NYC

Look what the FCC dragged in: it's a brand new, unannounced all-on-one speaker for inclusion in your Sonos wireless audio system. A mini S5, if you will, that goes by the name "Play:3" according to the black and white FCC labels -- a hint at black and white offerings just like the S5. Curiously, the FCC docs also refer to the Play:3 as the "S3" in keeping with Sonos' S5 nomenclature. Our friend Dave Zatz speculates that the diminutive size and name is a good indicator that the S3 / Play:3 will feature a trio of drivers and dedicated digital amplifiers, akin to the S5's five (two tweeters, two mids, and a subwoofer). And you know what? We'd have to agree. Now, given the S3's size and Sonos' proven ability to use software to perfectly synchronize audio across dozens of Sonos boxes, you'll have to forgive us for wondering if Sonos has a wireless 5.1 home theater solution up its sleeve. Well Sonos, do ya? Evidence of the Play:3 vs S3 naming ...

There's been so much chatter about Apple iCloud that you'd think the streaming music service had already been announced and the deals inked. But it's still just a rumor until an Apple executive takes the stage and unleashes the Amazon Cloud Player and Google Music competitor in a spate of superlatives. That hasn't stopped  Businessweek  from stepping up with a good summary of all that is "known" thus far, while giving us some insight into the particulars of how the service will work and the motivations to make it happen. One revelation, sourced from three people in the know, claims that Apple will scan customers' iTunes libraries (hello, LaLa) and quickly mirror the contents on Apple's own servers -- no massive DSL-choking upload required. And Apple will do you the solid of "replacing" any low bitrate tracks with the "high-quality" versions it stores in its fully licensed music locker for streaming to your connected devic...