INBOX:THERE HAVE been devices that allow people to listen to music in any room of their home for some time.
In my home, it used to be called "the portable radio". But the possibilities are now virtually limitless.
A few years ago the phrase "celestial jukebox" emerged. This would be an internet device that would allow you to download any song, any time, accessing the world's catalogue of recorded music and playing it back with impeccable sound quality.
It took a while for the idea to turn into a product, but we are almost there. It's now possible to own the music files (for example iTunes) or subscribe to a service (for example Napster) that would provide you with more music than you could listen to in the rest of your life. Quite a thought.
But actually making that work around the home is more complicated, and there is a battle being waged by two key products. The first is the Logitech Squeezebox Duet Network Music System (about €350), an affordable media adapter that is an add-on to Logitech's single-room music player, the Squeezebox.
The new Squeezebox Duet system offers a colour LCD screen controller and a receiver enabling people to wirelessly browse, select and play their digital music on their existing stereo speakers anywhere in the home, and also when their computer is switched off. You can listen to your digital music collection, internet radio and subscription services on a home-entertainment system in the living room, the stereo system in a bedroom, or perhaps a mini-system in the kitchen.
The controller has a scroll wheel, a bit like an iPod, to select music , internet radio and online subscription services.
It links to the Squeezebox, a wireless receiver. Multiple receivers can be controlled by one Squeezebox Duet Controller, but you just get the one receiver in the box. They are on to a trend - today, nearly 65 per cent of adults and more than 86 per cent of people aged between 18 and 24 worldwide use their computers to access music, according to research firm IDC.
Logitech has positioned the Logitech Duet as a cut-price alternative to the Sonos Multi-Room Music System, its arch-rival, which costs closer to €880. However, Sonos claims the the Duet is just a "retro-fitted" user interface to the Squeezebox. It is instead banking that its simple set-up, multi-room control and large home network limitations will win out.
The main difference is that Sonos offers a bundle of two ZonePlayers (one amplified player and one player for an existing amplifier) and one a full-colour Sonos Controller. That means you can get two rooms up and running out of the box.
I tried out the Sonos and the setup was very easy, although at the cost of having to have one of the Sonos boxes physically attached to the wireless router. The sound quality was very good, especially through an existing hi-fi and the integration with the Napster music service is seamless, though it would be nice to have the option of a black, rather than white, controller.
Your choice depends on your budget, but there's no doubting the "jukebox in the sky" which plays in every room is heading our way. That is, unless you prefer your portable radio.
