Mr. Cook Goes to China, Sonos Meets Ikea, Apple Buys Pop Up Archive – ACM 440

Tim Cook took a recent trip to China, and some have accused him of endorsing Chinese censorship. Bryan and Jeff talk about how complicated doing business in China is. They also look at why Sonos and IKEA have announced a partnership, and what Apple’s purchase of Pop Up Archive might mean. Then they fall down the rabbit hole of TextArc.

Physical Security Matters, Too – Mac Geek Gab 652

SMC Resets, Migration Assistant tricks, Auto-Upgrade solutions and Renting vs. Owning your Cable Modem are just the beginning for your two favorite geeks today. S/MIME is taken to a whole other level with guest Jeff Butts who helps us all understand how to make this work on both macOS and iOS! Then it’s time to dive into your system certificates – and which ones you can touch vs. those that you can’t. Security is always on the mind and a quick VPN discussion rounds that out. Then John and Dave move on to something more pleasing to the ear: sound, and how best to manage it on your Mac!

Sonos PLAYBASE Review: Room-Filling Sound for Music, TV, and Movies

The new Sonos Playbase falls right in line with what we Apple users have come to expect, delivering a simple-yet-robust experience for people who want to enhance the sound of their TVs and simultaneously add a whole-room music-listening solution. In one, low-profile box that sits underneath your TV (officially anything 75lbs or less), the Sonos Playbase gives you all of this and more, complete with easy setup and simple operation.

Sonos Puts the PLAYBASE Under Your Television

Today Sonos announced their new PLAYBASE, combining home theater sound and music playback in a low-profile base (just 2.28″ high!) that sits underneath your TV. The PLAYBASE is the result of nearly four years of iterative design work inside Sonos, and is made to complement the wall-mountable PLAYBAR in Sonos’ lineup. If your TV sits on a table, put a PLAYBASE under it; on the wall, put a PLAYBAR there. The PLAYBASE will hold TVs up to 77lbs, which should handle what most of you have.

While I haven’t yet tested the PLAYBASE in my home, I did get a chance to test it at Sonos’ offices last month, and the stereo spread and frequency response are impressive. They were able to fit a subwoofer in the thin design by use of a specially-engineered S-shaped port. It works, too, and really fills a room with sound for both music and video content. Of course, you’re able to use your iPhone or iPad to automatically tune the PLAYBASE to your room with Sonos’ Trueplay technology, ensuring the best possible sound for your environment. The PLAYBASE is priced at US$699 (same as the PLAYBAR), and will be released on April 4, 2017. Existing Sonos owners can pre-order starting today.

For Geeks Only: Hey Alexa, Tell Sonos to Play Stevie Wonder in the Kitchen

Sonos and Amazon jointly announced their Alexa integration earlier this year and the world rejoiced. Voice control of your Sonos system is one of those holy grails. The integration is expected to be available at some point in 2017. But I’m an impatient geek so, while I’m waiting for official support to be available, I spent an hour yesterday getting this working using freely-available open-source tools. You can do this, too, and I’ll walk you through what you’re doing and how to get started.

Sonos's Future: Opening Up Control to Alexa and Third-Party Apps

On Tuesday, wireless speaker manufacturer Sonos summoned the press to Manhattan to show off some new software features they’ve been working on and, in doing so, painted a picture of a more open Sonos experience. Demonstrating Amazon Alexa voice control and Spotify app integration, Sonos showed a not-too-distant future where customers have the ability to control their Sonos products in a variety of new ways without sacrificing any of the existing benefits of the Sonos platform.