It may just look like a regular iPod dock, but it feels like so much more! Logitech’s Rechargeable Speaker S715i is a speaker dock for your iPhone or iPod. It’s portable, easy-to-use, attractive, and it sounds darned good! Unplug it from the wall and blast your tunes wherever, because it has a built-in rechargeable battery capable of lasting 10 hours.

What’s in the Box

-Speaker
-Universal Power Supply
-Travel Case
-IR Remote Control
-User Documentation

Design

The Logitech S715i appears larger in the pictures. It’s actually quite compact, it’s a bit taller than an iPhone, 3.7” thick, and 19” wide. It weighs just 3.5 lbs. The S715i is an all around smooth device with some really nice curves, which is not a surprise from Logitech. It has a very high-tech look to it. The black mesh grill is translucent enough to see the drivers and tweeters. The speaker’s stand folds up into the dock, which helps it keep a thin form ideal for travel. When folding the stand behind the speaker it needs to click into place. The dock has 30-pin connector that pivots so it doesn’t require trays or adapters to accommodate iPhones and iPods. On the back of the device is a rubber cover over the auxiliary and power adapter ports. On the face of the speaker is a battery status LED and just three buttons: power, volume up, and volume down. All other controls can be accessed from the music device. The included remote has buttons for volume, track, power, play/pause, and even repeat and shuffle. The included carrying case doesn’t offer much padding or cushion, but it does have a slot to separate the AC adapter from the speaker. There is a velcro seal.

Features

The S715i Speaker Dock can play music from pretty much any device using its 3.5 mm auxiliary input. It will support all iPhone and iPod models (4th Gen iPods and newer) without the need for a tray or adapter in its trayless dock. The speaker sports two 3″ laser-tuned drivers, two .5″ tweeters, and four 2″ passive radiators. The battery is capable of lasting a whopping eight hours. The wireless remote is capable of turning your speakers on and off, adjusting volume, pausing music, shuffling, skipping, and repeating songs from up to 30 feet way. While the Speaker Dock is plugged in to a wall outlet, it will charge your iPhone or iPod. The power adapter is dual voltage, so S715i is great for traveling.

Performance

The speaker on the S715i is impressive from the first second you turn it on. The sound quality is rich and full. The bass is deep, the highs are crisp, and the mids are full and warm. On more than one occasion, I had to confirm I was not listening to my bookshelf speakers because I couldn’t believe the quality. The audio disperses very well throughout a room. When the S715i is unplugged from the AC adapter the volume gets lower and the bass is a little less present. Even with this slightly degraded experience, the speaker still excels. When the speaker dock is receiving power from the AC Adapter, it will charge your iPhone and iPod with the 30 pin dock connector. When it’s unplugged it stops charging. The speaker can get loud enough to provide ample tunes indoors to a small or medium sized party. For a party outside, you’d probably want to plug it in as it will get about 15% louder.

The little remote works very well. I was capable of using it 15 feet back with no problems. It’s nice that it includes shuffle and repeat buttons. It’s great that the dock doesn’t require iPod/iPhone adapters, but unfortunately it wouldn’t fit iPhone with a bumper case. It also will not be able to fit an iPad. The battery seems to last forever. It may not be able to last 10 hours on full volume, but it will get close.

Conclusion

It’s best to think of Logitech’s S715i Rechargeable Speaker Dock as a full sized speaker in a portable sized body. It really does offer full and rich high quality audio. It’s amazing being able to plop it down anywhere in or out of the house without devoting it a lot of space or finding a power outlet. The sound quality is much better than iLuv and iHome speakers. The S715i retails for $149.99, but we have seen it on Amazon for as low as $97.79. Even at $150, we’d say the S715i is a great buy, because after all it’s a high fidelity speaker that’s portable, easy to use, has a long-lasting battery, big sound, good looking form, remote, carrying case, and a 2 year warranty.

The Good: Little Device/Big Power, Superior Audio, Outstanding Battery, Remote and Carrying Case Included, Charges iOS devices, Smooth Form
The Bad: No Aux Cable Included, Carrying Case Is Not Padded, Rubber Cover over Aux and Power Plugs is Tricky to Pull Out

Feeling a little down in the dumps today? Need a pick me up? Well you can just take a look at Smiley, the latest Headphonies speaker and it should cheer you up with its big yellow happy face looks.

Headphonies are portable speakers that will plug into just about any device and play your tunes for all to hear. This little three inch guy is pretty powerful and makes a great travel companion, especially for when you don’t want to wear headphones, but still want to hear your music decently.

This latest design gives arms and legs to the adorable retro smiley face, that we have all come to love, and now it will make you smile when it blasts your music for you. The Smiley Face Headphonies retail for $24.95 and comes with a USB charger cord and an audio cord to plug into the 3.5mm jack on your device.

When it comes to making Wireless HiFi Systems, Sonos has been leading the pack for years. Their latest system, the Sono PLAY:3 offers the same great Sonos package users have come to expect, in a more compact and affordable form-factor than its bigger brother, the PLAY:5. Available in dark gray, or white, the PLAY:3 system measures just 5.2 x 10.6 x 6.3 inches. Its design is not only compact, but it’s also minimalist and should fit in to just about every environment. We’re especially liking its diminutive size, since it’s more suitable for a New York apartment than so many other serious speaker systems. The system is also designed to lay flat or to stand vertically.

There are no complicated wires involved to get up and running either. Just plug the AC adapter into the Sonos Play Speaker and it will connect wirelessly to your network – once you’ve attached the Sonos Bridge to your network. Yes, the Sonos Bridge which retails for $49.99, is required for the PLAY:3 to work. So to get started, first you’ll need to connect the Sonos Bridge to your router. Than you can set-up the PLAY:3 Wireless HiFi System wherever you want. The Bridge will allow your devices to connect to the PLAY:3 wirelessly. Sonos provides you with software for both Mac, PC, as well as apps for the iPhone, iPad and for Android phones. Set-up was simple and we were up and running within minutes. Although, you aren’t required to use a computer for set-up – you can just use an iPad or whatever, it is recommended to perform the initial set-up on a computer. When you install the software on your computer the first time, the Sonos Desktop Controller software will scan for all of your music files so that it can stream it to the PLAY:3. The Sonos desktop software was even able to recognize the media files located on my Time Capsule drive.

The Sonos Desktop Controller lets you access radio stations, music services and create playlists. But if you ask us, it’s the iPad and iPhone app that really shine. These apps are polished and offer robust control over your PLAY:3 system. From within the apps you can control the PLAY:3′s volume, EQ settings, and you can also control different Zones. Zones are different rooms where you might have different Sonos speaker systems set-up. With Sonos, you can play a different music track on each of these different systems in different rooms of your home. Or you can have them all play the same track simultaneously. And you can control all of this right from within the Sonos app.

Sonos doesn’t only stream your music library over to the PLAY:3, but it also lets you listen to local radio stations. But forget local radio, to unleash the biggest potential of the Sonos system you have to start using its supported music services. Fortunately, Sonos supports every popular music service you can think of – Pandora, Spotify, Rhapsody, Rdio, iHeartRadio, Napster, SiriusXM, last.fm and more. However, in order to access these services you will have to first register your device with Sonos. Until you do that, you wont be able to use these services with your PLAY:3 system. Fortunately, the Sonos app does an excellent job of integrating all of these different music services. I easily searched through Spotify and added Spotify tracks to my listening queue on the App. From within the App, I was also able to access my personal Pandora stations. All in all, the Sonos apps work seamlessly with these other services, so that you never have to leave the app.

Now on-to the audi0 experience provided by the PLAY:3. The first time we listened to it, we could barely believe what amazing sonics were coming out of such a small speaker. The PLAY:3 is a three driver speaker system which features one tweeter, two mid-range drivers, and one bass radiator. Each driver of the product is individually powered by a dedicated amplifier. Overall, the PLAY:3 provides a rich and warm audio experience, the likes of which you would expect from a larger, more expensive speaker system. If you buy two PLAY:3 systems, you can have them work together – one serving as a left channel, and the other as a right channel. When they work together, the audio experience is even more intense and adds another dimension to the music – and the music tends to sound even fuller with more body. That said, a single PLAY:3 system on its own provides great audio too. As a matter of fact, even at louder volumes, the sound doesn’t get too distorted the way so many smaller speakers tend to do.

Conclusion

The new Sonos PLAY:3 system might be the most affordable speaker system from Sonos yet, but it doesn’t lack in punch. The sonics coming from this system are phenomenal, and they sound like something that you would expect from a more expensive speaker system. The system is also easy to set-up, and easy to use with complimenting polished apps. Plus, with support for all of the popular music services, there is something for everyone here. If you can afford it, buying two of these little guys and using them in tandem will knock your socks off. But even if you cant, just a single PLAY:3 system will impress. Furthermore, even if you’re not quite an audiophile, the Sonos PLAY:3 system is one of those gadgets that you might not understand the appeal of, until you’ve tried it out for yourself. But once you do, you’ll likely be hooked. Fortunately, Sonos has a 45 day return policy, so that should give customers plenty of time to decide if the system is for them or not. The Sonos Play:3 system retails for $299 at Amazon.

The Good: Amazing sound at this price point, polished apps, easy to set-up and use, great size for apartment dwellers, combination of 2 speakers adds another dimension – but single system alone is very powerful.

The Bad: Now Sonos is more affordable than ever, but you still need to shell out money for the $49 Bridge. Would be nice if there was an easy way to integrate it into pre-existing stereo setup.

Update 07/31/11: So it turns out that you don’t technically need the bridge for the PLAY:3 to run on a network. The PLAY:3 does have a built-in ethernet port for connecting to your local network. However, if you want it to work wirelessly on your network, you need the Bridge. Special thanks to the commenter who let us know about this!

The Rubik’s Cube Speaker might be the best portable speaker ever created. This adorable little speaker measures only 3.5″ x 3.5″, and pays homage to one of the 80′s most classic toys. Unfortunately, its pieces can’t swivel around, so it doesn’t operate like a real Rubik’s Cube, instead it just looks like one. The Rubik’s Cube Speaker retails for $38 at FredFlare and will plug into just about any audio device via a 3.5mm cable, that includes the iPhone and what not. Now, we can’t promise what kind of sonics this thing will produce, but we can promise that you’ll impress your friends with it. The best part is, you don’t have to solve the puzzle, because it already is!

The case itself promises to be protective while also providing “hi-fidelity” sound. Somehow, we doubt that the speakers on this case can provide a cinematic experience, but just about anything is an improvement over the super weak speaker that is built into the iPad 2. Really, that speaker is such a pain to use – in semi noisy environments, even at its loudest volume, it is pretty unusable. Which is why a case with a built-in speaker helps kill two birds with one stone.

The case also requires four AA batteries to operate. Pricing is TBD. Oh, and Samsung Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab owners rejoice – a similar case, called the iSP230 will also be available for the Tabs, however it will only be available in a choice of pink or black.

The chair’s speakers are built in to the top of the chair so that they are ear level. There is also a convenient push attached to the chair to hold a smartphone or MP3 player. The chair itself is made of a tough 600 denier poly construction and it can support up-to 295 pounds. And of course the chair can be easily folded up and carried like a shoulder bag.

The Sharper Image’s Portable Chair with speakers costs $69.99. And sure, that is certainly a lot pricier than your average speaker chair. But the cost of listening to your own music at a picnic without headphones or carrying lugging around a separate speaker system? Priceless.

chicBuds Pink Fauvette Bird Speaker isn’t just a portable speaker, it is a speaker worth tweeting about. That is because it is designed to look like a little birdy, or rather a sophisticated bird covered in a lovely gold motif. The speaker itself is a 2-watt speaker that can connect to mostly any portable music device via a standard 3.5mm jack, and it will last for up-to four hours on a single charge. The chicBuds Pink Fauvette Bird Speaker will be available in August for $34.99.

Don’t let your eyes deceive you, not only is this not a real Canon DSLR camera, it actually isn’t a camera at all. Instead this is a USB Speaker that will connect with most devices via a 3.5mm audio cable to play music. It also has the ability to playback music via USB or SD/MMC cards. The 1:1 DSLR Camera USB Speaker retails for $82.99.(Via GadgetSin)

The weather is getting warm, so you know what that means – more pretty and portable speakers are going to start popping up. iLuv, has announced that the iSP100 Mini Portable Stereo Speaker for iPod, iPhone 3G, 2G and MP3 Players is now available in pink, purple, silver and black. There is nothing really new here except the spring-like colors, but we’ll give you the lowdown again on the iSP100′s specs. Trying to not sound like some cheap tinny external speaker, the iSP100 features jAura Acoustic Speaker technology with 720° surround sound 4W Speakers, and a 3.5mm jack for unlimited connectivity. The palm size speaker comes with a carrying case for protection and storage and only requires three AAA batteries for it to work. The iLuv iSP100 Mini Portable retails for $34.99, expect to see them on a beach blanket near you.

Pantech C820 Matrix Pro

Hardware:
The Pantech Matrix Pro’s hardware is solid and feels sturdy. The Matrix Pro sports a metallic finish and curvy top and bottom. Unfortunately the Matrix Pro’s screen tends to attract fingerprints and smudges, so you might want to keep a wipe handy. Overall, it is not the most attractive phone in the world, but definitely pleasant looking, especially considering that many phones which manage to fit in two keypads end up being pretty fuggly.

The Pantech Matrix Pro is on the small size for a smart phone, width and height wise (4.17 x 2.0 x 0.85 inches) – so it will fit in your pocket easily. However, it will also bulge out of your pocket a bit because the inclusion of two keypads end up making it pretty thick. Though the Matrix Pro weighs 5.3 ounces, which isn’t all that much, for some reason the handset also feels a bit hefty in your hand. It’s also got a 2.4” screen with a 240×320 resolution. The screen is clear and pretty bright, and is pretty much on par with other similar Windows Mobile smartphones.

The keyboard on the Matrix Pro feels good to type on and key presses feel slightly stiff but comfortable. The keyboard surface area is smaller though then lets say the T-mobile G1, and is made up of just 3 rows, and as a result it is a bit more cramped. However I still found it comfortable to use. The numeric dial pad is made up of totally flat keys, sort of RAZR style, but they are also comfortable to dial with. The sides of the phone sport dedicated volume controls, a camera button and a record button. Its front face holds dial and end keys as well as a circular navigation key that looks like it’s ready to be a scroll wheel, but it’s unfortunately not one.

In the box you get a sync cable, software CD, charger, 3.5mm headphone adapter, a case and a manual.

Interface / Home screen:
One of the strongest aspects of Windows Mobile 6.1 over its predecessors are the slick updates to the home screen layout which includes a new slide panel layout that now lets you easily access things like recent calls, get access to your voicemail, text messages, mms, email, appointments, AT&T services (xpress mail, instant messenger, media net, media mail) and settings (profile wireless manager, ringtones, background image and task manager) without leaving the home screen. You can now also scroll through, and play music from your Windows Media playlist. The slide panel home screen can even show off the album art associated with the track you’re playing. While this new home screen option is very welcome, the rest of the Windows Mobile 6.1 interface is starting to look old.

Overall, navigating through the OS didn’t feel sluggish and overall the phone had good pep, though there were pretty minor delays, like a second or so delay when switching between landscape / QWERTY and portrait views. The handset comes ships with just 256MB of ROM and 128 megs of RAM, but it sports an SDHC slot for up to 32GB expandable memory.

For those of you looking for a touch screen, the Matrix Pro does not have one, however between both keypads you don’t feel like you’re missing one. Also, the OS is designed well for phones without touchscreens. That said, we do wish that the circular navigation button on the front face doubled as a scroll wheel.

Call Quality:
Call Quality was very good on the Matrix Pro, testing in New York City, I could hear callers clearly and vice versa. I generally had full bars as well, but then again I only have gotten a chance to test in an area which is known to have good coverage. The speakerphone worked ok, but often callers on the other end said they had some difficulty hearing me when talking to them on speakerphone. Also the speakerphone does not get quite loud enough for noisier environments. Overall, the phone’s battery can manage to last a few days with light use and even over a day with moderate use. In contrast, most smartphone I’ve worked with tank out after a day of even moderate use.

Software:
The Matrix Pro comes with plenty of software including an instant messaging app that gives you access to AIM, Yahoo and MSN messenger, a weather app, a PDF program, a Java VM app for running other Java based apps, a mobile banking app as well as AT&T’s optional specialized services like Xpress Mail and MobiTV, and AT&T’s Navigator application which takes advantage of the built-in GPS. Office Mobile is also included which contains Excel, OneNote, Powerpoint and Word Mobile. Oddly, there are some apps, like the Mobile Banking app which have icons in the menu system but aren’t actually installed on the device yet until you manually download them. The handset also comes with a great selection of games, including Guitar Hero 3 Mobile, Brain Challenge, Bubble Breaker, Jewel Quest II, Midnight Pool, Ms. Pac Man, Scrabble, Solitaire, and Tetris. Unfortunately many of these like Ms. Pac-man and Guitar Hero 3 are just demos, which is a bummer.

Internet:
The Matrix Pro does not have Wi-Fi abilities, instead you have to rely on only 3G for surfing the net speedily. The Matrix Pro comes preloaded with Internet Explorer, of course. Using DSLReports’ Mobile speed test, the Matrix Pro came up with a 120kbit/sec result. Surfing the net with AT&T’s 3G network in NYC felt pretty fast, even when using bloated Internet Explorer. However, I would highly recommend downloading the free Skyfire browser which is a lot faster than I.E. and also emulates the closest desktop surfing experience possible on a Windows Mobile smartphone. Skyfire also renders web pages better than Internet Explorer and overall takes better advantage of AT&T’s 3G network. In order to understand just how much faster Skyfire is, check out the loading time comparisons below.

Internet Explorer:
1:05 for ChipChick.com
8 Seconds for m.cnn.com

Skyfire:
23 Seconds for ChipChick.com
5 Seconds for m.cnn.com

E-mail:
Windows Mobile of course integrates with Microsoft Exchange beautifully and does a good job of playing nicely with imap and pop3 accounts. However, the Matrix Pro also comes with support for AT&T’s Xpress mail which is a $4.99 a month push email service that lets you get your mail as soon as the email server receives a new one. It’s compatible with most personal email accounts including Yahoo! Mail, AOL, Windows Live Hotmail (MSN, Hotmail and Live), Comcast, EarthLink, and others. Xpress Mail also saves the devices from running scheduled sync if there is no mail and it enables you to to sync contacts and schedules with your phone.

Multimedia:
A trial of MobiTV is included. MobiTV offers the ability to stream TV popular TV shows to your handset. I was able to watch streaming episodes of Lost without a hitch. Granted the screen isn’t big enough for watching video for serious lengths of time, but it was awesome being able to watch some TV while waiting for the train. Other notable preinstalled multimedia apps include Pandora for free music listening, a trial for XM radio Mobile and for MobiVJ which provides access to music videos, and there is also access to AT&T’s music shop.

As for audio and video playback, the device comes with the standard Windows Media Player which lets you access your music by artist, album, and genre. Album art and star ratings can also be viewed while listening to tracks. Unfortunately the Matrix Pro comes uses a proprietary headphone jack. The T-mobile G1 is guilty of the same offense. We can’t understand why companies would bother making a multimedia handset with anything but a 3.5mm jack. However, to their credit, at-least Pantech does ship the Matrix Pro with a 3.5mm adapter.

Camera:
The Matrix Pro sports a 2 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom. Both the camera and video recording/camcorder function give you a nice amount of options such different choices for white balance settings including Auto, daylight, cloudy, and fluorescent. You also have options for special effects: Normal, gray, sepia, and negative, and a self timer. The video recording is nothing to write home about with just  a 176×144 resolution. But it’s a nice feature to have regardless. The camera photos also were just mediocre and like most other average camera phones, photos taken in the daylight came out much better. And unfortunately, the camera sorely lacks a flash.

Conclusion:
I have to be honest and admit that until now, I hadn’t paid all that much attention to Pantech’s handsets. But after spending time with the Pantech Matrix Pro, I have come away pleasantly surprised at what a solid phone it is overall. For those looking for the best of both worlds as far keypads, an affordable price tag, and a solid feature set for a business phone with decent multimedia capabilities, the Matrix Pro doesn’t disappoint. The Pantech Matrix Pro C820 retails for $179.99 with a 2 year contract from AT&T. Alternatively you can pick one up from Amazon for just $99 with a 2 year contract.

The Good:
Dual keypad form factor is very cool, great messaging and email abilities, good overall performance, fast internet browsing and multimedia streaming, good call quality, solid feature set.

Bad:
No Wi-Fi, lacks dedicated 3.5mm jack for audio, Windows Mobile isn’t the hot shot OS that it used to be, camera lacks flash and its photos are mediocre.

Remember that George Foreman MP3 ready grill from two years ago? Well the Gastar miGrill Tabletop Gas Grill with Built-In Speakers is the same concept just in a nicer and hipper body. The miGrill provides 160 square inches of cooking surface with 8,500 BTUs of sizzle for your meat and 2 powerful speakers for the extra musical spice. You can attach any generation iPod or MP3 player into the built-in speaker module. The speakers are located towards the bottom of the Gastar miGrill. It also comes in red, black, and gray so not only will it entertain you with music and food, but it also color coordinates to your home. The Gastar miGrill retails for $129.99.

With its colorful urban decorations, the Women’s Audio Couture Ghetto Blaster Bag By Loop NYC looks like the funkiest boombox bag you could ever have.  The best part is that it actually does emit sound. There are two working speakers with MP3 connections for you to input an audio source.  The bag alone is pretty awesome and features a cotton twill body, interior zip pockets, all over graffiti design, and nice big handles to schlep it all around town.  This is definitely the modern day version of the boombox…now only if I could remember how to break dance without twisting my ankle…. The Audio Couture Ghetto Blaster Bag from Loop NYC retails for $49.99

The Onei Solutions 6.1 Home Theatre System/Stand is perfect for those looking for a awesome home entertainment system but lack the space. The TV Stand has a black piano finish with chrome legs with a full integrated home cinema sound system.  Pop off front speakers, built-in amplifier and several HDMI and Optical Digital Audio connections. For £385.98 you can get this from Dabs and again only the cool looking  tech resides in the UK.

The Sonos Multi-Room Music Digital Player system is for people who love music. Not just like music – LOVE music. It is meant to fill your home with it no matter where you go. In the living room, kitchen, bedroom, or den. Just about anywhere you might be at a given moment – you can have access to your entire media library.  The Sonos gives you the freedom to stream not only your media files but internet radio or local radio channels.

Setup:
When we first received the Sonos we almost passed out by how many boxes there where. Not that I’m put off by the quantity of boxes, but I certainly had in the back of mind that this was not going to be easy to setup. However I was wrong! The unpacking took me longer than actually setting the Sonos up. We got a chance to review the Sonos Speaker Bundle 150 as well as some extras which comprised of the Wireless Controller, Zoneplayer 120, Zoneplayer 90, 2 Sonos Loudspeakers, Sonos Zonebridge, and a cradle for the controller. Like I said – that is a lot of boxes. Once unpacked it may seem a bit overwhelming as to where you should put all these pieces. The first thing I did was decide where I would put the Zoneplayer 120 along with the speakers. Granted I don’t live in a huge luxurious home so it took some finagling to decide where I would put and keep the speakers since the Zoneplayer 120 does need to be connected to a router or modem via ethernet. So that was a bit tricky. Luckily, all the components of the system have a streamlined design that any Mac owner would appreciate. They blend into your home without looking like an eyesore. The ethernet cables also have a flat design to make it easy to blend on to walls for decent wire maintenance. Another nice feature is that both the Zoneplayer 90 and Sonos Zonebridge are both wireless so they can be placed anywhere in your home so that you can really complete that experience of having a fully amplified musical abode.

Installation:
After placing the Zoneplayers were I wanted to them to be, the next logical step was to install the software. I have an iMac and the installation was done in 10 minutes. You follow the onscreen prompts and the devices are picked up around your home. You’ll have to repeat the steps to have the computer recognize the other Zoneplayers scattered about but with just the press of a button on each player the software picks it up and installs it. You can label each player for the area its in. Lets say the Zoneplayer 90 is in the living room – so you can label it living room etc… this will allow you to control that device when you are in the room or not by giving it a name associated with its location. Once the devices were picked up it was time to import my MP3s….that is where I hit a snag. Everything was going too perfectly! I repeatedly kept coming across the same error over and over about how my files couldn’t be imported followed by the file name. After spending some time on the Sonos Support forum I downloaded the newest version of the software and tried again….Still no luck. So again…I headed over to the forum and it seemed to be only a problem with those who have Mac computers and not so much with a PC. After additional digging, I found a suggestion to change my file sharing settings and modify my file name of the location of where my MP3’s were coming from….it was becoming a big hassle.  Finally, finally after changing just one more permission under the Security Settings and then Firewall settings I was able to access my files. This was after three hours. I was a bit upset that this wasn’t something that was mentioned in the manual or easily accessible on the forums unless you dug through and found it.
However setting up the radio functionality was a lot easier. It took 2 seconds, it asked you where you reside and then a whole list of stations pops up for you to listen to. Of course there is the ability to preset the stations you love. I was finally ready to begin my Sonos experience.

Interface:
The Sonos controller is just like it’s other components sleekly designed and easy to use. Everything is very visual and doesn’t require a graduate degree in engineering to figure it out. The right side of the device resembles a iPod scroll wheel to obviously scroll through the menu options or songs available on the system. Its big bright LCD screen makes it easy on the eyes as you scroll through your options.
The first place I wanted to play my music was in the kitchen. Nothing gets you in the mood to make a meal like a little Andre Boccelli. I selected kitchen and the Zoneplayer I set up in there started to play music through some desktop speakers I connected to it. Standing in that room I gave the controller over to my co-editor who was itching to listen to a little Alanis and she started her Zoneplayer in the living room. So at one moment we had different music playing in two different parts of the apartment. In a smaller space than an average home, music from one room can over power the other room. So be careful when you set it up, that you take into account sound absorption so that you don’t irritate another Sonos listener.
When the controller was given back to me I decided I wanted all the rooms to listen to my fave song that just came on and very easily I was able to make that happen by selecting all the Zoneplayers to play the same song. The controls were super easy to navigate and a nice new feature is that you can now control it from your iPhone or iPod Touch via a free Sonos app. So there is no need for me to keep passing the Controller around and around to operate the system. Once the app is downloaded onto your iPhone you can easily do all the same functions. So it’s like having another controller in the room without having to pay extra for it. Again the interface is sleek and extremely easy and with the ability to see all the music and FM stations available on your system to control.

Conclusion:
The Sonos Multi-Room Music Digital Player is perfect for those who have large homes and want the ability to have music playing in random parts of your home that suits your own personal taste. No more telling mom or dad to shut off Frank Sinatra or vice a versa about your loud heavy metal. It’s also perfect for businesses like restaurants and spas that want to give customers a more personal experience as well as save money with unnecessary and costly wiring for other complex systems that do the same thing but on a different scale. I was extremely happy with my time with the Sonos and except for that little snafu with importing my MP3 library, it was overall a great experience. However I would have liked if the Zoneplayers did have a built in speaker so that you had the option to not attach external ones. This takes up space that sometimes you just don’t have, as well as creating more visible wires.
Of course such a luxury music experience doesn’t come cheap, the Sonos BU150 Multiroom Music System bundle typically starts at $999 and up. But sometimes the cost of music is priceless.

The Good: Very user-friendly. Excellent design concept and software interface. Perfect for large homes or businesses looking to add a personal touch. Liked the iPhone app a lot, saves money on having to buy additional controllers.

The Bad: Would have liked to have had a bigger troubleshooting section in the manual for possible Mac problems importing your MP3 library. You have to attach speakers to every Zoneplayer to hear music, would have liked built-in speakers. A bit pricey but you get what you pay for.

No this is not another version of the sonic boom alarm clock, instead this is the Soundbomb MP3 speaker. Obviously shaped as a a bomb, just attach your MP3 player to it via the aux jack and you have the full illusion of a bomb that is about to go off. There is no pricing or any other details available at the moment from the manufacturer Blue Sky Designs but expect it to be available soon.

Well we certainly have seen alot of earbuds in our day but this certainly takes the cake for awhile. If you thought the giant earbud speakers were impressive, then you’ll love this. This little earbud keychain MP3 speaker may not be practical at all but it will certainly get you alot of attention. Just plug it in to your MP3 player and you’ll have a live working speaker. When done, attach it to your keys. I can’t imagine how good the sound is from this thing especially considering the size. No pricing is available from the manufacturer Bluw but I assume it will be available soon. I mean just look at it?! How could it not be.

Head on over to Chip Chicklets to see more kid oriented coverage from Toy Fair ’09.