As the story goes, I’ve been tracking at least one new incoming Sonos speaker — the S100 aka RM010. And after unpacking a publicly available Sonos beta APK for Android, I came across several interesting renders. They appear to show a sleeker Play:3 or Play:5 that does away with hardware buttons on top in favor of a touch sensitive surface and gesture control… including newly introduced transport controls. Around back, near the power cord, is what appears to be a relocated pairing button.
Like the existing Play:3, this “ZPS6” speaker can placed vertically or horizontally. Beyond the new hardware itself, Sonos is also poised to unveil speaker tuning technology based on evaluation of in-room acoustics via smartphone or iPad mic.As to driver count, acoustic quality, and price, we’ll have to wait and see.
UPDATE: I’ve learned that both Trueplay and the new speaker will be announced tonight. And, the speaker is indeed a Play:5 replacement — available later this fall for $500 in white or black. Beyond the modern new look featuring touch controls, we’ve also learned it’s been upgraded from five custom drivers to six for a wider, room-filling soundstage.