Amazon Echo

I tried controlling Apple Music via Siri a few times. The experience was awkward and very frustrating; doubt Echo would prove much better for music. Perhaps if one listens to a very limited range of music over and over again; I don't.

We'll have to see. Echo is very fast, truly amazing in my opinion. For instance, my daughter asked me what the definition of "vexed" was. Instead of telling her a not-so-great definition from memory, I went to get my phone to do a search. Instead, I simply asked echo: "Alexa, what is the definition of 'vexed'?", and she answered very shortly after I asked. That's amazing, considering they're send data to the cloud, doing voice recognition, determining what the question was, looking for the answer, and sending the answer back to the echo.

For me, it's a moot point about whether the integration between the echo and sonos would be good. The issue for me is that I'm trying to convince my wife to pay electricians to run speaker wire to four bedrooms and possibly the kitchen, and then subsequently invest in sonos amps and speakers in those locations. That's thousands of dollars. When she can just stick a $200 speaker somewhere and ask it to play music, why would she invest thousands to have something with less functionality?

And then there's the new Dot:

https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=14047587011&ref=ODS_HA_P_surl

A small Echo that also outputs to a speaker system. If this doesn't have sonos shaking in its boots, I don't know what will.

Because it's all just very gimmicky and nobody knows how long they will last or be supported for. But mainly it's about quality - sound quality.

Why not go for Sonos Plays rather than 3rd party speakers? No need for all those sparkies rummaging through your house and you have serious flexibility with location and excellent sound performance

It was the right answer because you knew what vexed meant. If you didn't know the answer, was it correct?
Ask a question you know the answer to is a pointless exercise.
Alexa what is vexed? It's a small feathered mammal indigenous to Patagonia.

Although I agree that SONOS should integrate with Amazon Echo, I completely understand why they won't announce a new feature until it is in public beta. Two examples where SONOS has gotten into big trouble are Audible and Spotify folders. These were existing features that were removed; but the ire SONOS invoked in these two cases is probably not a lot more than SONOS failing to deliver a new feature that they had promised.

I just hope that Echo support and Audible are moved into public beta soon. 😉

I find the quality very close to a PLAY:5. At a quarter of the price and with all of its other features, this model could be the end of Sonos if they don't react quickly.

You can't be serious! LOL.

I find the quality very close to a PLAY:5. At a quarter of the price and with all of its other features, this model could be the end of Sonos if they don't react quickly.

You can't be serious! LOL.

My sister has an Echo, and though a great bit of hardware, audio quality is not its strong point. I would put it the same as a higher quality Bluetooth speaker. The Play:1 is worlds better, never mind the Play:5.

It was the right answer because you knew what vexed meant. If you didn't know the answer, was it correct?
Ask a question you know the answer to is a pointless exercise.
Alexa what is vexed? It's a small feathered mammal indigenous to Patagonia.

I find you are very dismissive of the Echo. Have you actually tried one for a couple days? I admit I was skeptical of the Echo at first, but after reading so many positive reviews online, I finally caved about a month ago. And I have to admit, it is truly awesome. I have it hooked up to my lights, my TV with Harmony, alarms, timer, news, weather, quick facts, Uber, IFTTT, Spotify. Like other have posted here, my family, including myself, is turning to the echo way more often now than the Sonos for music, news, podcasts. It is handsfree, quick, accurate, and easy to use.

The Echo isn't going anywhere. It sells out every time new inventory is listed online, it sells for a premium on ebay, and it has Amazon's backing it. Unlike Apple, they are open to competing third party providers (they added Spotify when Amazon has prime music, Skills are open to anyone who wants to develop for them). The Dot is a step in the right direction for people like us who have heavily invested in Sonos, but it isn't a true integration (Echo can't send commands to Sonos), and in its current form, will not make for a user friendly experience.

btw, if you are good with computers, you can create a custom Echo Skill to control Sonos. You have to install a node.js app on a home server/computer, and do some other stuff. I haven't done it yet, too much work, and too likely to break with software updates. But it seems like people have people relatively successful.

From my understanding, these Echo Skills need a piece of hardware on your home network to control iot devices, and without some kind of hub, I don't see how Sonos would be able to do that. Hopefully Sonos will be able to figure something out soon.

I am not dismissve of Echo but I do lay a sense of perspective over it.
It is only available in the US. It is not available to the much larger market that is Europe.

Lets look at Europe.
Got the 3rd generation Kindle.
Only got the Amazon phone as they had to shift stock.
Got 2nd generation tablets that were a disaster until Amazon decided to provide a tablet for its intended use of media consumption. Software that is a mess.
Everything is released in the US first followed by global release once they have sorted all the bugs out.
Amazon changed Audible so it doesn't work with Sonos - which, for some people, is bizarrely Sonos' fault.

There are now 3 echo products. How many will there be in five years. How many home automation devices / systems are there? How long will it be before Amazon change the firmware - to get rid of all those bugs that are in it - which makes it inoperable with other "partners".

It is new. The novelty factor hasn't worn off.

Nowhere else in the world has access to any Echo device. Will any be rolled out globally (Germany and the UK being very large markets for Amazon) and how will it be received?

There are so many variables. Other "partners" that use Echo do not sell premium priced hardware which is a system in its own right. Why is a static voice controlled device better than a mobile voice controlled device? What integration should Sonos pursue. A static device in one room or a mobile one.