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Amazon Echo / Dot and Sonos Integration

  • 14 September 2016
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190 replies

P
Userlevel 3
Badge +2

When I say Sonos control Alexa I mean the Sonos application control Alexa. So if you want to play music you can actually group and play to Alexas just as if they were Sonos. Therefore Sonos becomes Alexas multiroom audio controller.

Ah got it. This might be possible now that Sonos can use WIFI as the backend mesh network. Guess they would need their code to run on the eco's. Interesting idea, but at the same time that could take sales away from sonos. You would then only need one sonos speaker and them could use eco every where else.
Chris
Userlevel 7
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They don't have the processing power to run Sonos software locally on the DOT. There would have to be a way for Amazon to process in the cloud and stream the audio only to the DOT. Sonos has always integrated with the home wifi (even with bridge device connected to router they were always on the same network).

I don't buy the idea that stand alone Echo devices would cut into Sonos sales. Yes you may have someone who just uses a regular echo and doesn't buy a Play:1 or who uses a Dot and avoids having to buy a Connect. So yes you would lose sales there. But when those people purchased those entry level Echo devices..... you just put Sonos capability into probably 10 million homes. When those people decide to go buy a more critical listening speaker where do they then go (Bose....Samsung....Denon) .... they go out and start buying Sonos units. So you may lose several hundered thousand units sold where people didn't buy a Play:1 or Connect. You potentially added millions of units in sales to people who would never have joined the Sonos echosystem.
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Chris
Userlevel 7
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But of note: I don't see it happening.
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U
One core feature that Echo does not have today but will need to have to support the Sonos integration is the ability to control a Dot or Echo in a given room from a different Dot or Echo in a different room. The ability to direct where you want music to play is a critical foundation step and I would not be surprised if it is released as a new Amazon Echo feature at some point ahead of the release of the full Sonos integration.

I doubt if there is a way for Echos to play in sync with each other let alone with Sonos speakers. I don't think that is on the roadmap because I don't think the Amazon hardware can handle it. It might be possible to kick off something on an Echo from the Sonos app if that was seen to be a worthwhile feature but I think it will always be an isolated speaker. I don't see any way an Echo can participate in any kind of group.
Local music library with carefully constructed playlists - no shuffling!, Integration with Homeseer Automation, No touch screen devices, No streaming services, No Apple products ever
Chris
Userlevel 7
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There would certainly be major challenges to sync. A perfect sync probably would be unattainable.
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P
Userlevel 3
Badge +2
This just in:
Sonos’ new CEO wants its speakers to work with Alexa, Google, and ‘all the services that matter'
https://goo.gl/0hUlW8
G
Badge +1

When I say Sonos control Alexa I mean the Sonos application control Alexa. So if you want to play music you can actually group and play to Alexas just as if they were Sonos. Therefore Sonos becomes Alexas multiroom audio controller.

Ah got it. This might be possible now that Sonos can use WIFI as the backend mesh network. Guess they would need their code to run on the eco's. Interesting idea, but at the same time that could take sales away from sonos. You would then only need one sonos speaker and them could use eco every where else.

In terms of the Dot, the sound quality isn't good enough for Sonos to lose sales to it.

If anything, I see it like Chris mentions. That if someone has a Dot, and they learn that they can integrate it with Sonos, it might increase sales for Sonos.

Plus, throw in the cost difference, Amazon would have to sell a ton of Dots to be the equivalent of Sonos speakers. Something like sell 4 to 8 Dots to be the equivalent to selling 1 Sonos speaker.
U
This just in:
Sonos’ new CEO wants its speakers to work with Alexa, Google, and ‘all the services that matter'
https://goo.gl/0hUlW8

Great sentiment but it is incompatible with some of Sonos' most entrenched policies such as forcing people to use the latest firmware to maintain support while failing to acknowledge the unintended consequences of changing or deprecating certain features. The Contol4 situation is an early indication that Sonos does not currently have the mindset needed to successfully maintain deep integration commitments. I wonder if they will really be able to embrace the level of change required to pull this off?
Local music library with carefully constructed playlists - no shuffling!, Integration with Homeseer Automation, No touch screen devices, No streaming services, No Apple products ever
jgatie


Great sentiment but it is incompatible with some of Sonos' most entrenched policies such as forcing people to use the latest firmware to maintain support while failing to acknowledge the unintended consequences of changing or deprecating certain features. The Contol4 situation is an early indication that Sonos does not currently have the mindset needed to successfully maintain deep integration commitments. I wonder if they will really be able to embrace the level of change required to pull this off?

Oh jeez.



Time for a new tune.
chicks
Wow, great announcement! Predictably, it took only minutes for the whining to commence, lol.
U
Wow, great announcement! Predictably, it took only minutes for the whining to commence, lol.

You call it whining, I call it speculation. Taking everything at face value makes for pretty dull discussion.
Local music library with carefully constructed playlists - no shuffling!, Integration with Homeseer Automation, No touch screen devices, No streaming services, No Apple products ever
jgatie

You call it whining, I call it speculation. Taking everything at face value makes for pretty dull discussion.

Nope, when its the same lame retort, time after time, no matter the circumstances, it's whining. You have a specific complaint, you apply it to everything, and you beat it into shoeleather. Own it.
E
Userlevel 1
Badge +1
Well, SONOS new CEO had a front row seat for the rise and fall of BlackBerry. He wasn't in charge, but he was high enough up the food chain to see the mistakes being made. It would be interesting to know what his views were at the time on RIM's strategy. Since he jumped ship to SONOS in '12, I'm guessing he was not a fan of the direction RIM had been heading. He has to be thinking that Alexa and the Echo/Dot look to SONOS a whole lot like the iPhone looked to BlackBerry. BlackBerry failed to pivot as people completely changed how they used their phone. I doubt he will make a similar mistake with SONOS. Voice will completely change how most people use multi-room audio. He is going to force innovation at SONOS to keep up with this change or be fired trying - count on it.
Chris
Userlevel 7
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Above mentions dot and doesn't have sonic ability to compete with Sonos. I meant in previous posts it is Connect alternative (it has audio out). Such as is Google audio dongle direct competitor.
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Insertusernamehere
The Contol4 situation is an early indication that Sonos does not currently have the mindset needed to successfully maintain deep integration commitments. I wonder if they will really be able to embrace the level of change required to pull this off?

Did the switch get flipped with the new CEO or do they sill not have any #$@ to give?
E
Userlevel 1
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Based on the leaked memo, I'd say the switch is flipped. From the memo:

"We must challenge ourselves to stay ahead of the curve. Being great doesn’t always require being first, but when it comes to the home music experience, we must be the pioneer. More companies are jumping into our space because they see the big opportunity ahead. What got us here won’t alone get us through the next phase."
"First, we must have a bias towards action."
"Second, we must innovate boldly."

I'm sensing a theme toward moving more quickly.
Insertusernamehere
Based on the leaked memo, I'd say the switch is flipped. From the memo:

"We must challenge ourselves to stay ahead of the curve. Being great doesn’t always require being first, but when it comes to the home music experience, we must be the pioneer. More companies are jumping into our space because they see the big opportunity ahead. What got us here won’t alone get us through the next phase."
"First, we must have a bias towards action."
"Second, we must innovate boldly."

I'm sensing a theme toward moving more quickly.

Hopefully innovating boldly yields some awesome new products and features (not just Alexa or HDMI on playbar etc)
E
Userlevel 1
Badge +1
Alexa, Cortana, Siri, HDMI, TruePlay on Andriod, Play 3 refresh, Outdoor, IoT, and on and on...
I guess that is why picking the right CEO to set priorities is so important. There are not enough good engineers and coders to do all this (except at google). Hopefully Spence is the right guy. I think his life experience makes him an ideal pick for the job.
S
Seems, though, that Sonos are not in the driving seat. Alexa and Sonos integration works fine in the US but nowhere else which suggests that whilst Sonos have done everything they need to do to make it work Amazon wont release it for use elsewhere. That's an interesting relationship. Personally, for me Sonos is the best option for piping music around my home and I wont be looking to replace it anytime soon but if Google gives me voice control of Sonos in the UK before Amazon then my Amazon echos will go straight into the bin.
Chris
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
I'm not sure what you are talking about. There is no current native integration in US or elsewhere. It is in development.
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S
Perhaps I'm misunderstanding the content of these comments but then 'native integration' is a somewhat vague term.
My only interest is to be able to control sonos via voice commands to the Alexa service. This works in the US but not elsewhere (well actually, can be made to work in the UK but via a somewhat convoluted process). Personally, I can't see why Sonos would want to incorporate the puny Amazon speakers into their music service offering.
jgatie
I'm afraid you are misunderstanding a lot.

1) There is no current Alexa integration. Anything which does exist is in development.

2) Echo is not US only, it was made available in the UK and Germany last fall, with more countries to come.

3) The "puny Amazon speakers" have no bearing on the decision, for they aren't being "incorporated" into playback at all. Playback will be via Sonos' high quality devices, the Alexa devices are for voice input only.
Chris
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
I do t understand why he keeps saying we are able to control Sonos via Alexa in US. That capability is being developed and available currently nowhere.
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chicks
I do t understand why he keeps saying we are able to control Sonos via Alexa in US. That capability is being developed and available currently nowhere.

Must be one of those "alternative facts" we are getting all to often these days.
N
Userlevel 2
Badge +3
I do t understand why he keeps saying we are able to control Sonos via Alexa in US. That capability is being developed and available currently nowhere.

It's not official support but I have (limited) control of Sonos by Alexa via SmartThings. It's primitive though and I'm eagerly awaiting the official support from Sonos. I have one Echo and seven Dots ready and willing ...
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