Bluetooth A2DP on iPhone 3GS and iPad better than on 3G

Noting that I railed against Apple's implementation of A2DP when iPhone OS 3.0 was released last year, I was doing so from my experience with the iPhone 3G, the most prevalent model at the time.  Just to confirm and keep me on record, it's still terrible.

However, it seems that dark little example of an Apple-crafted failing user experience may well be fading into the past.

Because fast forward a product cycle and it's apparent that the users of the iPhone 3GS (now arguably the most prevalent model) have never had to suffer like the 3G users.  I played around with the 3GS last week and the Bluetooth stereo audio protocol is significantly better than the 3G.  I mean, clearly, no argument.  Perhaps also equally noteworthy is that the iPad's Bluetooth stereo audio seems to be the same quality as the 3GS.  So that's something.

Now granted, if you consider an imaginary bar, let's call it the "sounds-like-shit bar", the 3G would reside below that bar, and the 3GS and iPad would reside above it.  Whether that bar is high enough for users to actually listen to the audio that resides above it and enjoy it at length, I'll withhold my opinion, for it lies in the realm of the subjective.  Living below the sounds-like-shit bar however, I am telling you, leaves very little room for subjectivity.

Nexus One, Android Apps and my Nexus One + Sky Map experience

There are few things that are really nice about the Nexus One:

• The biggest being the display.  High resolution, and OLED meaning clarity and contrast ratios were stunning – making the apps and icons look amazing.


• Overall look and feel of the phone's navigation and GUI was stellar.  However, the scrolling app tray with a "virtual conveyor belt" motif was somewhat nifty in execution, it gets a bit corny after a while.


• The full-screen clock display mode app was attractive, and using native controls of the screen brightness, the dimmer was particularly effective, making the app very night-time friendly.   I wish the iPhone let you tame the backlight to a similar effect.

Apps is really where Android falls short of the iPhone.  The iPhone is still a sexier device to hold in the hand, however the display and thickness seem antiquated next to the Nexus One.  Luckily for Apple-ites, this is something that next gen models will remedy with certainty.  The breadth of apps and the ecosystem head-start is really a big advantage in my mind, as is the stability offered by the Apple-nurtured platform.

Which brings me to my story... while on vacation, and playing with a friend's Nexu One, one of the apps I really loved was Google Sky Map.  Here I was in Mexico staring out at a killer full moon and noticing a couple "stars" that were so bright that I thought one must be a planet.  My friend who had a pre-release Nexus One whipped out his phone and ran Sky Map.  I pointed it to the sky, black was black from the amazing OLED display, and the star in question was as I suspected, not a star, but Mars.  Then I realized what an amazing experience it is to have a "phone" work seamlessly with the exact right information in the exact right context using a combination of GPS, Magnetometer, Internet connection, high resolution display, packed into a nice portable form factor.

I've had numerous experiences like this with my iPhone, but it occurred to me that this particular experience of stargazing was done by a device carrying a Google brand, running an app that right now is exclusively for Android.

For users new to smartphones, or who aren't long users of the iPhone, it's experiences like these that create loyalty and excitement around a new platform.  That the Nexus One has tricks like this up its sleeves bodes well for the big G.

Google's Nexus One is a brilliant device

Here's hoping Google has a strategy and program in place to support a vibrant ecosystem of audio and other accessories.  The lessons of the iPod and iPhone ecosystem should not go unheeded by Mountain View.  The connector format, placement, and docking physics, as well as a set of favorable business terms needs to be brought to bear to support an ecosystem of hardware developers.  The market expertise and channel management held by accessory makers for mobile devices is critical to bring the multimedia capabilities of the Nexus/Android platform to the masses.

Sonos S5 takes aim at the iPod speakerdock market

I'll cut right to the chase.  Sonos gets wireless audio distribution.  They also get user experience.  Their products have appealed to many affluent gadget savvy consumers and they've made no apologies for being expensive, nor for requiring their customers to bring their own audio hardware – speakers, amplifiers, etc.  If the consumer accepts that, Sonos provides the rest – elegant wireless control and access to tons of internet radio stations and services like Pandora, Rhapsody, etc, as well as access to libraries stored on computers around the house.

With the new Sonos ZonePlayer S5, they've decided to appeal directly to the iPhone and iPod touch user and provide a solution in a box (and a free downloadable app).  It's basically a big white speaker that looks as boring and unassuming as Bose's best (and worst and everything in between quite frankly).  But that's probably ok, because they are taking aim at exactly the people who've been gobbling up those inert-looking Bose products for over four years now.  At 399, it ain't cheap, and I have no idea how it sounds, but it's been a couple years in the making, so I doubt they've cut too many corners.



Sonos's claim in their email announcement to the press that the iPod speakerdock market is a "billion dollar market that hasn't innovated" is as bold as it is smug, and frankly, typical naive marketing nonsense.  That's ok.  I'll forgive them, for I'm smug too.  To be fair, Sonos has been about innovation for a long time, and it's who they are.  It is however, ironic, that a pretty freakin' obvious extension to their product-line took so damn long, so touche to you, Sonos.

Another broken assertion Sonos made is that "Apple (inadvertently) has begun teaching music lovers about the benefit of streaming music.  Apps like Pandora, Last.fm and more recently SIRIUS and Rhapsody, have become popular content applications."

Apple hasn't inadvertantly done anything.  Let me point to the following exhibits:

• Pandora app


• Last.fm app


• Slacker app


• Rhapsody app


• iheartradio app


• Sirius/XM app

Need.  I.  Go.  On.  Apple totally gets it, which is exhibited with every app approval they've made to bring that kind of content to the iPhone OS platform...which includes the iPod touch, by the way.  Shame on you for Sonos for telling me that "...the S5 is... designed for an iPhone (not an iPod)."  In fact, you're selling your addressable market short by more than 50%.  Doh!

One thing that the wirelessaudioblog reader will appreciate to be sure... any "non-innovative" speakerdock on the market that can dock an iPhone or iPod touch has the ability to playback all that great content already.  But to Sonos' point I suppose, in most cases the iPhone/touch must be docked to the speaker.  My gripe is one of marketing nuance... to position the Sonos as the great content liberator is grossly overstated, and so again, marketing nonsense.  What Sonos does gives you is their usual wireless remote goodness and multi-room playback capabilities, that is, assuming you buy more than one, or have some of their older stuff.  So again, if you are a first time buyer and choose the S5, to enjoy the core of the Sonos brand-promise, you are going to have to shell out some more dough, or just feel really good about the $100-plus premium you spent to have a wireless remote control app and the option to expand to more rooms in the future.

Will this be successful?  I think so (just as I thought so over 2 years ago when we pitched them this exact concept as a means to sell them our amp chip).  The business benefit to Sonos per se is their new access to speakerdock purchasers at retail, if in fact they are fortunate enough to get placement in that area of the store, which isn't automatic but I don't doubt they can manage it.  Also, the price-point and true "solution" nature of the all-in-one speaker-node give it a simplicity of message that is easier to communicate to new buyers of the Sonos system.  This SKU also gives existing Sonos users a simple way to extend their Sonos networks to new rooms, presuming it meets their audio quality requirements and design tastes.

To summarize, Sonos has caught up with the realities of consumer audio today, by offering a form-factor and speaker configuration that addresses the iPhone/touch user who's also a likely buyer of speakerdocks.  For a few years now, the speakerdock category of product has been the one shining growth category of CE audio into which billions of consumers' dollars have flowed proving its relevance.  In my opinion, Sonos is a welcome comer to the category, and should have been here twelve to 24 months ago when they could have captured some of those early billions.  Here's hoping there are billions more to come, to which Sonos is welcome its slice.

Sonos has released an introductory video for those who have no idea what I'm talking about.

iP1 gets reviewed, and is "Highly Recommended" by iLounge

The review of iHome iP1 just went up at iLounge, and to sum up, they...

...consider it to be the best overall iPod and iPhone audio system currently available at its price point.

and they feel the...

iP1 is as aesthetically close to the ideal iPod and iPhone audio system as anyone has yet come.

Not to mention, they

...were skeptical going into [their] first listening session with iP1: it’s easy to make a system sound “pretty good,” particularly in isolation from competitors, but far more difficult to build and tune a system so well that it rivals or outperforms top players placed in direct side-by-side comparison. With iP1, that’s what iHome and Bongiovi Acoustics have achieved...

[iLounge] Review: iHome iP1 Studio Series Speakers for iPod + iPhone | iLounge.