SONOS RELEASES FEATURE UPDATE THAT INCLUDES SONOS DESKTOP CONTROLLER FOR
THE MAC AND SUPPORT FOR
WINDOWS MEDIA AUDIO INTERNET RADIO STATIONS
Sonos Update Adds Support for Podcasting and Power Scroll Feature
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- July 20, 2005 -- Sonos, Inc., the developer of the
award-winning Sonos Digital Music System, today announced the immediate
availability of a software feature update that gives Sonos customers more
ways to control their digital music and more content to listen to in every
room of the house. Version 1.2 Sonos software includes the addition of a
Sonos Desktop Controller for Mac users and support for Windows Media Audio
(WMA) Internet radio stations.
The Sonos Desktop Controller for the Mac gives users full control over the
Sonos Digital Music System from a Mac desktop. The Sonos update also adds
support for the latest Apple iTunes 4.9 release, allowing iTunes users to
access their music collections, podcasts and iTunes playlists on the Sonos
system.* The Sonos Desktop Controller for the Mac is compatible with Apple
Mac OS X 10.3 and 10.4.
On the content side, Sonos has added support for WMA Internet radio
stations as part of the new update allowing Sonos users to add and listen
to thousands of streaming Internet radio stations (MP3 or WMA) throughout
their homes. The Sonos Digital Music System comes pre-loaded with more than
100 Internet radio stations, now including select BBC stations, KFOG-FM
(SF), WBUR-FM (NPR-Boston) and WLS-AM (Chicago). Users can easily add more
MP3 or WMA streaming stations by using the Sonos Desktop Controller for the
Mac or the PC. .
"Sonos' mission is to bring the joy of multi-room digital music to as many
people as possible," said John MacFarlane, CEO, Sonos, Inc. "With the
additional control and content features we have introduced, more digital
music lovers, including Mac users and Internet radio fans, can get the most
out of their Sonos system."
For digital music lovers with large music collections, Sonos has added a
feature called "Power Scroll" which is unique to the Sonos Digital Music
System. It gives Sonos users a shortcut for scrolling through large music
libraries via a "scroll by letter" feature on their Sonos Controller. This
allows users to easily navigate through their large music libraries to
quickly find a specific artist, album or track name.
The latest Sonos update also provides a number of power user features,
including:
* Increase in the system's library index capacity from 30,000 tracks to
40,000 tracks.
* Support of volume normalization settings for iTunes (MP3, AAC files),
Windows Media Player (WMA, MP3 files) and FLAC encoders using ReplayGain.
* Added ability to view tracks within playlists.
* Support for additional sample rates, including: 48KHz, 32KHz, 24KHz,
22KHz, 16KHz, 11KHz, 8 KHz sample rate for both local files and Internet
radio streams (44.1 KHz already supported).
* New user preference settings, including line-in level settings and
adjustable backlighting.
* Support for bitmap album art.
Support for the new software feature update is available to all Sonos
Digital Music System owners via their Sonos Controller. To learn more about
Sonos, to place an order or locate an authorized Sonos dealer, please visit
(http://www.sonos.com/)www.sonos.com.
*Apple proprietary AAC (Fairplay) files purchased from the Apple iTunes
Music Store are not able to be supported.
About Sonos, Inc.
Sonos has a team of highly-talented, music-loving software developers,
audio engineers, hardware engineers, industrial and interactive designers,
and usability engineers. Working side-by-side, they've created the Sonos
Digital Music System, the first and only multi-room digital music system
with a wireless, full-color LCD screen controller. The Sonos Digital Music
System is available direct from Sonos or at more than 185 retailers and
custom integrators in North America, including Crutchfield, Magnolia Audio
Video, Magnolia Home Theater at Best Buy, Ovation Audio Video, 6th Avenue
Electronics, Harvey's, MyerEmco and more. Sonos is a privately-held
company, headquartered in Santa Barbara, CA with offices in Cambridge, MA
and Hilversum, Netherlands. To find out more about the company or the Sonos
Digital Music System, please visit: www.sonos.com.