According to the article I read....
"The Alexa feature will be a free software upgrade for existing Sonos hardware. A private beta later this year will be expanded to public release early in 2017."
My question... HOW DO I GET ON THE BETA?
I have four Play 1 and a Play 3 setup thru my house (living room and two betdrooms).
I'd love to be able to control the music for my Sonos system thru my Alexa (and DOT) system.
Anyone know how to get on these betas?
TIA
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>Bwahahahahaha! So they partner up with someone you previously called their competition and you call it "getting left behind"?
>Seems to me if you are in cahoots with the #1 Voice Control system in the world, you aren't getting left behind when it comes to voice control.
You may have a slight misunderstanding of what partnerships mean in a business context.
No, I assure you I understand. Sonos is leveraging the #1 Voice Control technology in the world instead of doing it in house. That saves them money, and keeps them in the forefront of a technology which is not their specialty. That is anything besides "left behind".
And by the way, Sonos has been a partner of Amazon AWS division for years and years. I suppose that was another case of the "industry leaving them behind" (except it happened way back when before you think they started being left behind)?
YMMV ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
R
Exactly who in "the industry" is leaving Sonos behind? Because last time I checked, Sonos is the top seller, with the most supported music services, with the best rankings on Amazon, and is the only one to announce support for voice control is coming soon. They've also announced direct streaming support which uses WiFi instead of the outdated AirPlay, or Band-aid Bluetooth method used by competitors. So in what particular area of the market does this symbolize being "left behind"?
Even with direct integration between Sonos and Alexa you will still need Homeseer to control non-voice triggers in your setup like muting the music when the phone rings and things like that. Also it is not clear how much support there will be in the direct integration for playing things from your local library. It still might require something like Homeseer to do what you want with that.
>Trying to help at what?
"improve our chances to get in on the private beta", which would help the software guys at Sonos make a better product.
R
Well, I know if I was picking beta candidates, the first guy I pick would the one asking why he should "stick with Sonos while the industry is leaving them behind." He's be the very first in line! :D
I think you might have a "slight misunderstanding" how this beta thing works.
Top seller? you have access to unit sales and revenue for all of those devices, sounds like a lot of internet puffery to me.
>So in what particular area of the market does this symbolize being "left behind"?
I would say Voice Command of Music, they are behind Apple and Amazon, without even mentioning Google's head start in voice.
R
B&W, Devialet, McIntosh? Not Sonos' market at all. Those are audiophile brands sold in boutique shops. Sonos is sold at Target.
As to the rest? Sonos' market is multi-room, whole house audio. Apple doesn't make anything close to that market, and their Airplay sucks for multi-room. Amazon also doesn't make one, seems to be pushing the Dot use for as a voice control hub rather than the speaker functionality, and has partnered up with Sonos for multi-room (hardly competition). Google may be the only competition, but the Chromecast Audio needs it's own speakers and doesn't have voice control.
I know you are probably here to troll, but even so, could you have used a little better bait?
Echo Dot works very well with Play 5 ...you can tell play ???? on Spotify ...it works great . This guys just need to implement so it works on your local network so you dont have to hookup Echo to speaker with audio cable.
This guy doesn't need to do it ... Sonos and Amazon are working on it directly. He's just a little ahead on his implementation
It works. I wish Alexa supported Spotify, too...
Soon...
The public beta will be announced here under the announcements section.
Private beta's are selected by the Sonos beta team - no idea who and why they pick.
Private beta's are selected by the Sonos beta team - no idea who and why they pick.
Thanks Chris
So this is my current scenario: 3 x Sonos 5 (normally in separate rooms except for special occasions), and a number of Dot Echos (currently 2 set up, idea was one for each room in the house, but I'm thinking of selling off some of them, which would be a good deed, since they don't trade in Denmark (yet)).
With HomeSeer I can move the devices freely around (WiFi connected), but, currently, HomeSeer is limited to the following commands for Sonos: Play, Stop, Pause, Prev*), Next*), Shuffle*), Repeat*), Volume Down, Volume Up, Mute, Loudness, Balance Left**), Balance Right**).
😉 = works only when Sonos is playing a playlist, which has to be initiated through the Sonos Controller App
**) = works only when stereo paired
So at the moment I cannot select "Play [playlist | tune | artist] from Spotify", nor "Play [radio station] from TuneIn", only through the Sonos Controller App. Bosnia is right - seems only doable when using an audio cable (bypassing HomeSeer), hence calling for a Echo Dot per Sonos device - plus you can only operate the Sonos via Alexa, if you are in the same room, i.e., using that specific Echo Dot.
Ideally, each Sonos device should have a name recognized by Alexa to enable Alexa commands from any Echo Dot device.
upstatemike is right, too - to trigger the Sonos from elsewhere (other than Echo Dot), you need some kind of controller like HomeSeer. Since I need that for a lot of other purposes, that's fine. The HomeSeer Skill set for Echo Dot/Alexa works just fine - it is actually because of a limitation in the HomeSeer control plug-in for Sonos that I can't do more.
Definitely exiting times to live in!
/Per
With HomeSeer I can move the devices freely around (WiFi connected), but, currently, HomeSeer is limited to the following commands for Sonos: Play, Stop, Pause, Prev*), Next*), Shuffle*), Repeat*), Volume Down, Volume Up, Mute, Loudness, Balance Left**), Balance Right**).
😉 = works only when Sonos is playing a playlist, which has to be initiated through the Sonos Controller App
**) = works only when stereo paired
So at the moment I cannot select "Play [playlist | tune | artist] from Spotify", nor "Play [radio station] from TuneIn", only through the Sonos Controller App. Bosnia is right - seems only doable when using an audio cable (bypassing HomeSeer), hence calling for a Echo Dot per Sonos device - plus you can only operate the Sonos via Alexa, if you are in the same room, i.e., using that specific Echo Dot.
Ideally, each Sonos device should have a name recognized by Alexa to enable Alexa commands from any Echo Dot device.
upstatemike is right, too - to trigger the Sonos from elsewhere (other than Echo Dot), you need some kind of controller like HomeSeer. Since I need that for a lot of other purposes, that's fine. The HomeSeer Skill set for Echo Dot/Alexa works just fine - it is actually because of a limitation in the HomeSeer control plug-in for Sonos that I can't do more.
Definitely exiting times to live in!
/Per
I was notified that the beta was available and set it up immediately. Set up is quite easy.
It works. I wish Alexa supported Spotify, too...
It works. I wish Alexa supported Spotify, too...
Despite the "expert friendliness" of HomeSeer, I wouldn't want to leave it out for a split second - it's simply an excellent way to get things done exactly the way you want.
One thing I hope the direct integration will do is to enable substitution of the Echo Dot loudspeaker, much the way you can do via BlueTooth.
Also, I would be looking forward to a Skill set enabling a command like "Alexa! Play [music] from Spotify on Sonos!" or "Alexa! Play [radio station] from TuneIn on Sonos!" (or the equivalent, "Alexa! Ask Sonos to play [xxx] from [yyy]!"
With the current setup, I'm limited to stuff like "Alexa! Turn Sonos on!" and "Alexa! Turn Sonos off!" Or, at least that's where I am right now... 🙂
One thing I hope the direct integration will do is to enable substitution of the Echo Dot loudspeaker, much the way you can do via BlueTooth.
Also, I would be looking forward to a Skill set enabling a command like "Alexa! Play [music] from Spotify on Sonos!" or "Alexa! Play [radio station] from TuneIn on Sonos!" (or the equivalent, "Alexa! Ask Sonos to play [xxx] from [yyy]!"
With the current setup, I'm limited to stuff like "Alexa! Turn Sonos on!" and "Alexa! Turn Sonos off!" Or, at least that's where I am right now... 🙂
Yes , it works I love the idea of controling 40% of apliances via Alexa ....after Sonos , nest , hue ...next is washer and dryer ......
I guess this is our best bet on what it will be like: http://venturebeat.com/2016/08/31/amazon-alexa-sonos-guide/
I've been hacking along to get the Alexa/HomeSeer to do what I want with my Sonos devices, but it's tedious, so I'm looking forward to this direct integration. The HomeSeer/Alexa integration itself is rather straight-forward - update the HomeSeer server to the latest SW level and then enable the HomeSeer (development) Skill for Alexa.
Looking forward to the beta -
Yours
Per Hertz
I've been hacking along to get the Alexa/HomeSeer to do what I want with my Sonos devices, but it's tedious, so I'm looking forward to this direct integration. The HomeSeer/Alexa integration itself is rather straight-forward - update the HomeSeer server to the latest SW level and then enable the HomeSeer (development) Skill for Alexa.
Looking forward to the beta -
Yours
Per Hertz
The Press Conference stated that both new and previously purchased Sonos devices will work with the Alexa/Echo integration.
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.
We don't know how the whole Sonos/Alexa integration is going to work or look.
We would assume that it is very unlikely that Sonos would render any hardware obsolete for those who want to use Alexa as that would be completely contrary to how they operate.
Well bridge isn't a player so that wouldn't apply. But it should work same for amp and connect just as stand alone speakers.
Does anyone know if the Alexa support will extend to the old Connect, Connect Amp and Bridge devises?
Im ready to test ...Yesterday I purchased the Amazon Echo Dot ...
Pick me , pick me.....
Pick me , pick me.....
you are hilarious, now you presuppose to know how I think?
:o)
alright, I'm outtie :)
Well, you said Sonos' partnership with Amazon was a signal of them being left behind. I assume that since you said "being" left behind that it is a recent thing. So I pointed out that Sonos has been partnered with Amazon for many years, and they weren't being "left behind" then.
> (except it happened way back when before you think they started being left behind)?
you are hilarious, now you presuppose to know how I think?
:o)
alright, I'm outtie 🙂
you are hilarious, now you presuppose to know how I think?
:o)
alright, I'm outtie 🙂
Bwahahahahaha! So they partner up with someone you previously called their competition and you call it "getting left behind"? Seems to me if you are in cahoots with the #1 Voice Control system in the world, you aren't getting left behind when it comes to voice control.
anything we can do to improve our chances to get in on the private beta? I will literally buy hardware for this...
I would think you will need sonos registered kit first, then being active on here probably helps, as it's a forum of owners & testers, why go elsewhere?
or fanboys and culturalists as recently suggested in the press ;O)
or fanboys and culturalists as recently suggested in the press ;O)
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