Google Assistant coming to Singapore?

  • 13 June 2019
  • 7 replies
  • 2267 views

I had purchased my Sonos set up from 2018 onwards when it was advertised as speakers that would come with Google Assistant. After a long wait, Sonos became GA-capable. Does anyone know when Sonos will become GA-capable in Asia.

Looking at the list of countries for Alexa, I am dismayed that there does not seem to be any further development for Alexa in Asia.

Would the same happen to GA in Asia too?

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7 replies

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This is the reply I got from Sonos:

Hello Michael,

My name is Jason and I am a supervisor in the Santa Barbara office. Patrick asked me to reach out and see if I can be of any help.

The regional availability of voice control and music services is controlled by those services. We have found in the past that once a service goes live in a new location it can take a little while before full third party support is rolled out. During this middle time the service may be intermittently available or not quite functioning as advertised as the service builds all of the infrastructure to support it.

Check on Sonos.com for your location set in your profile. As long as the region is correct the feature should roll out soon when Google is ready. We are all stuck waiting in the wings waiting for full feature parity with the Google Home Hub until that time.

Jason C | Supervisor | Customer Care
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Hi Michael,

I actually hired a wireless expert. He has worked out a work-through using his Sonos One. We are both Singaporeans. He has succeeded in getting his Sonos One to be GA enabled.

Rgds
Colin,
Could you share the work-through? I am keen to get GA working.
Userlevel 7
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If you set your Sonos account to the US, GA becomes available - english would not be a problem, not sure about other languages.
Hi All,

106rallye is absolutely correct. That's what my Wireless guy did!

I don't know how he did it as I'm completely not IT-savvy. But if 106rallye posts the steps, everyone else could follow it.

Saying that however, I'm step very very angry because we have to go through all these additional processes just to get what was promised. I understand of course that the West would get first dibs on the Google Assistant capability. But even after 3 months there is no indication when Asia would receive GA. And don't get me started on Alexa. I purchased Sonos in 2017? 2018? Can't remember how far back it was. I was promised it was Alexa and GA compatible. As of 2019, there are ALLEDGEDLY no further developments for Alexa in Singapore and the definite promise of GA in Singapore has yet to materialise.

In the interim, Sonos has come up with the Sonos SL which isnt compatible with either Alexa and GA. Had they produced THAT first, I certainly would not feel so wronged by the company. I'm wondering how long it would eventually take for Sonos to deliver its promises. And in the meantime, my Sonos One Gen 1 has been overtaken by the Gen 2.

An utterly ridiculous and shameful process. I enjoy the products but an integrous person would hold the company responsible for the promises it makes.

Am I willing to be patient? Yes and No. Yes if the company gives me a firm date for the actualisation of its promise and No because I have already waited for more than 1.5 years with no end in sight.
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To add to my earlier reply. My native language (Dutch) works. As Alexa is only available in English, I use GA - I understand similar work arounds are available for Alexa though.

Your concerns about the time Sonos (and Google) took to implement GA are acknowledged by Sonos. Not sure I agree that producing the SL before the One would have made people feel better. I at least am glad GA has at last become available on my speakers (bought in november/december 2018) and would have been annoyed if the One would only have been introduced last august. Then there's the fact that de Play:1 has been available next to the One.
Thanks for the perspective about the SL.

My point remains however that had I purchased a product that did not have promised features, I'd not be so aggrieved. The long wait - aggravates the issue. And to add insult to injury a new Gen 2 was manufactured before the promises for Gen 1 was even fulfilled.

Companies need to be transparent.

Acknowledging AFTER the fact serves nothing.