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johnnymumu
Trending Lyricist I
September 2, 2016
Question

Sonos and Alexa/Echo... who is as excited as I am? Anyone else want to be in the public beta?

  • September 2, 2016
  • 21 replies
  • 3511 views
For what it's worth, I have 6 Sonos zones (2xZP80, 2xZP100, 2xPLAY:3), and 2 Echo's (both of which happen to be right next to my kitchen and MBR Sonos PLAY:3's). I adore both products and have been dreaming of this announcements. I almost held off on purchasing the last 2 PLAY:3's because I was loving Alexa so much, and now I'm glad I didn't. The combination will be great.

Now all i want is to be able to be on the private beta 🙂 I've been a Sonos heavy user since 2006, and I've been an Alexa heavy user for a little over a year. They play slightly different roles in my life today... I do find myself asking Alexa to shuffle music, which is annoying, since it doesn't know about my local Sonos library and playlists. I ask Alexa to play the news and podcasts, which is great, but it doesn't play throughout the house - which is annoying. They just should play together. And now they're going to. Peanut butter and jelly. Chocolate and peanut butter. Sonny & Cher. Good stuff.

So Sonos... I know you really mean it's a private beta, but I live in Boston not far from your office, I'm a longstanding booster (see my old forum profile under john_ops), and I really want in. I get it, you're not going to reach out to me publically, but if you want to reach out to me privately... I'll be at home, listening to "Shuffle Jazz" - either on my Alexa, or on my 6 zone Sonos, but right now not on both! I'm a great beta tester...

John

PS... anyone else?
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    21 replies

    jgatie
    December 19, 2016
    Curious if there is an opt-in for beta or do they just pick randomly?

    Private beta is by invite. Public beta is opt-in.
    Paulw123
    Virtuoso
    December 19, 2016
    I assume logically if they want to test say spotify, they would ask all beta testers if they use spotify, with what controllers etc.
    So logically if you own an echo you are first in the list for testing it.
    Lyricist I
    December 20, 2016
    Looking to be added to the Beta for Amazon Echo integration as well. Have a Play:5, 2xPlay:1, 2xPlay:3, Playbar, Play Sub. I have 3 echo's and 1 dot in my house. When is the public release and if we are still weeks out, anyway to get into the Beta?
    Chris
    Lead Maestro
    December 20, 2016
    Don't know how they are selected maybe ask a moderator directly
    Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)
    Chris
    Lead Maestro
    December 20, 2016
    We don't even know if there is a beta with Echo support even out there yet.
    Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)
    Chromatic Producer I
    December 24, 2016
    For what it's worth, I have 6 Sonos zones (2xZP80, 2xZP100, 2xPLAY:3), and 2 Echo's (both of which happen to be right next to my kitchen and MBR Sonos PLAY:3's). I adore both products and have been dreaming of this announcements. I almost held off on purchasing the last 2 PLAY:3's because I was loving Alexa so much, and now I'm glad I didn't. The combination will be great.

    Now all i want is to be able to be on the private beta 🙂 I've been a Sonos heavy user since 2006, and I've been an Alexa heavy user for a little over a year. They play slightly different roles in my life today... I do find myself asking Alexa to shuffle music, which is annoying, since it doesn't know about my local Sonos library and playlists. I ask Alexa to play the news and podcasts, which is great, but it doesn't play throughout the house - which is annoying. They just should play together. And now they're going to. Peanut butter and jelly. Chocolate and peanut butter. Sonny & Cher. Good stuff.

    So Sonos... I know you really mean it's a private beta, but I live in Boston not far from your office, I'm a longstanding booster (see my old forum profile under john_ops), and I really want in. I get it, you're not going to reach out to me publically, but if you want to reach out to me privately... I'll be at home, listening to "Shuffle Jazz" - either on my Alexa, or on my 6 zone Sonos, but right now not on both! I'm a great beta tester...

    John

    PS... anyone else?
    Chromatic Producer I
    December 24, 2016
    I'm with you!! SONOS since 2008 - ZP90, ZP100, ZP120, Play1, Play3, Play5, (several CC100's) and 2016: Echo, Tap & Dot... dying to get these to work together without resorting to existing hacks.
    Lyricist I
    December 27, 2016
    I want to be in this Beta!! I'm a big echo fan and bought my sonos speaker because sonos said it would be working with echo. I think it could be a super combo and want to use it sooooo Much.
    inopinatus
    Prominent Collaborator I
    December 27, 2016
    I have both but I'm not excited because I think they will stuff it up by just making the Echo a controller device, and not a participant in the local Sonos mesh as also:
    a) a music source, or
    b) a Sonos speaker.

    Both would require Sonos's proprietary software to be actually onboard with the Echo.

    Part (a) would then be a no-brainer, even from a commercial perspective, and the user experience would be awesome. I have tried hooking an Echo Dot to a Sonos Connect, it works but I would never deploy it for normal humans to use.

    Part (b) would however directly cannibalise sales of the Play:1 or the Connect. I would be prepared to pay a license fee for an activation key that made the Echo into a Sonos speaker. But I don't expect this to happen, the product segmentation marketing people would fear it, the IP lawyers would have a hissy fit about loss of control, the support team would be irked by having to learn and support Amazon's device, and the engineers would, I'm sure, much rather build their own speakers.

    Judging by Sonos's job ads they are focused on building their next generation as cloud-controlled IoT devices, which suggests the Echo will be a controller not a music source. File under "meh" along with the similarly uninspiring Spotify integration.
    uncooked meat prior to state vector collapse
    Stevienev
    Lyricist I
    December 28, 2016
    Can i throw my hat into the ring to be a beta tester please? Have a play3,play5 and a playbar.
    I stream from Spotify and i'm just about to take delivery of two Amazon dots and a play1.