Alexa-Sonos

Sorry the original press release said 'early 2017' which is why i went ahead and spent £2000 on a set of speakers at Christmas. As its basically nearly mid 2017 is this now not the case?

Thanks

Scott Readman

Actually, it said nothing about "early":

These new voice capabilities will be delivered in a software update that will work with new and previously purchased Sonos and Alexa-enabled devices such as Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Amazon Tap, and Amazon Fire TV. The companies will begin rolling out the experience through an invite-only beta test later this year, with general availability in 2017.

http://press-us.sonos.com/134980-sonos-with-partners-and-industry-leaders-ushers-in-new-era-of-connected-home-listening

Sorry the original press release said 'early 2017' which is why i went ahead and spent £2000 on a set of speakers at Christmas. As its basically nearly mid 2017 is this now not the case?

Thanks

Scott Readman

Actually, it said nothing about "early":

These new voice capabilities will be delivered in a software update that will work with new and previously purchased Sonos and Alexa-enabled devices such as Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Amazon Tap, and Amazon Fire TV. The companies will begin rolling out the experience through an invite-only beta test later this year, with general availability in 2017.

http://press-us.sonos.com/134980-sonos-with-partners-and-industry-leaders-ushers-in-new-era-of-connected-home-listening

Who are you and why are you answering in such a rude manner? The statement released to most online media specifically stated "early":

"This functionality will first be available with Amazon Echo speakers, but in early 2017, it will extend to all Alexa devices — including the Tap and Dot. That means that you’ll be able to add voice control to your Sonos setup without breaking the bank."

Can i get a polite answer from Sonos please? ?

Whatever the online media stated, the official Sonos press release is linked above and does not say "early". However, it is not surprising that some media folks may have assumed early 2017 because of the announced late 2016 private beta, and the usual timing of Sonos releases. I made the same mistake when discussing it here. Now it seems this release requires much more development time, as well as cooperation with Amazon, and is not following the typical timeline. Hence Sonos' official press release says nothing about "early 2017".

As to "answering in such a rude manner", I find nothing rude about my statement. It may disagree with your statement and provide an official link to back it up, but it was hardly rude.

It is not mid 2017 now

Can i get a polite answer from Sonos please? ?

Not likely to get an answer from a Sonos employee, only those who play them on the Internet. Lol

Ive read some news reports of demos that Sonos has done of internal builds. Based on the reports it sounds like they have a ways to go before it is ready.

Their new CEO has acknowledged development is too slow FWIW, maybe it will come sooner.

Hi folks,

We haven't made an update here in a while because we don't have an exact timeline we can share just yet. We're working to make voice control available on Sonos later this year. There should be a beta program before then, and we'll be sure to let you all know when we have a date for that, stay tuned.

I'd like to believe the integration is coming soon, but I'm guessing it will be much later in the year if it happens this year at all. I don't understand the ins and outs of the technology, but I do know that in Aug 2015 Audible stopped working with Sonos and though Sonos said they were working on it, it still hasn't been fixed. They recently announced it should be back by summer - fingers crossed. But that it has taken almost 2 years to fix the issue and add Audible integration back in has led me to believe that (a) the tech is way more complicated than I realized and (b) updates and changes aren't likely to come quickly.

I'm curious to see what the Alexa integration actually means. I can't tell if it's simply voice control (cool, but not a game changer) or if it will play Alexa through Sonos (which would then mean users could play *anything* on Sonos because they could connect their phones to Alexa via bluetooth and then play from through Sonos (phone -> Alexa -> Sonos). Right now I'm unbelievably frustrated by Sonos's limitations in that department.

Google Home launches April 6th in UK.
This may have delayed things as ideally sonos needs to ensure it can work with both, and their development will be cheaper/cleaner if done together from the start.
Maybe sonos will need to make a statement soon about working with google home.....the clock is ticking 😉