Amazon Echo / Dot and Sonos Integration

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.

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.

But of note: I don't see it happening.

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.

There would certainly be major challenges to sync. A perfect sync probably would be unattainable.

This just in:
Sonos’ new CEO wants its speakers to work with Alexa, Google, and ‘all the services that matter'
https://goo.gl/0hUlW8

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.

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?

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.

Wow, great announcement! Predictably, it took only minutes for the whining to commence, lol.