Media Players

What's New

Review: Sonos Play:3

Is this all-in-one streamer the music system of the future?
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted July 25, 2011
- 5
The CD is dying. iPod sales are declining. More and more, people are getting their music from … well, everywhere: MP3s stored on a hard drive, Internet radio and music services like MOG, Pandora and the recently hyped Spotify.

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The Sonos Play:3 makes its debut

Sonos gives its line a makeover with a new naming scheme -- and a smaller, multipurpose player
- By Michael Berk
- Posted July 20, 2011
Always looking for new ways to make good on their promise to let users stream all the music on earth in any room, Sonos today announces a new player — the Play:3 — and a new naming scheme for their product line.

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Hands on with the Roku 2: Less is More

A slimmed-down, beefed-up revamp from the streaming vets. With Angry Birds and motion control, of course.
- By Michael Berk
- Posted July 20, 2011
- 1
The cat's been out of the bag for a month or two now, but today Roku officially announces an entirely redesigned line of streaming media players, featuring a smaller form factor, a few new content channels, Angry Birds — and, on the top-of-the-line XS, a motion-control remote. The new units should hit stores by the end of the month.

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Imperfect Sound Forever

Why some enthusiasts are going back to vintage audio gear
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted July 19, 2011
- 9
Last year, an audio dealer named Gordon Sauck called to get my permission to use a 1997 article of mine on his website. As I chatted with him, I realized there was a huge emerging trend to which I and most of the other guys who write about audio have been largely oblivious.

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Streaming Deathmatch: Spotify Premium vs. MOG

The reigning champ takes on the greatest thing since Wasa bread
- By Al Griffin
- Posted July 19, 2011
- 5
Sometimes the mere fact of something being inaccessible can enhance its value — a lot. Take Spotify, for example. For years we’ve wondered when music labels would finally allow the European online music service to make its supposed 15 million-track library available here. That day has finally arrived.

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Review: LG BD670 Blu-ray Disc Player

You could spend more — but why?
- By Al Griffin
- Posted July 13, 2011
Blu-ray players are becoming less a means to play discs than a gateway to online services — and to any media stored on computers, smartphones, and iDevices lying around your home. Take LG’s BD670. You might pick up this modest-looking machine thinking you’d use it to play Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D discs, along with DVDs and CDs.

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Buffalo Technology CloudStor Network-attached storage Server

Come into my cloud
- By Al Griffin
- Posted May 26, 2011
- 1
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Review: Sonos S5 ZonePlayer and 3.4 System Update

AirPlay support and an Android app keep the wireless pioneer current
- By Michael Berk
- Posted May 23, 2011
- 1
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Digital Media Receiver Roundup

Four inexpensive boxes vie for your streaming dollar
- By Geoffrey Morrison
- Posted May 9, 2011
DEFINING A NEW PRODUCT CATEGORY
I'm struggling with this: What do you call these things? Digital Media Streamers? Digital Media Receivers? How about media extenders, media streamers, or digital media adapters? Maybe Internet Streaming Devices? If you abbreviate that last one, it sounds a bit sinister. "Dude, I got an ISD." Annnnnnnd, you're on a list somewhere.

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Review: Samsung BD-D6700 3D Blu-ray Player

Packed with Style. Packed with Features.
- By Geoffrey Morrison
- Posted April 20, 2011
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Review: Oppo BDP-93 Blu-ray player

Your last-ever disc player?
- By Al Griffin
- Posted March 23, 2011
- 1
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Review: Dish Network ViP 922 Slingloaded DVR

This DVR doesn't keep your content on lockdown.
- By Kevin James
- Posted December 3, 2010
It’s been more than a decade since the first TiVo digital video recorder (DVR) revolutionized the way many of us watch TV. While almost all cable companies now offer some degree of DVR capability, it’s really been the satellite and telco TV service providers — as well as TiVo itself — that have pushed DVR innovation, offering features like access to online content.

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