While there are a number of wireless home theater surround sound solutions out there, most are hobbled by line-of-sight requirements and still only manage passable auditory performance. So I’d welcome higher-end and more thoughtfully designed competition from an upcoming Sonos solution. And while we don’t know exactly what’s in the works at this point, it seems obvious something is currently under development given this Sonos job opening:
Sonos is looking for a successful, experienced home entertainment product leader to help us re-invent home theater sound for the digital age. We are looking for someone with a passion for home theater sound who wants to drive new concepts into a shipping reality.If you are passionate about music and movies, you’ll quickly see that this is a tremendous opportunity to shape the future of connected home entertainment.
We’ve long needed a “Sonos” for the TV. Kaladiscape was / is the closest there has ever been. Sonos has a lot of cash from investors and presumably the business is going well and profitable so I’m surprised that they haven’t purchased boxee or roku, or done something with video streaming before. At this point, I don’t see how the home theater audio market has much room for innovation. The innovation needs to come from the “Theater” aka Video side of the equation. Still a major opportunity there for someone.
Even just wireless speakers over Wi-Fi direct with timing compensation would be a useful development. Wish them luck. Could help with in-wall installations since you might not have to run cable all over hells half acre, which would simplify things. If you’re just running cable over the floor/under the carpet… well, it would improve the SAF (Spousal Acceptance Factor).
Sonos hinted at this in a survey some months ago. I use my Sonos to amplify the 2 speakers hanging on the wall around my TV. It’s not an ideal experience, since the Sonos input and volume have to be controlled with a different remote.
There’s a lot of opportunity for them if they add some digital inputs, and IR remote control, and create a Home Theater version of their S5.
Hm, the survey I remember led me to think more about a clock radio device. Unless, that’s just the portion I focused on. Given the large number of iPhone docks and whatnot, though, I’d definitely be more interested in a Sonos surround sound solution – assuming it’s just as high quality and simple as their existing whole-home audio is.
Why would you want to use an IR remote with everything going to Wi Fi? I want to controll everything with either a universal home remote or my phone as a remote. My phone never leaves my side. I have no idea why I cant controll my TV through it yet. Sonos needs to merge with the home theater better to be a contender. The low price of the sonos compaired to a custom system is a no brainer. I would invest in the company if they where traded publicly.