Sonos is set to abandon the need to buy a $79 bridge to connect their wireless multiroom-audio system as several competing Companies move to deliver Wireless audio without the need for an additional Bridge.
In the USA the same Sonos Bridge is selling for US$49 (A$52.00) Vs the $79 at JB Hi Fi and specialist dealers in Australia.
The Sonos Bridge enables their active wireless speakers to “communicate with one another via a wireless mesh network” that “ensures rock-solid signal strength with no interruption, even throughout the largest homes,” the company said. The Bridge also enables multiple wireless speakers to play back in sync.
The US Company who in Australia have witnessed record sales of their audio system now claim that their new Sonos controller software for Android and iOS devices will in most cases “deliver all the benefits of SonosNet without a product being directly connected to a router,” the company said.
The Company has issued a warning that large houses may still need a Bridge to connect their speakers.
“There are some large homes, where all players are not in the range of the Wi-Fi signal or challenging network environments [exist], that will still benefit from the Sonos Bridge, but our diagnostics and early testing show that the majority of homes will work well with the new software solution” a Company spokesperson said.
Sonos said that they will release details of its beta program in coming weeks. The company is asking consumers to join its beta program by filling out an application.
Other wireless multiroom-audio systems don’t require users to connect a device to a wireless router. They include systems from AwoX and Pure Audio and products incorporating DTS’s Play-Fi technology or Qualcomm’s AllPlay technology.
