Amazon Echo controller

Vague, as in a lot of talk but nothing concrete. No date, no details, no results.

If you can tell me the exact release date, the features they're going to offer or even something showing us the progress to date, I'd love to see it. Point me to an article or the CEO interviews where they give the details.

"The implementation is currently being worked on" is the definition of a vague answer.

You didn't say "vague dates", "vague features" or "vague progress reports", you said "vague promises".

Sonos promised Echo/Alexa voice control of all Sonos devices currently or formerly sold. They promised it by 2017.

Nothing vague about that. The fact they are not giving specific dates, features, or progress reports are not "vague promises", because they never promised you would get specific dates, features, or progress reports. Also, if you think you are going to get them, you are going to be quite disappointed. It is Sonos' policy to not discuss specific dates, features, or progress reports, and they aren't going to change that.

The simple fact is, they release things when the testing merits it, not when the calendar changes to a certain date. They release a feature because it is viable, not because it is listed on a spec sheet or press release. As to progress reports, the project is assumed to be in private beta, and they take the word "private" very seriously. If beta testers are bound by an NDA to not disclose anything, I can't see why one would expect a Sonos employee to give a detailed progress report in a public forum.

A Sonos rep has stated it is being worked on, and it is on schedule. Not much more they can say than that.

I'm starting to think that the release date will be strategically set based on marketing. By that I mean that it will be released when it will benefit Sonos and Amazon (mostly Amazon) the most.

Amazon has a new product going on sale tomorrow. I can see why the wouldn't want the sonos integration to go out before that so that it doesn't hurt the new products sales.

It could also be that Amazon wants to release this with another speaker manufacturer, say Bose, at the same time.

It could be that they don't want to release it till the Christmas shopping season kicks in. They don't want it to be old news, and it would be a great way to knock the wind out of Apple's sales a week before the Homepod comes out.

For all we know, they are planning a new Sonos product with Alexa built in. I can see where the wouldn't want to release an integration with current products until the new product is ready to be at least announced.

There is all sorts of things that we don't know. Telling the customer why something isn't going to be released exactly when the customer wants it isn't going to really help much. Particularly when there isn't really a good alternative product the customer can go out and buy at the moment.

If they said "by 2017" that's already a miss on a vague promise. It's mid 2017 and still nothing.

If it's supposed to be some big secret, it's not. They've announced it fifty different ways. If we all know they're working on it, the next questions are, how's it coming along and when will we get it? We're not asking to see the code.

They're not trying to beat some other Sonos controller to market, they're the only ones doing it. Who are they trying to keep it secret from? Why not give us a detailed progress report, we are the only ones who care.

Alexa already controls my lights, adjusts the temperature in my home, reads audio books to me, calls me an Uber when I need one, plus a hundred other thing. All these skills have been conceived, developed and implemented since my original post over two years ago. If everyone else can figure it out, why can't Sonos? Why is playing music through a different set of speakers such a monumental task? This should have been rolled out a long time ago. What's the holdup? And why is the holdup such a secret?

I even went to the source and asked Alexa when we can we expect her to work with Sonos. She said, "Sorry, I couldn't find the answer to your question."

That's alright Alexa, nobody can.

Sigh. :8

Does anyone know whether the Alexa integration will be an upgrade to existing Sonos devices, or whether there'll be a hardware upgrade/new device(s)?

I've been thinking about buying a Sonos system for a while but have been holding off, as I don't want to have to buy another one in order to get Alexa support. Seems to me that for full integration Sonos will need to add microphones to their speakers, so you can talk to Alexa from anywhere in the house that has Sonos....

If anyone has inside info (e.g. from beta testing) then pls let me know!

-Dave

Does anyone know whether the Alexa integration will be an upgrade to existing Sonos devices, or whether there'll be a hardware upgrade/new device(s)?

I've been thinking about buying a Sonos system for a while but have been holding off, as I don't want to have to buy another one in order to get Alexa support. Seems to me that for full integration Sonos will need to add microphones to their speakers, so you can talk to Alexa from anywhere in the house that has Sonos....

If anyone has inside info (e.g. from beta testing) then pls let me know!

-Dave

Nobody is going to give you "inside" information!

What we would note is that Sonos have never obsoleted any of their players and it seems unlikely that they would start now.

Does anyone know whether the Alexa integration will be an upgrade to existing Sonos devices, or whether there'll be a hardware upgrade/new device(s)?

I've been thinking about buying a Sonos system for a while but have been holding off, as I don't want to have to buy another one in order to get Alexa support. Seems to me that for full integration Sonos will need to add microphones to their speakers, so you can talk to Alexa from anywhere in the house that has Sonos....

If anyone has inside info (e.g. from beta testing) then pls let me know!

-Dave

No inside info (and you won't hear any), but the press release stated the Alexa/Sonos implementation will work with all current and previously sold Sonos and Alexa devices. So no worries, you will not need any new hardware if you purchase now. You will need an Alexa device wherever you wish to use the voice control. The Dot is the option of choice.