What we didn’t expect was for us not to find any real bombshells or game changing tech. Sure the first beta of Windows 7 was released during CES 2009, but is Redmond’s latest Windows Vista Service Pack 3 something we feel deserves coverage? Hardly! Pretty pathetic Microsoft! And to think they will eventuly make you pay for the final version once it releases later this year. Maybe.

The show was notably quieter, obviously smaller in size, and the crowds definitely down from years past. But this wasn’t something we didn’t expect. It seems that this year’s Consumer Electronic Show was all about improving existing tech. Again, nothing real major here either. Flat-Panels, both LCD & Plasma were everywhere--to a point that it bored us to tears. It seemed like the Central Convention Center hall was a flat-panel-fest-o-rama. Panasonic, Sharp, LG & Samsung all had flat panels lining their booths like excess decorations on a Christmas tree. After a while, you wonder, what’s the point? Even the Sony booth underwhelmed us despite introducing its overpriced Vaio P Netbook. Aside from that-ho-hum.

We actually caught some demos of High-Definition Three-Dimension LCD's and Plasmas from Panasonic & Samsung. The picture quality was outstanding as were the 3D effects. However with the slow adaption of HD itself amongst the public, not to mention the studios, 3D HD is more or less a pipe dream as far as we are concerned. Convincing the studios to produce content in 3D HD right now while money & budgets are cut to the bone is going to be all but impossible for now. Yes, 3D HD is the wave of the future, but it's at least 3-5 years away in this guru's opinion.

The highlight of the show for this guy was meeting Mr. Price Is Right himself-Drew Carey of What's My Line & "The Drew Carey Show" fame. We were able to talk to him briefly, take some pictures, and get his autograph. He was a really gracious about posing and answering questions. Turns out he’s a gadget guru himself. It’s pretty sad when the most exciting part of an electronics trade show is about who was there and not what was there. But that was the reality of it folks. Sitting through the press conferences proved to be even more painful with little or no substance offered by the major CE manufacturers. Again, we weren't at all surprised at the lack of any NEW true tech substance.

By now you’re getting the gist of this post-CES was all but a bust. Even the press box lunches were 4-peat. We got the same box lunch choice every day we were there. Ok, so it was complimentary, but given the amount of walking & talking we have to do, you'd think we'd at least get something more than that. You could tell that sponsorship and corporate generosity was extinct this year, something that was obvious at every turn. Even the North-Hall mobile electronics booths which are normally laden with more silicone enhancements than an ACE hardware store was all but a ghost-town compared to years past, another sign that money is tight and the models were few are far between.

All in all, we made the best of it. For a show that we had low expectations for, it didn’t disappoint too much. We were hoping to present a few key gadgets here that were unique, different, or out of the ordinary. But talking about a one-click back-up drive wasn’t our idea of fun. Instead, for all the juicy details and an item by item review and picture, jump on over to either Engadget or Gizmodo. They both pretty much covered almost more lame and crap-gadgets than you can shake a stick at from the show floor. We’re pretty positive that once you do, you’ll be glad we didn’t waste your time going through any of them here. And isn’t that why you come here in the first place?

CES Updates Coming To My Tech Man

2008 is now a memory and 2009 is now officially in full swing. This can only mean one thing. CES is upon us. For those who aren't so tech savvy, CES stands for Consumer Electronics Show. This is the annual Las Vegas Expo that always comes after everyone has had more Egg Nog than they care to admit, and right after most New Years hangovers have become a distant enough memory to forget your pledge to never allow your lips to grace another alcohol laced drink ever again. Yes folks, It's that time of year again and boy are we ready to bring you the best CES 2009 has to offer.

This won't be a booth by booth rundown. No sir. We will leave that type of coverage to the big fellows at sites like Engadget or Gizmodo. Our reporting will encompass more of the real unique, innovative and cutting edge tech items announced or introduced at the show that have been vastly improved, or are new to the world of tech. This of course will be at my personal discretion based on what I see as tech newsworthy. I will do my best to provide writings on items that are of interest to everyone.

CES officially kicks off on Thursday January 8, 2009, and runs through Sunday January 11. Press-Preview day is Wednesday January 7th where Bloggers and members of the Press are invited by the major (as well as some minor) consumer electronics companies to attend 45 minute news conferences outlining each of their major announcements and product introductions for the show, as well as demonstrating consumer electronics items in public for the first time ever. Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Toshiba, LG, and Sony usually have the most elaborate press conferences on Wednesday. These conferences usually happen on the expo floor at the Las Vegas Convention Center where CES itself is held, but some are also held off-site at hotels like the Venetian since most conference speakers have to compete with the remnants of buzzing saws and pounding hammers putting the finishing touches on the mammoth displays still being constructed the convention center floor.

The consensus is that CES 2009 will be a bit toned down, muted somewhat if you will, from years past given the current world-wide economic condition, with most corporate discretionary spending all but vanished. Shows past usually featured elaborate stage shows, major celebrity sightings, and plenty of concerts from the hottest artists on the scene today. Most of those types of EXTRAS probably will be far and few between. However make no mistake, CES is an electronics showcase that sets the pace for the year to come in consumer electronics. All eyes around the world will be on Las Vegas this coming weekend, with over 100,000 consumer electronics industry related attendees converging on the City of Sin, all to see, feel, and touch the latest gadgets coming from the giants of tech in the coming year. It is where buyers for major consumer electronics chains like Best-Buy and Circuit City come to map out their purchasing strategy for the year ahead. CES can launch a new product into the stratosphere, and it can be the last place you ever see an ill conceived tech product. One never knows.

So my fellow tech guru's, electronic aficionados and gadget hungry humans, sit back, relax and enjoy our unique coverage of CES 2009. We look forward to providing you with information on the best of the best at CES. Check back here starting late Wednesday evening for a preview of what we were previed to, and every day after that till the end of the show. We will try to post as often as possible, whenever possible. That is as long as our hands aren't so full of swag that we simply can't put it down to type.