Gizmodo
Somehow last week we missed the Sony Vaio WA1 Wireless Digital Music Streamer. It's a simple (and not necessarily new) concept: the device taps into your pre-existing Wi-Fi connection and streams the music that's directed toward it. For example, you've got a PC loaded with music in your bedroom but you want to hear Sleater-Kinney and other riot grrl in your living room. Turn on the WA1 and the device taps into your computer's music. (Apple's Airport Express has done this for years, but you need to supply your own speaker there.) The WA1 is compatible with all the major music formats (MP3, WMA, AAC, etc.) and will cost some $350. That's a bit pricey especially since this doesn't really do anything other than stream music. Oh, Sony, why do you do this to yourself?
Update: Perhaps the original wording here wasn't as clear as it could have been. This streamer is an all-in-one solution. That is, the speaker is built-in so there's no need to hook the device up to a separate sound system like you do with the Airport Express. Still, that doesn't mean that Sony isn't promoting wireless music streaming as if it were some revolutionary technology when it clearly isn't. If you've got the cash, this probably isn't a bad place to start experimenting with wireless music. Just pray that Sony's notoriously bad software doesn't ruin the experience.
Press Release [Sony]
Comments
It does come with an alarm tough which most of these devices don't. Does anyone know of another that streams and has an alarm clock? I'd like to have one beside the bed.
But yeah... for $350... meh.
Yeah you gotta love when a company calls a device "semi-portable" in their own press release. My dad was looking for a similar device to move music around the house and I told him to get the Roku Soundbridge radio.
I tried wading through the "market speak" of this release but I can't tell if it actually allows you to control the playlists with the radio (the Roku allows for this) and for some reason it's limited to Live365 radio stations whereas the Roku can play any internet radio station. Plus the Soundbridge has an SD card slot, a comparable clock radio (sadly my dad's favourite thing about this device), a subwoofer and I personally think it looks better.
It's somewhere around the same price though, which is too expensive when spending my own money. I have played around with it plenty and after a firmware upgrade it worked like a charm and sounded great, even with my tin ears. It's the carry it to the kitchen/sit outside in the back yard/only need a powerplug for all your music kinda device they wanted.
Does anyone else know of any other device that also all wireless music streaming like the Apple Airport Express? It's so handy, but the express does not reach very far with its signal. Why don't most wireless routers have this feature?
Is there a device that can do this without a computer? Like, say, from an external HDD? I would hate to keep my computer turned on just to listen to music.
Somehow last week we missed the Apple iPhone Wireless Digital Web Music Phone. It's a simple (and not necessarily new) concept: the device taps into your pre-existing EDGE connection and lets you call, browse web and listen to music that's copied onto it. For example, you've got a PC loaded with music in your bedroom but you want to hear Sleater-Kinney and other riot grrl while you are on the go. Turn on the iPhone and the device works likes a music player or a web browser. (HTC Universal/Tytn SE W800/K800 and almost every other Phone has done this for years, but you need to copy the music manually there instead of using the Holy iTunes.) The iPhone is compatible with all the major music formats (MP3, WMA, AAC, etc.) and will cost some $600. That's a bit pricey especially since this doesn't really do anything other than play music, browse web and lets you call. Oh, Apple, why do you do this to yourself? - Nicholas Deleon
There, I corrected it for you.
Seriously, I'm a regular gizmodo reader and also enjoy you weird sense of humor most of the times, However biased and lame reportings like these make me stop reading it altogether.
It's expensive... but in a world where a dumb lss functional iPod hi-fi system sells for the same price we shouldn't be too surprised. 350 bones is still a very high price to pay.
The thing does look attractive though and very portable. It does have a 'non-contact sensor that lights up the display' too, which tickles my inner geek a bit. And like someone up here mentioned, using it as a alarm clock is very practical.
Nice little boombox but too expensive.
I still prefer my Sonos system. While it *is* a bit more it's much more versitile and the remote for the Sonos is super sexy.
Granted they are for slightly different markets but if anyone has the dosh and is looking for an in-home wireless music system Sonos is the way to go. One big plus was I have speakers in my ceiling yet in some rooms nothing to drive them. Sonos units have built in amps so driving the speakers was a snap.
Uh for $350 I'll take a Squeezebox 3 and a nice pair of powered speakers....
ashwinmudigonda, you can run SlimServer on network storage drives. Some (Infrant ReadyNAS and Qnap) come with it, others you have to hack.
Is there a device in existance, that streams music without a nasty 4-5 second input lag?
Its Apples to oranges, but this makes aTV look like a bargain if just for the jukebox feature. Add a $250 20" Dell HDCP widescreen and a HDMI to DVI adapter and you've got one killer bedroom/kitchen MP3 jukebox.
I just got a Sonos bundle, which I know is expensive but it is really well made, works great and looks good. The controller is awesome, if you are looking for an audio streaming device I couldn't find a better one out there.
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