Sonos will launch Google Assistant on its smart speakers next week

bockersjv wrote:

Given what Google have done to Nest I will stay with Alexa. I thing Google Home (or Nest Home) have changed their strategy recently for the worse.

It's a matter of perspective. Personally, as somebody deeply invested in GoogleNest, the security upgrades are welcome and encouraged. Most of the backlash coming to Nest is the fact they've limited Alexa integration, and that was something in the works for awhile. Ever since Amazon began eliminating (some) Google products from their website, the writing was on the wall for GA and Alexa to stop playing nice with their respective connected hardware.

I had applied to the GA beta but was not accepted (not sure why am in the app betas but whatevs)

am curious to see this article .... its been a long time waiting... am now waiting to buy the new Google Home Hub (larger size) because of waiting on GA in Sonos.

hope it is next week.. finally

melvimbe wrote:

That would make some sense to me, I'd be more inclinded to believe that the Gen 2 has more to do with production costs (perhaps using more common parts with the beam) and farther future proofing then a consequence of the GA integration.

When the Gen2 was introduced, there were some topics here about the changes. I don't recall if it was mentioned here, but in the Dutch community, a Sonos Rep literally said the changes were based on "experiences with Beam". As an example they stated that from the work on the Beam they had concluded that they could change the microphone array from 6 to 4. The Beam being the newer product, it's not difficult to imagine that it might have already had upgraded memory and processor power, and they just changed the One to be on the same spec, while cutting cost by using the same hardware the Beam has.

I'm not at all concerned that the Gen1 will be left out, as the communication by Sonos on this was quite clear. I would've expected them to be silent or vague about it if they were not sure.

spydrwebb wrote:

bockersjv wrote:

Given what Google have done to Nest I will stay with Alexa. I thing Google Home (or Nest Home) have changed their strategy recently for the worse.

It's a matter of perspective. Personally, as somebody deeply invested in GoogleNest, the security upgrades are welcome and encouraged. Most of the backlash coming to Nest is the fact they've limited Alexa integration, and that was something in the works for awhile. Ever since Amazon began eliminating (some) Google products from their website, the writing was on the wall for GA and Alexa to stop playing nice with their respective connected hardware.

Agreed. The two big announcements this week (Google Assistant on Sonos and Google/Nest integration) go together perfectly. My GA Sonos will integrate tightly with all my Nest devices. The lack of 3rd party integration won't matter anymore, and actually it means a more secure system with fewer holes. It's really a win-win.

Incidentally, I think Google Nest is going to become a massive force in the smart home space. I think Alexa is going to lose this battle

I would expect all other sonos devices to join "works with google assistant" later on, ie you will be able to cast to sonos using google voice control......when is the big question...

Kirk33 wrote:

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Incidentally, I think Google Nest is going to become a massive force in the smart home space. I think Alexa is going to lose this battle

Here is a good article that outlines some of the smart home impacts folks will see as a result of this change. I don't think Amazon is too worried.

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/google-ends-works-with-nest,news-30036.html

upstatemike wrote:

Here is a good article that outlines some of the smart home impacts folks will see as a result of this change. I don't think Amazon is too worried.

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/google-ends-works-with-nest,news-30036.html

The article says that Google-Nest and Alexa-Ring are both refusing to play nicely with each other's tech. Users will be forced to chose one side or the other. Fine. The lines are drawn.

Google Assistant took just 2 years to go from zero to surpassing Alexa. And Nest is already miles ahead of Ring also. Plus, just about half of the Google I/O keynote last week was devoted to Assistant or Nest. Google is clearly investing enormously!!

If users are forced to chose one or the other, I predict Alexa Ring will be nothing more than an also-ran within 2 years. Google Nest is going to crush them

The article also names IFTTT and a lot of other things that will Stop working with Nest but continue to work with each other and with Alexa. Easier to just ditch your Nest thermostat and get on with your life than have to commit to some new walled garden Google is trying to create.

upstatemike wrote:

The article also names IFTTT and a lot of other things that will Stop working with Nest but continue to work with each other and with Alexa. Easier to just ditch your Nest thermostat and get on with your life than have to commit to some new walled garden Google is trying to create.

As you wish. Nest is, by all accounts, the best thermostat on the market. There isn't even a close 2nd. If you want to cut your nose to spite your face, then go ahead, ditch the nest thermostat and get something inferior. But Nest thermostat will remain, by far, the dominant player. I have no doubt

Not to drag this further off topic, but having owned both Nest and Ecobee, I don't find them to be that different, but I guess to each their own.

I've owned both Nest and Ecobee and the Ecobee is hands-down a better system. Or at least that's been my experience. I haven't used a Nest in a few years. Maybe now that they finally caught up and started using room sensors it's a little better these days.

They are both nice looking thermostats that work well with Alexa . Ecobee is a private company that is expanding and announcing new products and Ecobee will continue to work with major automation hubs past August 31st. Nest is owned by Google. Google also owned Revolv and we know how that turned out...

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/apr/05/revolv-devices-bricked-google-nest-smart-home

I'm not saying the analogy applies to the multi-room audio market. It's not like Google would ever do something like that to say Chromecast audio users...

https://www.cnet.com/news/google-discontinues-its-chromecast-audio-device/

With this track record I don't see where anyone would be worried that they will be crushed by the new Google Nest organization.

I have a first gen play 5, and a playbase and nether works with Google home. The devices are in Google home, but google home just doesn't recognize them in any commands. They both work with Alexa. Looks like I am back to waiting again. Not the only reason but this certainly plays into why I have not bought anything new from Sonos.

Wolfman2011 wrote:

I have a first gen play 5, and a playbase and nether works with Google home. The devices are in Google home, but google home just doesn't recognize them in any commands. They both work with Alexa. Looks like I am back to waiting again. Not the only reason but this certainly plays into why I have not bought anything new from Sonos.

See reply in your thread.

https://en.community.sonos.com/google-assistant-and-sonos-229109/sonos-with-google-home-perhaps-not-as-good-as-alexa-6825613#post16335762

My question here is,
Can I take one Sonos One and run Google assistant on it ( I think yes)
Then take another Sonos one and run Alexa on it. ( I think Yes)
Now the question I don't know
Can I run the two together in a pair so I get stereo sound with right and left channel.
Has anyone done this?

Wolfman2011 wrote:

Now the question I don't know
Can I run the two together in a pair so I get stereo sound with right and left channel.
Has anyone done this?

I am pretty sure this is not a supported configuration, however, yes I have. I am not 100% sure I can reproduce the steps, and am not going to undue my setup to find out. Here's something to try though.

1 - Remove GA from both speakers you want in your stereo pair. (You may want to remove GA from your whole Sonos setup, not sure)

2 - Setup your Ones as a stereo pair with Alexa configured on both speakers. You should be able to talk to both speakers at this point.

3 - Go to the room settings in the Sonos app for your pair and add Google Assistant as a voice service. GA will get setup on the left speaker in the pair, while Alexa remains on the right speaker.

I have this setup in 3 separate rooms without seeing any issue. For all three rooms, the app says that my Alexa setup is not complete, but it is functioning. I imagine completing the setup will remove GA.

Again, no guarantees that this will work for you, as I may be getting the steps wrong from memory or some other reason. I also wouldn't be surprised to see my setups start having issues with an update, either on my system or in the cloud.

Nothing will work for me, Google assistant is not in my Country yet.