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Linux Powers Wireless Mesh Music System
An anonymous reader writes "A startup has created a unique Linux-based home music distribution system based on secure peer-to-peer wireless mesh networking technology. The system can route the same or different songs, sourced from any connected computer, to as many as 30 audio output devices simultaneously. Sonos is showcasing its technology this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas."
And to think -- all this time I've been listening to 30 CD players stacked on top of each other.
Does this build itself on the fact that..
1) More and more homes are getting wireless networks
2) Many of these meshes actually overlap?
I foresee a new internet of the future! One that runs on top of our existing home networking kits! The One True Internets!
Online backup with Mozy, sounds like Ozzie, but more!
Anyone know about how I could make my own Linux Music System? This one's pretty and all, but having seen MythTV's prettyness compared to this device's GUI, I am thinking there's probably a pretty good way to do this myself.
MythTV is for TV, and while it does some audio, I'm betting there's something better specifically for audio control, and may even be able to control AM/FM PCI cards etc...
For context, click Parent.
"Music" - Check.
"Distribution" - Check.
"Network" - Check.
"Peer-to-Peer" - Check.
Helloooo, RIAA lawsuit!
The system can link up to 30 units and you can control them by wireless remote, but then you need to buy a separate set of speakers/subwoofer for each Amp?
It's good that they tested it at a casino, beause that's one of the only business large enough to support such a device.
Looks scary after napster, audiogalaxy etc... going dead
But I don't know if it will really catch on. I would love to have one myself but for around $1100 starting price I will stick with my Tivos as my music distribution system.
This new company has to rely on two risky technologies: 1) The ability to beam music across wireless networks. 2) The audio quality and limitations of its amplifiers. I would think that any startup would minimize its risks, and the safest move (to me) is to rely on the user's pre-amps and amplifiers and stick to the transmission and sync'ing of songs throughout the house...
My 0.02
Wireless music distribution ? Must be this new 'Radio' thing.
Having browsed the article, I like what I see. I like the set up, I like the single controller, I like that I can also control it from my desktop, and I like that it is based on Linux (i.e. Probably a little more crash-proof than what we saw from Bill and his minions earlier this week.) I also think it has a nice look to it. I have a lot of digital audio files and being able to store them in one location would be great. I know this is not a new innovation, but so far I think it is the most attractive option to me. Might be able to get rid of that CD tower in my living room. Might be a little pricey right now, but I am sure that will come down.
Having done so much with so little for so long, I now can do anything with nothing at all.
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What? It's longer than 15 lines? BLOATWARE!!!!1
According to the website pdatoday.com, Sonos Digital Music System was on Popular Science Magazine's '2004 Best of What's New'. This news tidbit was posted November 10, 2004. So, while this is still a relatively new item, it must have been available for review at least for a few months.
Karma: Chevy Kavalierma.
Am I reading the website correctly? I see each audio "Zone Player" costs $500? Isn't that a bit pricy, considering you'd want one in several rooms?
In order for this to work for me, I would need the ability to have multiple remotes on the system and be able to limit each remote to a specific room and/or set of rooms. This way, parents can control their rooms, and kids can control their's. Also, what would be nice is if two remotes are in the same room, one of them would take control and the other couldn't (for example if a kid and parent are in the same room, the parent would take control). Any idea if this is possible with Sonos?
If you like what I've said here, and want to read more, go to http://www.krillrblog.com
I have to agree with you here. I am obviously an avid Mac guy, but I would like to see more devices like this open to Linux users. I am thinking about setting up a second desktop at home and I very much want to make it a Linux box. However, it makes it difficult to do that when I see things like this.
Having done so much with so little for so long, I now can do anything with nothing at all.
The Sonos System includes a handheld "Controller" system, based on a Hitachi SoC (system-on-chip) with an SH-4 processor core.
Isn't that the Dreamcast CPU?
Look at the handheld "Controller" !
r oller.jpg
http://www.linuxdevices.com/files/misc/sonos_cont
There IS an iPod click-wheel on it. Doesn't Apple have a patent on that piece of design ?...
to have so many rooms that you have to worry about something like this =) Personally I just use my 3 room setup with my multichannel reciever and a wifi CE device for programming. It's a bit geeky but more standard audio geek with a streaming net radio twist than something like this which is very technogeek.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
1. Turn up your only radio REALLY loud.
2. Go anywhere in the house and enjoy your music. (Some systems even allow your neighbors to enjoy your music at no extra cost).
what good is running Linux on a device if it doesn't support the linux desktop as well? Did I miss something in TFA?
Well, you'll probably generally be using the controller to control the system. The software applications are probably seen as a secondary thing.
I'm guessing it's only a matter of time before a linux version is available too. Just keep in mind, developing each client application takes a reasonable amount of time, so they're probably focusing on the largest markets first.
The point of developing the whole thing in Linux was the stability of the system, and (probably) not having to worry about software licensing issues. That's where you get the best possible return on your choices. Choosing to make a Linux client first, though, would be dumb, because it's going to only be a small sliver of their target market.
Karma: Chevy Kavalierma.
What WiFi device can i purchase for approx. $100 that will play all computer audio over WiFi?
It doesn't support Ogg Vorbis for the moment and there is no SDK available. Linux seems like a buzzword in the article.
I have a Large music collection which I play through a Slimdevices Squeezebox.
A great deal of effort goes into the very active product development.
One problem I see with this new device is performance. Accessing a lot (100-500 GB) of music through CIFS.. Are you kidding? How is that music going to be indexed? How long is the scanning and indexing going to take? Is the index cached after it is created?
Looks cool. But knowing how much effort goes into fixing the inevitable bugs with such a complex product, I can't see investing in a proprietary and closed solution (especially at this price). The whole focus on CIFS vs. say NFS is also a 'proprietary' red flag and perhaps an indicator of things to come from the self-proclaimed ex-Microsoft team.
The Sonos Controller and ZonePlayers are powered by a Linux implementation that Sonos developed in-house. The implementation is based on a 2.4 kernel, with backporting of threading and other features from 2.6, according to MacFarlane. "We have a great team of ex-Microsoft people who are real comfortable with kernel-level work," MacFarlane says, adding that some of Sonos's Microsoft expats worked on the FrontPage team. The team is working on a 2.6 kernel implementation, but felt the new kernel was not yet stable enough for the initial production release, MacFarlane adds.
It's a joke, right? Please, tell me it's a joke...
Don't laugh, a friend of mine did this with his 5.1 DVD speakers. You have to switch to Black Metal when the neighbours knock on your door to make them leave quickly.
*whisper* If you make it run linux, they will come.*whisper*
...you can just use a simple FM transmitter kit like they sell on ebay to accomplish just about the same thing...
import -a remote1.com
import -a remote1.com
for (r in
cat
}
or, more probably, you'd do it on the client
import -a remote1.com
bind -a
cat
add a few more machines to make a library
import -a remote2.com
bind -a
for (tune in
the single signon system would even take care of authentication, authorization and you are free to add caching, encryption and compression to the scheme
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
I once tried something like this with ICEcast/ShoutCAST and a bunch of less-known streamers/players. This one would have the p2p advantage but does it really play them in sync?
Every player/steamer I used would play songs 'at the same time' but you they weren't in sync so one source would sound upto 5 seconds ahead/behind of the next.
Clickable link: Bill Gates and his crashing machine
Not the cheapest solution, but it was quite easy to set up, and it can be extended with plugins. There's a decent sized developer community doing plugins for pretty much anything you'd want.
That scrollwheel with the button in the center sure looks like the iPod one... I wonder how apple feel about this.
http://www.frenchgeek.com/
I've been trying to get my iPaq 3270 to play a shoutcast stream from its TRENDNet CF/ethernet card, but it never works (WMP, MortPlayer, GSPlayer all seem too buggy). I'd dump its WinCE3.0.99347:9616 for an ARM/SA1110 Linux if there were a version stable enough to run sshd and a shoutcast player, with a complete install HOWTO. Who's got these tiny, silent, cheap media terminals running?
--
make install -not war
From TFA: "Each ZonePlayer offers a four-port Ethernet switch, and can access media files stored on Macintosh or Windows shares, or on Linux-based NAS volumes supporting CIFS."
It sounds like it should work with a Samba share (I think?). That's good enough for me.
"Ogg Vorbis is not supported in the initial firmware release, according to Sonos founder John MacFarlane (who previously founded software.com), but would be simple to add in subsequent revisions. He adds that the device is not intended for user modifications -- the company has no plans to offer an SDK for it -- but that "inevitably, users will hack it.""
This, however, seems dumb. If you know that your device is just so cool it needs to be hacked, embrace it! I would think that would make your product more popular -> more $ for you. Also, someone would develop OGG support (plus whatever obscure formats) at no cost to you.
Simple Unexpected Concrete Credible Emotional Stories
As "Informative".
Also, the grandparent post shouldn't be labelled "offtopic" but informative, too. We see in the article submission: From the your-demo-won't-crash dept.
It's obviously a reference to the Bill Gates incident at the CES 2005. (If only they had posted it on yesterday's article...)
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Why this comparison suddenly looks like PC and Mac?
:-D
something like 300$ and 1300$?
All it does is sit there on its two stupid periscoping legs and make green characters on a black background.
And it's using that dumb "futuristic" font from the 2001 movie, the one that OCR machines used in the 1960s.
Oh, wait, IPAQ 3270? Sorry, never mind...
I don't think it's any better for running linux if the interface isn't even linux supported. If it does in fact support Samba and such, it'd be nice if these idiots would get a little technical on us for once and tell us if we'd have a problem or not. It says NAS supported, but that could still mean a lot of things. Anyway, these people need to get a bit more technical before I even think about buying it. I'm not buying anything if it requires Windows. In the case of hardware though, I guess I'll just have to skip on it all together.
You've invented....erm.....NFS.
Neato.
VoiP? Must be this new 'Phone' thing.