Crave

(Credit: Sonos)

We've long been fans of the Sonos Digital Music System, which lets you stream all manner of digital audio throughout your home. The latest BU250 bundle is an enthusiastic CNET Editors' Choice, in part because it can be controlled either via the included touch-screen controller or with any iPhone or iPod Touch (running a free Sonos Controller app). Unfortunately, it costs $1,000--not bad for a two-room system, but still out of reach for many consumers--and it needs to be connected to external speakers or audio components to hear the music.

The new Sonos ZonePlayer S5 aims to address both of those issues. It boasts an all-in-one design with built-in stereo speakers, so it's plug and play. And it costs $400--not cheap, but well within the price range of refined iPod speaker systems we've seen from Bose, B&W, and other luxury brands.

Indeed, the latest Sonos combines the features of a ZonePlayer ZP90 with the sort of integrated speaker you'd find on a Bose SoundDock. ... Read more

Streaming video continues to be largely MIA on the iPhone, but streaming audio? Ho, boy--it's an embarrassment of riches. Pandora, Slacker, Rhapsody. NPR News, Public Radio Player. The only thing missing? A killer sports app.

It's missing no more. ESPN Radio streams ESPN shows, podcasts, and even live college football games from stations around the country.

This is sports radio done right. ... Read more

(Credit: Logitech)

Logitech is adding a touch-screen model to its line of Squeezebox streaming audio products. Unfortunately, the upcoming Squeezebox Touch has a design flaw (in my opinion) that will likely relegate it to the periphery of the burgeoning home digital audio market.

At first glance, the Squeezebox Touch has a lot to like. Basically, it's the trusty Squeezebox Classic, but with that model's monochrome vacuum fluorescent display replaced by a 4.3-inch color touch screen. Connect it to a stereo (or a pair of powered speakers), and you've got access to your entire home music collection (streamable from any networked PC) as well as access a wide variety of online music services--including Pandora, Rhapsody, Last.fm, Sirius, Slacker, and the full range of free Internet radio stations and podcasts. The Touch connects to home networks via Ethernet or 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, and--unlike earlier Squeezebox models--it can play digital audio files from an SD card or USB flash drive.

Sounds like this $300 model could be the one-room Sonos killer we've long been longing for--except for the fact that the touch screen is built into the base unit. That means you're stuck with either getting up and walking over to it whenever you want to change a tune or pick a new stream, or opting for the little wireless remote (which provides far less detailed control than the touch screen). Why Logitech went this route instead of opting for a touch screen remote that you could hold in your hand is anyone's guess. (Who knows--perhaps Logitech is planning to offer a Harmony remote with built-in Squeezebox functionality instead.)

We can envision the Touch garnering interest from those who want a nifty countertop music controller in the in the kitchen, or one that's wall-mounted in various rooms in the house. But as it currently stands, we're far more excited about today's other Squeezebox announcement, the $200 Squeezebox Radio. We just hope that Logitech is busy working on a successor to the Squeezebox Duet (with a Touch-like remote). At the very least, we'd like to see Logitech offer an iPhone app to control their Squeezebox line that would effectively turn any iPhone or iPod Touch into a touch-screen remote as well. Apps like iPeng and Squeemote already exist, but--unlike the equivalent Sonos app--they're not officially blessed by Logitech.

We'll have a complete review of the Squeezebox Touch when it becomes available later in December.

The latest firmware update seems to fix Wi-Fi isssues on the Duet Controller--shown on the left in its recharging cradle.

(Credit: Logitech)

The Logitech Squeezebox Duet was given an enthusiastic Editors' Choice award when CNET reviewed it back in March of 2008. But the audio streamer is a two-part product that's heavily reliant on Wi-Fi (both the iPod-like remote and the base station communicate to each other--and your home network--wirelessly). And many users have experienced a problem wherein the Controller (the remote) fails to reconnect to the network or recognize the Squeezebox base station after "waking up" from a period of inactivity. The issue has been widely reported online, from CNET's user reviews to Logitech's own support forums.

After several earlier attempts to fix the problem, it looks as if Logitech's finally hit the jackpot. Version 7.3.3 of the firmware was made available earlier this week, and it's added major stability improvements to the Duet's wireless connectivity. We've tested it for the past several days, and haven't experienced a single dropped connection since installing it. The remote reconnected to the network every time, even when we left it off of the recharging cradle for hours or cycled the power (both of which tended to cause problems in the past).

Bottom line: This long overdue fix for the Duet looks like it's finally squashed an elusive bug that was hobbling an otherwise superb product for a large number of users. If you're a Squeezebox Duet owner, make sure to upgrade the firmware as soon as possible.

Current or former Duet owners are invited to share their thoughts--and any hands-on experience with the 7.3.3. firmware--below.

Definitive's Mythos SSA50: Is single-speaker the future of home audio?

(Credit: Definitive Technology)

You won't find a more institutionally conservative category in the consumer electronics space than home audio. More than any other industry segment, audio is one where technological advances tend to be lamented rather than celebrated, viewed with suspicion rather than embraced. And that's understandable: Subpar speakers are now passed off as good enough and used to listen to digital music, which is often highly compressed compared with CD or (even better) LP equivalents. And the music itself is coming from a dying recording industry, struggling to stay alive in the digital age, and often relegated to background music--fewer and fewer people are actually listening to the music anymore.

That's not to say that there weren't some home-audio highlights at this year's show. As predicted, single-speaker audio is taking off: Boutique manufacturers such as Polk Audio and Definitive Technology are turning their considerable expertise to single-speaker, as are mainstream names like Philips and Samsung. It's not totally new, of course--plenty of options already exist--but the clear desire for consumers to have a décor-friendly audio component to match their flat-screen TVs is undeniable.

One of the attractions of single-speaker units is the desire to cut down on the speakers, and the resulting speaker wire snaking throughout the room. The other alternative is going wireless altogether. It seemed like wireless speaker technologies were everywhere in 2007, with Neosonik's being the most impressive. The company's been offering peeks at its wireless speaker technology for the past couple of years, but it's now pledging to begin delivering actual product before the end of 2008. The company hopes to license its technology to other manufacturers under the Airpower moniker--but with so many nascent competing standards, it'll be quite a while before we see a Bluetooth-like standard in this arena.

Another carry-over from previous years was the complete dominance of the iPod. It's getting nearly impossible to find a home-audio product without an iPod dock. But unlike the bulky outboard docks of years past, manufacturers are integrating the dock directly into the main chassis of their products: all of Panasonic's 2008 home-theater-in-a-box systems have a nifty fold-down iPod dock built directly into the main head unit (as do JVC's P-Series TVs). Speaking of integration: Panasonic followed Samsung's lead by delivering an HTIB with a built-in Blu-ray player. And given that format's recent tailwind versus the increasingly struggling HD DVD, that's a trend that will only accelerate.

Needless to say, the iPod isn't the only way to listen to digital music. There are online services such as Rhapsody and Pandora, plus thousands of free Internet radio stations--not to mention the gigabytes of songs sitting on your computer's hard drive. And that's why Logitech's new Squeezebox Duet is so appealing. The Wi-Fi-enabled system lets you access all of those musical options from an iPod-like remote that fits in the palm of your hand. But unlike Apple's ubiquitous music box, you hear the resulting music through the big speakers of your home stereo (to which the networked Squeezebox base station is attached). It's not a new concept--see the Sonos Digital Music System or past iterations of Philips Streamium products--but the lower price ($400 versus $1,000 for the two-room Sonos) and consumer-friendly Logitech name gives the Duet the potential to expand the audio-streaming market to a much wider audience. Can't part with your iPod? Check out the Creative Xdock HD, which puts your iPod videos on your TV's big screen in addition to streaming the music to other rooms in the house.

Of course, that's all the mainstream stuff. For the real nitty-gritty of the CES home-audio experience, you need to go beyond the main CES show floor and hit the Venetian. The high-end guys are camped out in the upstairs suites, as well as the Sands Expo Center in the bowels of the hotel (right next to the porn show, in fact). There you'll find some of the more exotic, expensive, elaborate, and downright amazing audio products. It's too bad the audiophiles are exiled to the Sands--because spending just a few minutes with them will inevitably give you an insight into true music appreciation. Inevitably, these are passionate folks who truly love their work, and want to share an experience--not just sell you a product. And that's something that CES could use a lot more of.

Once installed, Simplify Media will appear in your list of iPhone apps.

(Credit: Simplify Media)

Simplify Media--a free desktop application for Windows or Mac OS X that lets you stream your digital music or your friends' from iTunes or Winamp (Simplify Media covered previously)--today released a new version of its software that is developed to run on the Apple iPhone or iPod Touch.

Rather than function as a conventional iPhone app, (i.e. a Web app built for Safari), the new program is standalone software that requires a "jailbroken" iPhone to work.

The ability to listen to your entire music collection or your friends' anywhere your iPhone or iPod Touch has Wi-Fi access could certainly be very popular, since iPhones max out at 8GB storage and iPod Touch only allows up to 16GB. However, Simplify Media for the iPhone is still in alpha release, so don't get your hopes up too high yet.

Using a jailbroken iPhone with 1.0.2 firmware, we were able to access a remote library and play songs fine, but there were major functionality limits and stability issues. There's no way to sort your streaming music; back and forward buttons don't function completely; and we encountered some crashing issues.

A quick e-mail conversation with Simplify Media co-founder Paul Joyce seems to indicate that most of our stability issues were because of the outdated 1.0.2 firmware. Paul explains the problems with using 1.0.2:

"Although the early development of our peer-to-peer framework was done with 1.0.2, once the 1.1.1 jailbreak was perfected we upgraded. All of the (complicated) tie-ins with Quicktime to enable continuous playing were done with the newer firmware (1.1.1 and 1.1.2), explaining your problems. We have our personal phones (for testing) and a few extra phones and an iPod Touch for development, but, unfortunately, not enough to support the earlier firmware."

Once Simplify Media is running, you can explore your friends' music collections.

(Credit: Simplify Media)

Despite the currently limited feature set, Simplify Media is a great idea that will catch on in one form or another. Paul also mentioned that sort control, next song, and previous song haven't been coded yet but are planned for the next release. The company must definitely be champing at the bit for an official SDK for the iPhone, which is expected in February 2008. It's quite curious that the Simplify Media iPhone app isn't Web-based, considering the popularity of SeeQPod; also, anyone with an iPhone will have to break their service contract to even install Simplify Media.

For more on Simplify Media for iPhone or iPod Touch, visit the iPhone page on the Simplify Media Web site. If you're not prepared to jailbreak your iPhone or install prerelease software on your fancy new gadget, watch this Simplify Media video below that offers a tour of the mobile app. The software currently supports WMA, AAC, and MP3 formats for streaming audio.

Note: Download.com Editor Jason Parker contributed to this article, including most of the hands-on testing of the Simplify Media for iPhone app.

CHICAGO--One of the predictions in the lead-up to this weekend's Second Life Community Convention here has focused on the potential for lots of talk about organization.

There are plenty of critics who claim, however erroneously, that Second Life is a mess both structurally and technologically. And Linden Lab's decentralized and laissez-faire approach to the largely user-created virtual world, it could be argued, has allowed its identity to be shaped by its most prominent and press-worthy residents--who are, on occasion, blowing up buildings, stealing identities, and barraging lectures with oversized flying man-parts.

We won't really know until tonight at the earliest (more likely tomorrow) if there is indeed focused discussion about an evolution toward more order for Second Life. But one announcement timed in conjunction with the convention has hinted toward a "yes": the launch of the Virtual World Radio Network, which aims to be a hub for Second Life news and financial information as well as cultural programming. A live stream is available both in-world--the VWRN is giving free virtual radios to interested residents--as well as over the Web.

"The need for a truly professional, state-of-the-art media operation in Second Life has become apparent by the sheer number of unconnected blogs, podcasts, and other random bits of information in SL," a VWRN press release said.

Sounds like they have order on the brain.

The VWRN is not an official Linden Lab creation, but it's a positive sign to see that residents of Second Life are also catching onto some of the tactics that could help the virtual world move into maturity.

At $200, the Sony XDR-S3HD is the cheapest HD Radio yet. But why pay anything at all?

(Credit: Sony)

Sony just sent me the XDR-S3HD tabletop HD Radio to review. I'm not quite done with it yet--I'm still evaluating the sound quality and reception versus the Polk Audio i-Sonic--but it appears to be a perfectly capable HD Radio. The big advantage of the Sony is that it's the first name-brand tabletop HD Radio that's available for under $200. That edges out the earlier Sangean HDR-1 ($250), as well as the Boston Acoustics Recepter HD and Cambridge SoundWorks 820HD (both $300). (While the Radiosophy HD100 is available for a scant $99, the photos alone don't exactly inspire confidence). The relative advantages and disadvantages of the Sony versus those competing models will be covered in the full review later this week, but the bigger question I keep running into when reviewing these products is this: is the HD Radio format good enough to justify the purchase of a dedicated radio?

HD Radio's extra stations
For me, the supposed increase in sound quality just isn't that much of a selling point--you're just hearing those same lame Clear Channel playlists, albeit on a digital rather than an analog band. But the multicast (or HD2) stations are a different story. They're substations that offer alternative programming that's unavailable on the analog dial. For instance, New York's WPLJ offers adult contemporary music on its main station (analog and digital), but has two multicast stations--95.5-2 and 95.5-3--that play '70s and '80s music only, respectively. And because the industry is trying to hook people on HD Radio, these HD2 stations--for the time being, anyway--often broadcast free of commercials.

OK, now we're getting somewhere: there's some exclusive content dispersed throughout the HD Radio dial, so maybe it's got some value after all. But then I remembered something. When Tivoli Audio announced its two new NetWorksGo Wi-Fi radios last June, CEO Tom DeVesto defended their lack of HD Radio reception by saying that it was essentially superfluous: most of the multicast HD2 stations would still be available, just via Internet streaming instead of over the air. So I decided to put DeVesto's claim to the test.

... Read more