Alexa integration for SONOS

I hope they will not push any new privacy policy out to the customers in the countries where Alexa doesnt work. I would rather bury my units in the ground before starting to share any info at all for no reason.

There is a big difference between making a product obsolete, not working under any circumstance, and a new privacy policy with a software upgrade.

Just sharing....

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/28/sonos-looks-ready-to-launch-amazon-alexa-controlled-smart-speaker.html

Alexa was just updated to allow one Echo device to control music on another.

I've commanded the Dot in my LR,
"Alexa, play some jazz in kitchen!" Done.
"Alexa, volume 5 in kitchen!" Done.
"Alexa, what's playing in kitchen?". "This is All Blues by Miles Davis"... This response was on Dot, while music played uninterrupted on the kitchen Echo.

Playing to Sonos speakers has got to be very, very close. Makes me wonder, though, whether it will initially be limited to music services available via Alexa...

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/alexas-new-music-feature-makes-your-speakers-work-like-sonos/

BTW, playing the same source on both devices is way out of synch, don't know if there's a way to synch them.

Alexa was just updated to allow one Echo device to control music on another.

I've commanded the Dot in my LR,
"Alexa, play some jazz in kitchen!" Done.
"Alexa, volume 5 in kitchen!" Done.
"Alexa, what's playing in kitchen?". "This is All Blues by Miles Davis"... This response was on Dot, while music played uninterrupted on the kitchen Echo.

Playing to Sonos speakers has got to be very, very close. Makes me wonder, though, whether it will initially be limited to music services available via Alexa...

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/alexas-new-music-feature-makes-your-speakers-work-like-sonos/

BTW, playing the same source on both devices is way out of synch, don't know if there's a way to synch them.

The article says this does not work with volume commands but it looks like volume changes worked for you? Can you confirm?

This is major news for me because it now permits a scenario where Dots in different rooms can control another Dot connected to a multi-zone amp. In other words I can control synced music in a group of rooms from a Dot in any of the rooms in the group (or any other Echo in the house.)

Yep, volume control worked fine for me. No idea why they said it wasn't working. My Echo's firmware was updated a day or two ago, probably with this new functionality.

Just make sure to give the Dots different, distinctive names.

Just tested and volume worked fine for me as well. This is very cool!

Oddly, there's no mention of this at Amazon's Alexa site. Will they joint announce with Sonos in a couple of days?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201707210

Another interesting development on this topic:

https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/29/16219474/sonos-voice-assisted-speaker-event

Just found the "Audio Groups" section under settings in the Alexa app. I now have 3 Echos grouped to play in sync. Very cool.

Just found the "Audio Groups" section under settings in the Alexa app. I now have 3 Echos grouped to play in sync. Very cool.

Whoa! That wasn't there yesterday, I swear! Sonos Connect sales have just been seriously damaged by $50 (or less) Dots.

This has not hit any of the tech news sites yet. You heard it first here, folks! I'm testing it too, works great.

Volume control works for me and I Like the new group audio, Its about time..., but It is limited to Amazon music and spotify etc... I prefer my sonos with options for apple music as well as amazon music. I have Sonos in all my rooms and my garage so waiting for the sonos integration.

Used an Echo Show grouped with 2 Echos. The Show displayed the lyrics of the song as it played and when I used the attention word to issue another command the music muted on that Echo only while the rest of the group kept playing. In other words everything works intuitively and behaves exactly how I want it to. Very impressed!

Just found the "Audio Groups" section under settings in the Alexa app. I now have 3 Echos grouped to play in sync. Very cool.

Thanks for sharing.... cool

The news finally hit the wires: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170829005421/en/%E2%80%9CAlexa-Play-Music-Everywhere%E2%80%9D

Note: "Soon, this ability will be extended to control multi-room music on other connected speakers using simply your voice."

Really makes me think Sonos integration will initially be limited to sevices available via Alexa...

“Alexa set the standard for voice in smart homes, so working with Amazon to bring voice control to Sonos for the first time was an obvious choice,” said Antoine Leblond, VP of Software, Sonos. “This has been a close collaboration from the beginning as we’ve worked together to combine the magic of Alexa with the seamless multi-room audio capabilities that Sonos pioneered. We’re proud of the work we’ve done together as Amazon’s first multi-room partner – all you’ll need is an Alexa-enabled device and playing music out loud on Sonos will be as easy as saying ‘Alexa, play music in the living room.’”

https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/alexa/post/7c9343ce-425b-4baa-ae63-49c36afb5341/giving-device-makers-more-ways-to-bring-voice-forward-music-experiences-to-their-products

The new Connected Speaker API has just been opened for "developer preview" today. So, it's Amazon we've been waiting on this past year, not Sonos... Going to be more and more difficult for Sonos to differentiate itself from the pack...

Connected Speaker APIs
The Connected Speaker APIs, available in developer preview today, enable device makers to connect their cloud-based services to AVS. This means that customers can ask Alexa to play music on their favorite wireless or multi-room speakers including brands like Sonos, Sound United, Bose, and Samsung. With the Connected Speaker APIs, device makers can leverage their own proprietary or licensed multi-room synchronization protocols to provide consumers multi-room music experiences that can be controlled by Alexa-enabled devices like the Echo Dot.

Multi-Room Music SDK
For those device makers without their own multi-room music solutions, the AVS Multi-Room Music SDK extends the new synchronized music capability from today’s Echo Family of Devices announcement to third-party device makers, enabling customers to group multiple Amazon Echo and other third-party Alexa-enabled products together for “whole home” music experiences. The SDK is available to device makers building Alexa-enabled products early next year.

So I will be able to mix my Echos with other brands of speakers that adopt the AVS Multi-Room SDK when setting up my synced speaker groups but cannot mix Echos with Sonos, Bose, etc, because they use their own proprietary syncing.

Any chance Sonos will add AVS sync as an addition or optional alternative?

I imagine Sonos, Denon, Samsung, Bose, etc have all been under an NDA with Amazon. Should be a flood of news from all of them very soon, as they try to differentiate themselves from the other guys.

I have Amazon Echo, Sonos and Spotify prmeium and its a pitty I cant control them with voice activation. Can wait for the release to be rolled out. So far, just saw this video. But no instructions on how to use it.
https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/sonos-adds-spotify-amazon-alexa/

I was hoping last year's announcement would mean that existing Sonos devices would be Alexa-enabled with a software update. It appears now that one would have to replace all existing Sonos devices with the new Sonos One. 😞

I was hoping last year's announcement would mean that existing Sonos devices would be Alexa-enabled with a software update. It appears now that one would have to replace all existing Sonos devices with the new Sonos One. :(

My system works perfectly well with Alexa without having to buy new hardware

I was hoping last year's announcement would mean that existing Sonos devices would be Alexa-enabled with a software update. It appears now that one would have to replace all existing Sonos devices with the new Sonos One. :(

My system works perfectly well with Alexa without having to buy new hardware
You do need hardware that has Alexa built-in. Such as the Amazon Echo Dot. Most Sonos players don't have microphones, so no amount of software updating is going to make them suddenly able to listen to your conversations.

Just read that the Alexa and Sonos integration was released. But it isnt integrated with Spotify. REALY?

Just read that the Alexa and Sonos integration was released. But it isnt integrated with Spotify. REALY?
It isn't yet, but it will be. We're working with Alexa and Spotify on it right now. We'll make sure everyone knows when it's live.