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Will there be a separate controller available for purchase? It looks like you must have a iPhone or iPod Touch to control the device from the Sonos website.

Now the device really starts to get expensive, but thanks for the information.

Hopefully they will think about developing for other platforms like the Palm Pre or ZuneHD. I think it's a good idea, and I am far from biased.

They could let the developer communities of each device do the leg work for them if they had an open API. It would help push sales.

Maybe they fear eating into the profits of their controller/bundled devices.

Hey guys,

Yeah Parkerk - we're looking at other wireless platforms for sure. When - can't say for sure, but not this year. As Peter mentions, there are other controller options (a dedicated CR200) and a controller for PC or Mac. Stay tuned.

Thanks for that Peter.

Thomas - Sonos

There's been a lot of discussion about this in the Sonos forums.

I personally feel they did a bad job of marketing on the announcement. Every one I show it to thinks it only works with the Sonos App on an iPod Touch or iPhone.

After verification on the forums it works with any of the Sonos controllers just like the Sonos App works with any of the players.

The marketing guys obviously wanted to present this in the iPod Dock market somewhere along the line. But have actually confused a lot of both new and existing customers.

The day it is released here in France I will order at least one and probably 2. I can't wait...

A controller based on the Android platform would make me think more closely at this vs. the Logitech Squeezebox product line.

Thomas,

Thanks for the information. I look forward to the new wireless platforms so I can jump on the Sonos band wagon (finally).

I was thinking that even a web portal that plays well with web-kit devices could be an easier fix in the mean time. Anyways, thanks again.

Parker

Hey Parker - not exactly sure what you're asking for RE: web portal. Can you clarify?

Hey Derek - good feedback. With this new product, we had to make a decision - market it in the traditional Sonos way - as a bundle/multi-room, etc. Or, market it as a new product that works really well with one of the hottest mobiel platform on the market right now. As you know, the S5 (and all Sonos products) are intereoperable and always will be. Thanks again for the feedback!!

Keep it coming!!

Thomas - Sonos

I have been waiting for this product to turn up in the Sonos lineup for a while now. It still took me a while of reading to understand that this was not Sonos changing direction and producing some sort of iPod only model! In summary great product but confusing marketing!

I do think it would have made more sense to market it the traditional way as its a huge answer to many people's desires as evident in the forums. I certainly understand the marketing strategy of tying to the iphone... but that would have made more sense as a separate and secondary advert. my opinion of course. technically speaking, one could advertise the ZP120 the same way "just plug in your favorite speakers, grab your iphone and play" but i feel that because the S5 looks like the kind of thing an ipod would interface with the direct marketing will actually confuse the issue as people won't realize they still need a wireless router since the S5 and iphone don't talk directly to each other. Anyways, I digress. selfishly, this is a product that i've been wanting forever. I have multiple places in my home where a full sonos install wouldn't have made sense and now I basically can handle them all with one purchase. So very glad this product was developed and that it was priced under the ZP120 level even though it already has speakers.

My S5 arrived this morning here in France.

I was überexcited....

From unboxing to getting the thing to work perfectly took all of 10 minutes. Instant gratification. I plugged it in to the Ethernet and I plugged in the electricity. I went to Sonos on my iPhone clicked on add zoneplayer, pressed the Vol+ and the Mute buttons simultaneously on the box, gave it a name and it worked.

I chose some music and it played immediately. Just for fun I went to my other controllers (CR-100, PC & Mac) and the S5 was there in each one. I tried controlling the S5 from each controller and it worked perfectly.

From a user's perspective it was wonderfully pleasing. The thing is incredibly easy to get to work and to use.

From a gadget geek's perspective it was a bit frustrating: there's nothing really to fool around with. Plug it in, it works and it does what it's supposed to do. No tweaking, no configuring. Plug it in and it works. Boring. ;-)

I'm going to listen to it, with various types of music, for a day or two before giving any verdict on the sound quality. But for the moment everything works as expected: wonderfully.

Things I've understood so far... (I think lol)

The CR-200 works within the SONOS parallel high-speed mesh wireless network (802.11n) which may end up having a greater range than the home wi-fi router.

Each added bridge or player becomes member of the proprietary parallel 802.11n wi-fi network and effectively expands the mesh.

One component (bridge or player) needs to be hard-wired (rj-45) to a router in order to set up the SONOS working environment.

iPhone or iTouch require wi-fi whose range can potentially be shorter than the SONOS 802.11n mesh whose range keeps growing with each piece added.

In other words, for large homes the CR-200 remote makes sense and is a direct high-speed access to the mesh

IMHO, SONOS marketing should highlight those points.