What are the Sonos Boost & Playbase?

sonos-boost

As Sonos consolidates amidst IPO speculation, by discontinuing the matte Black Sub and shortly dropping the wireless Bridge requirement, we’ve latched onto two new products.

From a source comes the screengrab above, which is the first reference I’ve seen to a Sonos Boost. While it could be an entirely new device, I wonder if might simply be a rebrand of the Connect products (used to network existing speakers) or even the Bridge itself given its Settings positioning. The only reference we’ve been able to dig up is this 2013 trademark filing. Which in turn…

…revealed the Sonos Playbase. Like the Boost, I can only guess what it might be (or when it will hit). Could this be an all-in-one speaker TV stand like the Bose Solo or Zvox line? Or some sort of dock for the portable, rechargeable Sonos speaker I want so badly?

Meanwhile, I’ve seen a few existing Sonos models take a second trip through the FCC – suggesting upcoming inline upgrades to bring beefed up wireless capabilities.

7 thoughts on “What are the Sonos Boost & Playbase?”

  1. Good thing I’ve never been in a Sonos beta. :) By the by, my PR contact suggested I apply for the “wireless, no bridge” Sonos beta (given my recent home networking changes and distaste for clutter). But it’s been radio silence. Probably works out OK as I’m not operating under any sort of NDA.

  2. What he tried to mean is that anyone, including your source for whom you have removed his name since this week-end, is under NDA if they participate to the Sonos BETA.
    Thus, he broke his NDA and even worse, provided you with a screen shot that you published publicly.
    Now leaks happens all the time but I don’t see any particular reason to take part of it.

  3. What makes you think this source, which wasn’t named or described, is a beta tester? As in it sounds like you and Art might actually be Sonos beta testers confirming these products are in the works.

  4. It was end of July when my brother took part, as a Sonos customer, of a survey. Issued by Sonos. He agreed to say nothing about it but I looked over his shoulder while he answered the questions. I can tell everything. Many questions where about the Playbase. They asked it the price was ok (300-500 Euro) and if he likes the name Playbase and they confirmed by their questions that it is a all-in-one device. Nothing about DTS support or HDMI In/out. So it seems the same crippled crab but with all speakers buid-in. We have hundreds of Bluerays with DTS and from my point of view everything without DTS support is not worth a dime.

  5. Here’s the official announcement on Boost from their blog today:

    “Boost your signal”

    “Alongside the development of today’s software update, we’ve also been working on an even more powerful wireless accessory as an alternative to the BRIDGE called the SONOS BOOST. Available later this year for $99, the BOOST applies over a decade of learning about the varying needs of our customers and offers enterprise-grade wireless capabilities to serve even the most challenging home WiFi environments. Look for the BOOST’s official launch in the coming months.”

    http://blog.sonos.com/news/introducing-an-even-simpler-sonos/

  6. @Richard, ur full of crap. I have been with all the beta programs that Sonos held and a long time customer. They never asked anything about a playbase or whatsoever and they never would do a survey with a future product in-there. If you would know sonos, they keep these things to them selves and would never discuss any upcoming products with anyone outside the company. Trust me, I’ve tried

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