“We wanted to be the Bose of the digital world,” Cullen said. But in order to do that, the Sonos crew had to figure out how to make a product that was easy to use and could deliver a sound quality that audiophiles and those listening to MP3s would appreciate (as an aside for digital music junkies, Cullen says he stores his audio files as 320 kbps MP3 files). Improvement is ongoing, with the latest advancements being the way it built its S5 boombox-style device. Sonos, not longer content to shuttle bits around the home network through a proprietary wireless system, designed a new speaker for the S5 that digitally controls the output from the different parts of the speaker.
An advantage of this is that the S5 sounds the way most consumers prefer their speakers to sound (at least according to the gurus at Lucas Arts who vetted the sound quality for Sonos) and that the speaker profile can be changed via a DSP programmer tweaking the settings. Expect those advances to be seen in future Sonos products. Cullen also notes that the home audio market is the focus today, but people listen to music in other places, such as in their cars or via headphones — an area Sonos will one day explore. As it does, it’s staying focused on providing the best sound for digital music and continuing to refine the way it builds its products in the service of that goal.
Lesson#2: Consider Usability Before You Build
It took the guys at Sonos a few months to build their first prototype, and at the end, they were left with a product only a geek could love. Realizing this, they sought help from a usability expert, who told them they didn’t need a usability expert until much later in their process. What they needed was an industrial designer who could get in early and help them build the hardware and software with an eye toward the consumer. The team eventually hired Meiko Mieko Kusano, a designer for Phillips, who told them, “Usability is in the bones of the product, not the skin.” Cullen still credits that mentality with Sonos’ success.
“Most consumer electronics companies build out hardware and then add software to update it and change their designs every 18 months. We turned that on its head, building hardware that will last and software that we can update whenever we need to in order to improve the experience.” Cullen credits that shift to Kusano, and offers up Sonos’ Zone Player products as an example. “You should be able to stream music over that for the next 15 years.”
Lesson#3: Don’t Be Afraid to Cannibalize Yourself
That long-term vision for the hardware is part of the success of the Sonos platform, but the other is the philosophy the company has about working with partners and even introducing new products to expand its base. When it launched, a Sonos system could run a user about $99 for a wireless router, another $350 to $500 or so for something that picks up that signal and connects to speakers in one room (each room would need another of these), and a special controller for about $350 to drive the system. But in 2008, Sonos released a free app for the iPod that mimicked the functionality of the controller and thus brought down the cost of the system. Sales surged. The loss in controller revenue was more than offset by sales of the new system, Cullen said.
It now has a free app for the iPad, and as mentioned earlier, Cullen says support for other platforms will come. But last year, Sonos introduced a much more disruptive product: its S5 boombox. For $400, the S5 has speakers and allows someone to create a Sonos network with the addition of a Zone Bridge for $99. The launch of that product has changed the profile for Sonos, moving it out of the specialty market and into the mainstream. At the time of this writing, items No. 3 and No. 6 on Best Buy’s Top 10 bestselling wireless and streaming audio products were S5s. However, Sonos’ S5 cracked the top 100 of Amazon’s Bestsellers in Home Audio & Theater Products list at No. 73, behind rivals Logitech and Bose. But Cullen says the fear of cannibalizing sales of its more expensive gear hasn’t been realized; instead people buy an S5, then tend to add more onto their networks.
Lesson #4: A True Platform Doesn’t Pick Winners
As a platform, Sonos plans to release a breadth of hardware and software to ensure a better digital music experience, but it also extends that to partnerships it signs with music providers. Sonos currently supports Spotify in the U.K. and Scandinavia, and that partnership alone has enabled it to boost sales of its system in those countries by a non trivial amount. In the U.S., a partnership with Pandora has had a smaller but still noticeable affect on sales as well. Cullen said Spotify and other some partners have offered to pay Sonos for providing access to their content to Sonos users, but Sonos doesn’t play that game. “We don’t take revenue from people,” Cullen said. “We don’t want any incentives to guide our behavior rather than the user choosing what they want to listen to. We don’t want to be picking winners and losers.”
So far, Sonos’ strategy is working. The company has now raised $65 million,and while Cullen wouldn’t discuss IPO plans, he says the company has been approached by buyers. However, the $15 billion home audio market beckons, and Sonos believes it has learned how to play the game well and can take the disruption provided by digital music and home networks to give the industry giants a run for their money.
Related GigaOM Pro Content (sub req’d):
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GET READY TO TAP THAT APP WITH
NAPPY BOY ENTERTAINMENT’S NEW ANDROID APP – BOOTY SYMPHONY
Available Free Exclusively on GetJar,
App Allows Users to Create, Share and Remix Music Videos by Orchestrating Booties
Nappy Boy To Deliver The Last 1,000 Cans of “Booty Sweat” Energy Drink on Earth to
Whoever’s Booty Symphony Video Gets The Most Views
New York, NY (January 13, 2011) – Tapping that app has never felt this good. Introducing Booty Symphony, the new app powered by T-Pain’s label Nappy Boy Entertainment. The app lets users conduct 30-second music videos from “Booty Soundboards” based on songs from the Nappy Boy catalogue including Tay Dizm’s “Point Em Out” and Young Cash’s “I’m a Freak” and “I Support Single Mothers.” Every time you tap a booty, a new sound and rump-shaking visual is added to the mix. And just in case you want additional “assets”, Booty Symphony lets users upload their own juicy videos to the soundboard.
Since it takes a lot of energy to shake all these booties, Nappy Boy will reward the most popular Booty Symphony video with the ultimate prize – 1,000 cans of “Booty Sweat” energy drink. Making the pot even sweeter is the fact that these 1,000 cans are some of the last “Booty Sweat” energy drinks slated for production, ever! Turn Earth’s loss into your gain by following the contest details located at http://bootysymphony.com.
“Smartphones have given people an incredible amount of computing power, but until now, this power has been wasted,” says creator and choreographer of Booty Symphony, Sakinah LeStage. “America is thirsty for an app that finally does something useful. If Booty Symphony doesn’t satiate that thirst, 1,000 cans of Booty Sweat sure will.” An Atlanta native, LeStage has collaborated with T-Pain and Nappy Boy Entertainment since 2005 as a choreographer and creative director. Through their shared appreciation of music and dance, Booty Symphony was born.
Only the world’s largest open app store could “back that app up”, which is why the free version is available exclusively at GetJar. For the free Android version, give GetJar a spank at http://getjar.com/Booty-Symphony. The premium version is available on the Android Market for $2.99. To get more information on the app, hit up www.bootysymphony.com.
# # #
About Nappy Boy Digital / Entertainment / Publishing
Nappy Boy Digital is the first digital-only label launched by mega-platinum-selling, multi-Grammy winning artist and producer T-Pain. The label’s artist roster includes Tay Dizm and Young Cash. T-Pain also founded Nappy Boy Entertainment, a joint venture deal with Atlantic Records. Nappy Boy Entertainment recently released the debut solo album from Travie McCoy, whose single “Billionaire” hit No. 1 and has sold over 2.6 million copies to date. T-Pain also recently launched Nappy Boy Publishing, which currently publishes Tha Bizness (who produced Young Money’s “Every Girl In The World” and Chris Brown’s current single, “No BS,” currently Top 20 on the Urban Chart and climbing quickly), David Balfour (who wrote on T-Pain’s “Can’t Believe It” and “Chopped And Skrewed”) and Young Fyre (who produced T-Pain’s “Rap Song” featuring Rick Ross).
About GetJar
GetJar is the world’s largest open app store with over 1 billion downloads to date. The company’s key point of difference is its open market approach, which allows it to deliver applications for both feature phones and smartphones across all major platforms such as Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, iPhone and Symbian among others. The company provides more than 75,000 mobile applications to consumers in more than 200 countries. GetJar has been selected by the World Economic Forum as a Technology Pioneer for 2011 for its innovative approach to technology and its deep impact on business and society on a global scale. GetJar is backed by Accel Partners and is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices in the UK and Lithuania. For more information: www.getjar.com and follow us on Twitter @getjar.
Source:http://removeripoffreports.net/
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