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Sonos One drops to $150 for Cyber Monday
There are also solid deals on Sonos' Five and One SL speakers.
What to buy your dad who's hopelessly low-tech
So your dad isn't that great with technology -- that doesn't mean you can't gift him tech that will make his life easier. These are our picks for the best tech gifts you can get for low-tech dads.
Sonos gives a lame reason for bricking older devices in 'Recycle Mode'
Sonos has a good reputation for building quality speakers, but its latest move has disappointed some buyers. Recently, the company offered a trade-up program, giving legacy customers 30 percent off the latest One, Beam or Port. In exchange, buyers just had to "recycle" their existing products. However, what Sonos meant by "recycle" was to activate a feature called "Recycle Mode" that permanently bricks the speaker. It then becomes impossible for recycling firms to resell it or do anything else but strip it for parts.
The Sonos One SL is a microphone-free version of its most accessible speaker
It's been about two years since Sonos released the One, its first speaker with built-in microphones for Alexa and, much later, Google Assistant support. The One was essentially an upgraded version of the Play:1, which didn't have mics. Sonos kept selling the Play:1, but its days appeared numbered with the company wasn't able to add AirPlay 2 support to the speaker when it arrived last year. Today, Sonos is officially discontinuing the Play:1 and replacing it with the One SL. That new speaker is nearly identical to the One, aside from a key difference: It has no microphones, so there's no way to use Alexa or the Google Assistant.
The audio gear we recommend to students
A life without music is a pretty dull one. Obviously, you need to make sure you're ready for the school year with some solid headphones, a decent pair of speakers and something good to listen to. There's an overwhelming number of choices out there when it comes to personal audio, but because we review this stuff year round, it was easy for us to just cull the list for you. Whether you need something with noise-cancelling to block out an annoying roommate, or headphones for the gym that shrug off sweat, we've got you covered. And, what you listen to on those speakers and headphones is just as important. You'll want to stay on top of the latest podcast sensation and you need a way to stream the new Bon Iver album for your crush. But remember, music isn't just a passive experience: We're also recommending a few tools for the budding songwriter and producer. It may sound cliché, but these are some of the most important years of your life, and how you soundtrack them will stay with you forever.
Sonos will finally launch Google Assistant on some speakers next week
It's been more than a year in the making, but Sonos will finally roll out support for Google Assistant next week. The company confirmed the launch in its quarterly earnings release, saying that support for the Sonos One and Beam would arrive in the US, with other markets to follow. We knew the feature was likely to launch in the first half of this year after Sonos demoed it and launched a closed beta in January, and now its speakers will be the first on the market to work with both Alexa and Google Assistant.
Sonos One speaker now packs more powerful internals
How do you improve the Sonos One speaker when there aren't too many qualms about the basic design? If you ask Sonos, it's all about future-proofing. The company is rolling out a Gen 2 version of the One that shares the same design, but includes Bluetooth Low Energy, a newer processor and more memory. In other words, it should perform next-generation tasks that would simply be too much for the original to handle -- not that Sonos is saying just what those additions might be.
