Yesterdays (March 11th, 2016) Sonos Anouncment

Bored now.

Quite yer bitchin. I'm kidding, promise I'm kidding.

I think Sonos will strengthen their relationship with Apple, continue marketing together, integrate Apple music better. Mac OS update will integrate Sonos at the system level (not my idea, think I read it on Volker Weber's blog) - might explain why the Sonos controller look has not been updated, but maybe not. This will extend to iOS. Siri will be extended to work with Sonos.

Volker has some good thoughts on the blog post here, seems on topic http://vowe.net/archives/015490.html

My speculation:

Sonos will use an existing voice enablement service; it would take years to develop their own. Likely Houndify, which is as capable as Alexa.
https://www.houndify.com/

They will sell a standalone microphone array device, small and possibly portable, so it could also be used for room tuning. Later, they will integrate microphone array into new/refreshed speaker line.

They will begin to work with one of the home automation providers, probably one that already integrates with the voice service they choose.

Interesting. So you think Sonos is going whole hog in taking on Amazon instead of utilizing the Echo/Alexa interface. Ambitious take. I can see it happening, but will/can they be that bold? One thing I do agree, they are going to use/aquire outside tech. There's no way they can start from scratch. Which may be why they are cleaning up, it could be opening up space (financial and work space) for new talent. It may be that the base tech is pretty set, and new blood is needed.

Voice control is not something that has made any impression on my life in any way beyond amusing my 10 year old niece for half an hour. That was cool but she'll have grown out of that by the time I meet her again.

But of course that doesn't mean that I don't believe that voice control for Sonos doesn't have a future. I worry that it is just a gimmick which is fun to play with but ultimately doesn't improve Sonos enough. What are you going to control with voice? Volume, next, previous track. Next playlist. I see huge challenges in designing a suitable interface to adequately navigate to the next piece of audio the user wants.

And there is the question of which technology to use - Amazon, Apple, A N Other. I can't believe Sonos has/will develop their own and why would they jump further into bed with Apple further alienating non Apple users and Amazon are a competitor.

So I'm very interested to see how it all pans out

Yes, I don't forsee them tying themselves to Amazon, that wouldn't go down at all well with the other major partners. Houndify, a couple of others out there have as much capability as Alexa. Sonos has/will acquire the necessary talent to enable it, basic at first, but expanding significantly via firmware updates over time.

I did predict Trueplay successfully, let's see if I'm anywhere near as close this time. 😉

I've felt Amazon is a competitor before, but I'm not sure now. Amazon looks to be wanting to seize the day with Alexa, opening it up to as much as possible. Sure the original Echo could be seen as competition, but it's not multi-room. It's also looking to be more of a voice activated gateway than an audio device. That's it's one selling point, otherwise it's a deluxe Bluetooth speaker. The new Dot is even more gateway then speaker, cause it has no speaker. :)

Also, Sonos' relationship with Amazon goes beyond Prime Music. They're heavily invested in Amazon Web Services:

https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/sonos/

So they're already working with an infrastructure that is run by Amazon. Could tapping into the Alexa Coud be next?

Fun times! 🙂

Yes, I don't forsee them tying themselves to Amazon, that wouldn't go down at all well with the other major partners. Houndify, a couple of others out there have as much capability as Alexa. Sonos has/will acquire the necessary talent to enable it, basic at first, but expanding significantly via firmware updates over time.

I did predict Trueplay successfully, let's see if I'm anywhere near as close this time. ;)

Let's hope you are correct, Sonos tying themselves to apple for something like this (at the exclusion of others) is not something I would appreciate.

But for me this is a major step.

Not only do they need to have a hardware/software solution that has a very high accuracy rate for I don't know, let's say, 10 major world languages but they have to make it replace any of the controllers. People are going to be very unhappy when they get the Mary Poppins soundtrack when they wanted The Anti-Nowhere League (NSFW to listen to any of their stuff btw!). Also, they aren't going to want to have to get up and shout at their Play 5.

So I think it's a huge risk. Obviously control is a huge part of the package but they can't lose sight of the hardware (the quality speakers) and the music sources

There is nothing in Sonos' history that point to them being in favor of anything to the exclusion of others. They have steadfastly rejected any technology that requires licensing/hardware (Airplay, Spotify Connect) and their Music Partners program is free to everyone, so they are not beholden to fees. I believe Apple buying Sonos to be as farfetched today as it was when our resident conspiracy theorist 'wappinghigh' proposed it many years ago.

Yes, I've seen the AWS case study, and some of the other Big Data stuff Sonos is doing; I'm an engineer geek, love keeping up! ;)

Sonos' big problem right now is that they had a runaway hit, the Play:1, which they had ambitious sales targets for. It has suddenly hit a brick wall called Echo, which they hadn't expected or prepared for. People willing to spend $200 for a speaker are much more intrigued with Alexa's capabilities and future possibilities than with the (much) better SQ of the Sonos alternatives.

The number of reviews of Echo, 33000 vs < 2000 @amazon.com is a pretty good indicator of relative sales. My guess that Echo sales chart has a logarithmic upward tilt right now, while the Play:1 chart has started to sag considerably. Sonos is out to fix that.

Good point @chicks about the entry level buyers. Play:1 used to get them in the door, Echo has stolen that thunder, even if they aren't comparable once you buy more than one or are serious about sound.