Sonos is finally shipping their in-home MP3 player solution, which can be vaguely described as a Rio Receiver on steroids. Each base station has a stereo amp and wireless built in. If you buy a bunch of them, they do mesh network, but you still have to have a PC or Mac somewhere to serve up the content.

The clever part seems to be their controller and the extent to which it provides a seamless, noobie-friendly interface. Note the iPod-like scroll wheel:


The obvious competition would be the Slim Devices Squeezebox, which lacks the built-in amp but costs much less money. There isn't anything like the Sonos controller, although there is PDA software. The Sonos solution looks to be easier for the unsophisticated consumer to use, once it's set up, particularly when they're doing some kind of ad-hoc networking to extend the wireless Ethernet beyond the range of your main base station.

So, any guesses on whether Sonos will take off or flop? They managed to get themselves a cameo (or would that be "paid product placement") on a recent Queer Eye show. The big minuses, as far as I can tell:

- no support for Apple DRM'ed AAC
- no digital audio out (which the Squeezebox has), although they do have analog input
- no display on the box (you have to buy one of the controller boxes)

And, of course, the other competition is the Apple Airport Express. No amp, no screen, but cheap and supports Apple DRM.