Sonos has just announced its latest speaker, the highly portable Sonos Roam. But in the reveal of the new product there was a lot of detail, and one of these referred to the company’s previous portable, the Sonos Move. There are some things you might have heard already, but I’ve rounded up some of the cooler announcements which went under the radar.
It’s been in development for a while, Sonos says. After all, Roam wasn’t built in a day. (I’m here all week.)
First, the stuff you’ve probably heard
Sonos Roam is the company’s most portable speaker – and its most advanced, the company says. It is no bigger than a water bottle and weighs just 15 ounces. IP67 rating means you can hold it underwater for 30 minutes at a depth of 3 feet with no injurious effect (though it won’t sound great while it’s actually submerged, you understand). It’s also sealed against very fine particles such as dust. Now, how about some new stuff?
The Sonos Roam comes in two colors, black and white.
Sonos
1. It means an upgrade is arriving—right now—for Sonos Move, too
The Roam includes automatic Trueplay. Trueplay is one of the best things ever from Sonos. It is a software system which measures the acoustic of the surroundings to ensure optimum sound by adjusting playback on a granular level. I’ve seen this demonstrated where one speaker was inside a cupboard, with the door closed, and the other next to harsh metal reflective surfaces. Without Trueplay it sounded as terribleas you’d imagine. With Trueplay, it sounded sensational. The only downside was you needed to have an iPhone or iPad to set Trueplay up. It was a one-off deal but annoying if you’re not an Apple household.
Automatic Trueplay arrived later, using built-in microphones to do all the measuring with no external device needed.
On Sonos Roam, Automatic Trueplay has been enhanced so that it works whether you’re on wi-fi or Bluetooth, something that wasn’t possible on the previous portable speaker, the Sonos Move.
But Sonos announced that this enhanced version of Trueplay would come to the Sonos Move as well in time.
Well, they don’t hang about at Sonos: enhanced Trueplay can be heard right now on Sonos Move from today – you’ll just need to do a software update. Cool, huh?
The optional extra magnetic wireless charger for the Sonos Roam.
David Phelan
2. It charges on any Qi wireless charger
There’s a dedicated charging unit from Sonos, which is sold separately, but it works with other pads, too, so you could plonk it on to a MagSafe charger, for instance. Still, the magnetic attachment that happens with the Sonos version may be too tempting to resist. It costs $49 and if you don’t spring for it then of course there’s still wired charging as an option.
Speaker and charging cable but no charging plug supplied with Sonos Roam.
Sonos
3. But there’s no power adapter in the box
Sonos is taking a leaf out of Apple’s book and including a USB-C to USB-A cable but no power brick, so you’ll need your own (although I’m sure you’ve got a bunch of those, right?).
4. Rotation
You’ll know that it can be positioned vertically or lying flat. Some Sonos products know what orientation they’re in and adjust the audio accordingly, though that’s not the case here. However, Sonos says it sounds great both lying flat and standing up. The triangular shape means even when it’s lying down, the audio is angled upwards towards you.
The Sonos Roam is robust enough to sit in the sand (or underwater) without damage.
Sonos
5. Speedy wake-up
What’s more, whichever position it’s in, it responds very quickly. Near-instantly, in fact. There’s always a delay in rousing a Bluetooth speaker to play its music. But here, it’s plenty fast: Sonos Roam wakes up in less than a second. Sonos claims it’s much faster than most competitors.
6. Battery life confirmed
It lasts 10 hours between charges and the sleep mode is pretty efficient: when not in use it will save battery life for as long as 10 days.
Detail of the Sonos Roam.
Sonos
7. When and how much?
It’s available for pre-order right now, it’s just been revealed.
As for price, you may have heard that rumored at $169. That’s correct, and we now additionally have U.K. pricing at £159 and European pricing at €179. It’s the most affordable speaker Sonos has ever made.
The onsale date had not been revealed and we now know that’s April 20, 2021. That date applies for the United States, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, Sweden, Poland, Spain, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Belgium, Austria, Luxembourg, Latin America, Singapore, Hong Kong, Eastern Europe, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, Israel, UAE/KSA and Turkey. Japan to follow.
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Leaving her elderly father on a basement floor for two days in a soiled adult diaper won’t mean jail for a Calgary woman.
Justice Indra Maharaj accepted a joint Crown and defence submission on Wednesday for a two-year-less-a-day conditional sentence order for Tara Picard to be followed by 12 months of probation.
Prosecutor Donna Spaner and defence counsel Shaun Leochko proposed a community-based term which will include eight months of 24-hour house arrest followed by a nightly curfew for the second eight months.
Maharaj also agreed with the lawyers to order Picard to commit 300 hours of community service over the length of the three-year sentence.
The Calgary Court of Justice noted that amount of community-service hours was “a lot” to commit to.
But Maharaj said it showed Picard, 52, was truly remorseful for her conduct towards her father, whom Postmedia is not identifying because of the embarrassing nature of the facts of the case.
“What that shows me is Ms. Picard does sincerely recognize what has happened here,” the judge said of her willingness to complete community service.
“What I interpret from that is Ms. Picard’s willingness to give back to the community.”
Picard pleaded guilty in January to charges of assault and failing to provide the necessaries of life to her 77-year-old father.
Court heard caregivers found the elderly Calgary man on the basement floor of his daughter’s southeast home wearing a soiled adult diaper.
At the time, Picard was responsible for her father’s day-to-day care after he was moved to her residence, Spaner, reading from a statement of agreed facts, told court at the time.
“He had a number of medical ailments, including non-insulin dependent diabetes, coronary artery disease, some early onset dementia-like symptoms and chronic alcoholism,” Spaner said.
“(He) had been living independently in a Calgary apartment building. Family members became concerned that he was not caring for himself safely.”
With the help of Alberta Health Services he was moved to a home where Picard resided.
A registered nurse assigned to his care attended the 38 Street S.E. home on Nov. 15, 2021, to drop off food bank supplies for him and was told he was sleeping downstairs.
When the nurse called about an hour and a half later and spoke to the man on the phone he said he was lying on the floor, had fallen and was unable to get up.
When she returned to the home with a co-worker she found the victim lying on his back on the floor.
“(He) said that he had been lying on the floor for two days,” Spaner said.
Leochko said Picard was overwhelmed by the situation she was thrust into.
“It really was more than she could handle,” he said.
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@juanhall: I gotta say, this was the most interesting bike in this post….love that Intense is experimenting with gearboxes…I can see it have a huge effect on DH bikes….thank god there’s still people pushing things. Now, they need to make an Enduro bike with the Pinion MGU!
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The City of Pointe-Claire would like to inform you that the Bob-Birnie arena will be closed for its annual maintenance as of Monday, April 29. The Annex rink will reopen to the public on Monday, May 13, and the arena’s Main rink will be accessible as of Monday, June 3.
Public skating will resume on May 13, and the summer public activities programming will begin on June 3 when both rinks have reopened to the public.
In addition to the annual maintenance of the facility, two renovation projects are also scheduled to start at the same time:
Installation of new sound systems
The City will be replacing its current sound systems in both the Main rink and Annex rink, to offer arena visitors a better overall experience, whether watching from the stands or participating in on-ice activities. This project is expected to be conducted throughout the month of May.
Renovation of locker rooms in the Main Rink
The City will also be renovating the five locker rooms located in the Main rink, to bring up to date the amenities currently available to participants. These renovations are expected to begin in early May and will be completed by mid-August.
For all information about the Bob-Birnie arena, visit the arena’s page on our website.
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