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Sonos has released the Beam Ultra, a wider version of its compact soundbar that now supports genuine Dolby Atmos rather than simulated surround sound. The device packs five tweeters, four woofers and nine amplifiers, compared to the simpler single-tweeter setup in the previous Beam generation, and is best suited for TVs 55 inches or larger.
Tera-Print, a small US company that has sold Tera-Fab branded beam pen lithography tools for about a decade, sent a cease-and-desist letter to Tesla, SpaceX and SpaceXAI in May over use of the Terafab name. Tera-Print, whose clients reportedly include the Department of Defense, has now filed a trademark lawsuit, while Tesla and SpaceX argue their planned high-volume chip manufacturing venture is unrelated to Tera-Print's tabletop bioengineering and prototyping tools.
WIRED's latest soundbar roundup highlights the Focal Mu-So Hekla as a standout premium option, praising its 15-speaker array, powerful bass, upfiring Dolby Atmos drivers and intuitive companion app. The guide also names honorable mentions including the Sonos Beam Gen 2 and Sony Bravia Theatre Trio, noting each device's tradeoffs in sound quality, price and expandability.
The author is ending a three-and-a-half-year-old blog series that documented hands-on experiments with Elixir and the Erlang VM, including a telescope-simulation project that led to conferences and friendships. They cite the rise of LLM-generated code and writing as the reason, saying open-source discussion has collapsed and some community members now let AI tools like Claude post under their name and photo.
Sonos let journalists test its new Beam Ultra soundbar and Ace Ultra headphones in several setups, including standalone, paired with wireless Play speakers as surrounds, and streaming soundbar audio directly to the headphones. During a movie clip demo, the Beam Ultra delivered clear, well-balanced sound with surprising bass despite no subwoofer, while adding the Play speakers as rear surrounds noticeably improved immersion through Sonos's new Fabric technology, which lets devices sense their placement and surroundings.
Sonos launched its Ace Ultra headphones and Beam Ultra soundbar today, and alongside them officially named its existing software platform 'Sonos 27.' The update brings four new capabilities arriving this fall: portable surround speaker pairing, seamless headphone-to-speaker audio handoff, a conversational voice assistant called Sonos 27voice, and Sonos MCP for connecting third-party AI assistants to the system.
Sonos showcased its new $699 Beam Ultra soundbar and $449 Ace Ultra headphones at an open house event, alongside upcoming app updates. A private demo revealed the Beam Ultra's improved bass, vocal clarity, and Dolby Atmos performance using side- and top-firing drivers, plus the ability to wirelessly pair Play portable speakers as rear channels.
Sonos introduced two new Ultra-branded products: the Ace Ultra headphones priced at $449 and the Beam Ultra soundbar priced at $699, both available for pre-order now and shipping September 29. The company also rebranded its software platform as 'Sonos 27,' rolling out alongside the hardware launch.
Sonos has introduced the Beam Ultra, a premium successor to its mid-size soundbar lineup, featuring nine drivers including two upward-firing tweeters for genuine Dolby Atmos sound rather than simulated surround. Pre-orders start today ahead of a September 29 release at $699, and the device supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and HDMI eARC for building out a broader home theater setup with other Sonos gear.
Sonos has introduced the Beam Ultra, a new soundbar slotted between the Beam and the flagship Arc Ultra. Unlike the Beam Gen 2's software-based surround effect, the Beam Ultra uses physical upfiring drivers to deliver real 7.1.2-channel Dolby Atmos sound, along with a redesigned center channel, AI speech enhancement, and Trueplay room tuning. It's available for preorder now and ships September 29, 2026.
Sonos unveiled its next-generation app, dubbed Sonos 27, alongside a second-generation over-ear headphone (Ace Ultra) and a new soundbar (Beam Ultra). The update includes generative AI voice tools, improved navigation, room sorting, volume controls, and upcoming system health diagnostics, following the disastrous 2024 app relaunch that stripped away accessibility and volume features and led to a leadership shakeup.
Sonos held an event in New York to launch the Beam Ultra soundbar and Ace Ultra headphones alongside a major software update called Sonos 27, marking its largest product reveal since the troubled 2024 app relaunch. The update introduces an in-house voice assistant, Sonos 27voice, plus Sonos 27mcp, which lets users link outside AI models like ChatGPT or Gemini to control their systems, though Google Assistant remains unsupported. A future feature will let users build up to 10 custom AI agents with distinct voices and personalities to handle tasks like news updates or motivational prompts.