Google Assistant Support

What if the GA enabled software image does not fit on the EMMC or the CPU or RAM is not sufficient to process google assistant as efficiently as the alexa. Anyway no reason to sigh....I guess we will know the truth this year :-)

Yeah for one reason the software may not fit on the old hardware. It is not about the commands being processed locally or in the cloud. The second reason is probably they will have version two of the product that the manufacturer would like to promote instead of version one of the hardware.



Sigh.

Uhhh, read my post again. The required software is already there!!! And yes, it is very much about the commands being processed locally or in the cloud. If they were being processed locally, you would need to fit all the Alexa and Google Assistant logic on the device. But since they are processed in the Cloud, the only thing you need on the device is the ability to process generic commands coming from an app, a PC, a home automation device, or a voice assistant in the cloud, and as I said, that capability is already on the device!!!

As to the last part, if Sonos had only wanted to promote new devices instead of old, why would they release Alexa for the ZP100 and ZP80 from way back in 2005? Tell me what is different about Google that requires new software only on new devices, instead of working with 13 year old hardware like Alexa does? Otherwise, you are creating a problem out of nothing.

What if the GA enabled software image does not fit on the EMMC or the CPU or RAM is not sufficient to process google assistant as efficiently as the alexa. Anyway no reason to sigh....I guess we will know the truth this year :-)



Dear Lord. Once again, THE GOOGLE ENABLED SOFTWARE IMAGE IS ALREADY THERE!!!!!!!!!!!

Sonos has the ability, RIGHT NOW!!!!! to be controlled via a voice assistant from the Cloud. ANY VOICE ASSISTANT!!!! It can also be controlled by an app, a PC, a Mac, and a half dozen standard Home Automation systems. It does this via a set of generic commands THAT ARE ALREADY LOADED ON THE SONOS DEVICES!!!!! Therefore, the only thing needed to get Google Assistant working is to finalize the Google Cloud -> Sonos Cloud commands. Because the Sonos Cloud -> Sonos devices commands ARE ALREADY WORKING for Alexa, the Sonos apps, Wrensilva, TunesMap, Lutron, iPort, Wink, Yonomi, Enno and any other company that wants to use them via the "Works with Sonos" API.

It's possible, probable even, then there will need to be a firmware update to sonos devices when GA is implemented. However, it highly unlikely that firmware is going to be significantly different in size/scope to the firmware update for Alexa. Sonos One may be an exception since it will need to handle taking voice commands as well. However, Sonos has promised that it will work with GA, and not building in enough horsepower to handle it would be a tremendous failure. Not to mention, as jgatie pointed out, this is primarily a cloud update.

It's possible, probable even, then there will need to be a firmware update to sonos devices when GA is implemented. However, it highly unlikely that firmware is going to be significantly different in size/scope to the firmware update for Alexa. Sonos One may be an exception since it will need to handle taking voice commands as well. However, Sonos has promised that it will work with GA, and not building in enough horsepower to handle it would be a tremendous failure. Not to mention, as jgatie pointed out, this is primarily a cloud update.

There will most definitely be a firmware update for older devices, at the very least to give the ability to list Google Assistant as one of the available Voice Assistants, plus the capability to link between Sonos and whatever app interface Google uses for Assistant. But as you said, that is not a significant change to the firmware.

Hey, Awesome flow chart. This makes is clear now. I was under the impression that Sonos would have two different images to support both variants. Didn't think both AMZN and GOOGL would be keen on a co-existing environment.

There will most definitely be a firmware update for older devices, at the very least to give the ability to list Google Assistant as one of the available Voice Assistants, plus the capability to link between Sonos and whatever app interface Google uses for Assistant. But as you said, that is not a significant change to the firmware.

But that's for the Sonos One only right? I could be misremembering, but the setup for Alexa integration had no configuration on the Sonos side, it was only on the Alexa side. I would guess that Google will work the same. So if you're not using a Sonos One where you would need to tell it where to send voice commands, nothing is needed.

As an aside, assuming this is correct, a Sonos system should be able to work with Alexa and Google at the same time. it may even been that the Sonos One works with Alexa and Google at the same time, and will rely on the wake word to know where to send the voice commands.

But that's for the Sonos One only right? I could be misremembering, but the setup for Alexa integration had no configuration on the Sonos side, it was only on the Alexa side. I would guess that Google will work the same. So if you're not using a Sonos One where you would need to tell it where to send voice commands, nothing is needed.

As an aside, assuming this is correct, a Sonos system should be able to work with Alexa and Google at the same time. it may even been that the Sonos One works with Alexa and Google at the same time, and will rely on the wake word to know where to send the voice commands.

There is a configuration on the Sonos One, where you have to select the Voice Assistant in the Sonos app under the Settings. Also, I thought the Sonos app launched the Alexa app (or was it vice versa?) to link the two, even for non-Ones, in order to register accounts, etc.? Anywho, that is only on the app, not the firmware. But a release is a release, right? 😉

Hey, Awesome flow chart. This makes is clear now. I was under the impression that Sonos would have two different images to support both variants. Didn't think both AMZN and GOOGL would be keen on a co-existing environment.


I imagine Sonos insisted upon it. They are the ones footing the bill for the Sonos cloud to translate other commands into generics. Sonos has always taken care to remain agnostic when it comes to partnering up; even if it takes more work in the beginning, it pays off in the long run. Otherwise, they would have just done a "Alexa, tell Sonos to . . . " skill and been done with it.

There is a configuration on the Sonos One, where you have to select the Voice Assistant in the Sonos app under the Settings. Also, I thought the Sonos app launched the Alexa app (or was it vice versa?) to link the two, even for non-Ones? Anywho, that is only on the app, not the firmware. But a release is a release, right? ;)

Kind of a shame that you can't setup Google and Alexa at the same time. it would have been fund to see if you could get google to talk to Alexa and vice versa. maybe setup some sort of infinite loop.