Sony swallows its pride, supports both HomeShare and AirPlay on new speakers

LAS VEGAS--Unsurprisingly, Sony's HomeShare platform didn't take off in 2011, having most of its thunder stolen by a rival wireless audio solution: AirPlay.

Give credit to Sony making a quick adjustment. Sony introduced two new HomeShare speakers today at CES 2012, both including HomeShare (which works with DLNA) and AirPlay support. That puts the speakers in the position of being able to stream music from both Android and Apple mobile devices. There are also dedicated apps for both iOS and Android letting you control the speakers.

The support of both wireless audio platforms isn't exactly new for Sony, as the company rolled out the SA-NS500 late last year with dual format support. Still, it's encouraging to see Sony expand its support to two new models in 2012, making the speakers much more compelling.

The two models are differ mostly in size, with the SA-N310 as the small HomeShare speaker and the SA-N410 as the larger model. Both have built-in Wi-Fi and have built-in support for streaming directly from Pandora and Slacker. Sony's HomeShare speakers also feature a PartyStream mode, which allows you to sync multiple HomeShare speakers. The larger SA-N410 also has a built-in subwoofer for better bass performance.

The SA-N410 and SA-N310 will both be available this summer. No pricing was announced for either model.