SONOS + ECHO DOT

How do we find out more on this, or join the beta?
Join the public Beta in your Sonos account. Private Beta is by invitation.
There really isn't any more to "find out" beyond what Sonos have already said.

Do you have a Windows 10 PC? If so, open the Alexa app, search for a Skill with "sonos" and you'll find mine. Give it a shot.

Is there anything on any public beta that offers insights into the future of this subject?

For me what apple is targeting with the HomePod is Sonos, no Alexa, so once they get momentum the best alternative for HomePod as a smart home music system will be a mix of sonos and Alexa, that’s the challenge for Sonos, no to be fast but to be right.

For me what apple is targeting with the HomePod is Sonos, no Alexa, so once they get momentum the best alternative for HomePod as a smart home music system will be a mix of sonos and Alexa, that’s the challenge for Sonos, no to be fast but to be right.

I agree about the need to get the Sonos integration right but with the long wait, Homepod better be not only right too but it will need to be freekin magic when it finally comes out or it will end up being ignored by all except Apple diehards. Right now Echo has some key advantages that will be hard for Apple to overcome:

1- Echo is available now and it is incredibly useful for playing music in areas like a kitchen or desk even ahead of the release of Sonos integration. There will be an awful lot of folks committed to Echo by the time the first Homepod ships.

2- The addition of the screen on the Echo Show has improved the music listening experience more than I would have expected. Everybody in my family loves that you get album art and lyrics as you listen, It is also surprising how well voice and touch screen control complement each other. A voice command can put you directly into a screen that might otherwise take several steps to get to by working though menus while the touch screen control lets you quickly select something that would be awkward to articulate as a voice command. I think Apple made a mistake in not putting a screen on the Homepod assuming folks will somehow still be happy to dig out their cell phones to do things that are not suited to voice commands.

3- As much as folks might think the non-music features of Echo are irrelevant to music listening it really does make a huge difference in user experience when other things you do integrate smoothly with music playback. The Echo Show knows when to duck the music to background level so it can talk over it and when to mute or pause it and then resume automatically. This means taking an intercom call or checking your calendar while listening to music is a pure pleasure because all of the music adjustment needed to accommodate those tasks just happen effortlessly. Homepod can't afford to be any less polished in this regard.

I think if the Sonos integration with Alexa can maintain the same user experience you get with the Echo Show then Hompod is going to have a tough time competing.

Argh!! Seriously? I mean, seriously!?!?

Not integrating with the Echo *immediately* is just ridiculous, almost as bad as the fact we're still not able to stream-what-we-hear from any device without using dirty hacks.

While Sonos does seem to be slowly, slowly waking up to the fact that a walled garden may not be the way to go, it's all just taking *waaaay* too long.

Seriously, people, get your s**t together! If you don't help provide a seamless experience across ALL consumers' devices *soon*, Sonos will quickly become irrelevant (regardless of hardware quality). That will leave all of us orphaned with your stupid devices that don't talk to anything.

I humbly suggest you start by firing whoever's calling the shots for software development. Then hire someone who has the first clue what they're doing and *get it done*. Now! Please!

Methinks you should reacquaint yourself with the meaning of humble.

Methinks you should reacquaint yourself with the meaning of humble.
Trolling? Nah, not going there: methinks we should stay on topic.

But seriously: I dislike being abusive but feel strongly that Sonos needs to understand that the current speed (or lack thereof) of their software development is utterly unacceptable.

Humble? I think that chance has flown. Instead, they should aquaint themselves with a complex multiple vendor software development cycle.

This integration may never happen. Or if it does, may be short lived.

With Apple releasing a "high end" home speaker, Amazon is likely to release an improved Echo and they will want to have full control over their whole home-interaction experience as it matures. That's the future. We're less than five years away from asking our Echo to order groceries which will be delivered from Whole Foods via Amazon's delivery service.

I wouldn't be surprised if they pull out of this project from Sonos. This will leave Sonos in a bad position as consumers will eventually expect their home speakers to be seamlessly integrated with their voice-activated home. Sonos was successful because they applied innovative technology with great sounding speakers. They will no longer be the "innovator" because they won't be able to compete with Apple or Amazon.

Maybe we'll get lucky and Amazon will purchase Sonos, but I doubt it.

I have a fairly large investment in Sonos equipment, so I hope I'm wrong here. Best scenario is they do this integration and we get another few years out of Sonos gear.

TL;DR Use your line input and get over it. Save your money for whatever winning technology emerges.