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biffta
biffta
Headliner I
August 25, 2017

And after Alexa? What then for Sonos?

Just to play Devil's advocate, having followed the great Alexa debate over the past months, I wonder what could happen if at some time in the near or medium future, another similar product is introduced which may be generally considered superior over the current Amazon offering?
Say the wake work of the new product is "Corina", will there then follow months of posts asking "when is Corina coming to Sonos"?
What an exciting prospect.
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    10 replies

    Smilja
    Smilja
    August 25, 2017
    SONOS: Google Home, where are you? – I'm here, playing hide and seek!
    »And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space, Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.« (›Windmills Of Your Mind‹ [1967]. Music by Michel Legrand ; English lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman)
    jgatie
    jgatie
    August 25, 2017
    Sonos has always strived to be service agnostic, and the CEO has stated they wish to implement all popular voice control systems. Not just Amazon, but Apple, Google, etc. So I figure that answers the question.

    By the way, what "Alexa debate?" If there was a significant anti-Alexa faction who was putting up grounds for a debate, I'm not aware of it.
    melvimbe
    melvimbe
    August 25, 2017
    I'd predict that immediately following the integration of Alexa, there will be a wave of complaints about what is missing from the integration, how Sonos doesn't understand their customers, and why Sonos should have been working on audible and airplay instead. We'll also hear praise of competing products that actually provide less features than Sonos, but somehow, rate higher to certain people.

    Just a theory though.

    That said though, I do look forward to constructive conversation on the integration, and hearing about other people's use cases.
    Danny
      biffta
      bifftaAuthor
      Headliner I
      August 25, 2017
      Sonos has always strived to be service agnostic, and the CEO has stated they wish to implement all popular voice control systems. Not just Amazon, but Apple, Google, etc. So I figure that answers the question.

      By the way, what "Alexa debate?" If there was a significant anti-Alexa faction who was putting up grounds for a debate, I'm not aware of it.

      Oh save me from semantics! Okay if you prefer, chat! And by the way, there don't necessarily have to be opposing views to define a debate.
      Smilja
      Smilja
      August 25, 2017
      [...] and why Sonos should have been working on audible and airplay instead.
      Audible listeners, don't panic! 😉
      »And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space, Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.« (›Windmills Of Your Mind‹ [1967]. Music by Michel Legrand ; English lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman)
      melvimbe
      melvimbe
      August 25, 2017
      Probably not the right thread for this, but there are too many Alexa related threads already...

      My echos got a firmware update last night. I have to (want to) believe it's because of the Sonos integration. Alexa app has not. Perhaps there is a delay because Amazon wants to make sure the majority of the firmware is updated first. I don't know how that works, but it wouldn't surprise me if it happens over hours...maybe days. So perhaps, we are very close to the integration.

      I also wonder if the run of reported bugs related to the 7.4 Sonos upgrade is causing any delays in planning. I don't think it would, but if the buggy code is directly tied to integration (wouldn't think it is), and a fix for bug requires some additional testing of the integration....then a delay may be in order.

      All just speculation though.
      Danny
      nifoxke
      nifoxke
      Prodigy I
      August 25, 2017
      Probably not the right thread for this, but there are too many Alexa related threads already...

      My echos got a firmware update last night. I have to (want to) believe it's because of the Sonos integration. Alexa app has not. Perhaps there is a delay because Amazon wants to make sure the majority of the firmware is updated first. I don't know how that works, but it wouldn't surprise me if it happens over hours...maybe days. So perhaps, we are very close to the integration.

      I also wonder if the run of reported bugs related to the 7.4 Sonos upgrade is causing any delays in planning. I don't think it would, but if the buggy code is directly tied to integration (wouldn't think it is), and a fix for bug requires some additional testing of the integration....then a delay may be in order.

      All just speculation though.

      That's interesting. How can you tell they received a firmware update?
      pwt
      pwt
      Virtuoso
      August 25, 2017
      In addiiton to more services, some updated hardware would be nice. For example, I'm sure a couple of PLAY:7s would complement my other Sonos equipment very nicely.
      4 x P:5 | Sub | 4 x P:1 | 3 x Connect | 2 x Boost | Connect:Amp | 2 x One | Amp | Move | Port | Era 300
      Airgetlam
      Airgetlam
      August 25, 2017
      Interesting. If memory serves, I've received 2 updates in the last 2 weeks to my Alexa app on iOS. Ah, here's the info from the App Store. Updates occurred on Aug 21 and August 10. Also July 26. All of them were tagged as "Bug Fixes and Performance Updates", which to me means nothing. However, having written my fair share of update notes, I also know that sometimes there's not anything that can be appropriately articulated 🙂
      Bruce
      mataglap
      August 25, 2017
      This was pretty easy to find:
      https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201602210

      But i didn't quickly find the changelog or update history.
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