Sonos sound system adds Android and AirPlay abilities

Sonos, the brilliant multi-room music system for incredibly rich people, has added Android support and upgraded its iPhone and iPad apps to take advantage of multi-tasking and AirPlay streaming.

If you have the Sonos ZonePlayer S5 speaker system you can select music using your Android phone or iPhone, either from your own MP3 collection, from Internet radio or services such as Spotify. It lets you play different music on each S5 -- one in every room in your mansion.

AirPlay support means your iPhone or iPad will recognise there's a Sonos on your network -- automagically! -- and let you stream your music direct from your device to the Sonos' speakers.

You can search for songs by speaking what you want into your smart phone. And because your handset is only controlling what's being played, it's not interrupted by notifications, texts or calls. The music itself is stored on your PC or online.

We dearly love Sonos but there's no way we'd be able to buy it on our meagre journo salaries. Being able to use your iPhone or Android handset makes it significantly cheaper, however -- you don't need to buy any of its stupendously expensive touchscreen controllers, just the speakers.

No idea what we're talking about? Have a butchers' at this video from the company.

Do you have more money than you know what to do with? Let us know how you get on with the latest Sonos updates in the comments or on our 5,000-deep Facebook page.