Two questions about the impending support of Google Assistant for Sonos One

  • 22 July 2018
  • 5 replies
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1. Will you be able to use the Alexa and Google assistants at the same time based simply on the wake word you use or will you only be able to use one at a time.
I assume if you can only activate one at a time you would choose which one to be activate through the Sonos app.

2. With Alexa on the Sonos One you are prevented from making wifi calls the way you can with the Amazon Echo. When Google Assistant support finally arrives will you be able to make wifi calls using it the same you can with the Google Home?

It wold be nice if someone from Sonos would reply even if it was just to say that we don't have answers to those questions yet.

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https://www.wired.com/story/sonos-nick-millington-exclusive-interview/
This is an interesting article that suggests they may co-exist. Nick is quoted as saying ""We're working with Google Assistant alongside Alexa and nobody's ever really thought about how to get those things to coexist before," Millington says. "What does it even mean to ask Alexa to 'order an Uber' and then ask Google, 'When's my Uber going to be here?' We're starting to think through a bunch of those types of issues. "
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I'm not a Sonos employee, but...

1. there have been many signs that Sonos wants to be able to have both assistants active and usable at the same time, activating based on the wake word you give. Gryphaea's link above indicates that again. At this point I'd be surprised if this wasn't how it works once it comes to be.

2. No idea on this. Amazon currently limits calling to between their own devices, likely because they can maintain that call within their own servers, without the cost or hassle of the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Google Assistant allows calling anyone, even businesses, which I would imagine leverages their Google Voice service, something that has been around for a while and has other integrations with phone service and calling. I would be surprised if you couldn't place calls with Google Assistant through Sonos, but just don't know for sure. Nothing has been indicated at this point.
It stands to reason that when Google and Amazon coexist on the same device, Sonos, the two services are likely to want to persuade you to use their services over the other by having more and better features available. So, I'd argue that desired voice features, with either service, that are currently missing on Sonos will gain a higher priority once competition is much more open than previously (and as/if sales of Sonos products increase).

Put another way, I'm less considered about the original feature set with Google integration, and more positive that it's happening at all. The fact that it's happening means features will come, and faster, as I see it.