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Use Case: As a customer of Sonos and other speaker products I’d like to connect multiple dissimilar products with little hassle. 

Hi.  For the sake of slow-witted users like me, could you please explain what “hooking up dissimilar products” means, how Bluetooth relates to that, and on what data you are basing your assertion that the cost would be minimal and would be a more valuable addition to Sonos than other uses of scarce development resource?

How does more Bluetooth fit with Sonos’ fundamental nature as a multiroom networked audio system?


What’s a ‘dissimilar product’?  Do you mean smart or bluetooth speakers that Sonos doesn’t make? If your thinking bluetooth would allow you to play speakers from different brands in sync, it would not. There are lots of timing involved to get speakers to play in sync, and each mutliroom speaker system has their own protocils that they use.  Maybe I’m not understanding what benefit you’re looking for.

FYI, several Sonos devices have aux inputs, and the Port has an output.  That can be used to involve other 3rd party speakers, although not always in perfect sync.  There is also Apple airplay as an option.


What’s a ‘dissimilar product’?  Do you mean smart or bluetooth speakers that Sonos doesn’t make? If your thinking bluetooth would allow you to play speakers from different brands in sync, it would not. There are lots of timing involved to get speakers to play in sync, and each mutliroom speaker system has their own protocils that they use.  Maybe I’m not understanding what benefit you’re looking for.

FYI, several Sonos devices have aux inputs, and the Port has an output.  That can be used to involve other 3rd party speakers, although not always in perfect sync.  There is also Apple airplay as an option.

Great question: I mean / dissimilar product == not a Sonos product, Iot speaker product. There are apps that can group IoT speaker products together Sonos / Alexa enabled speakers / Apple miniPods.  The customer benefit is removing the frustration of connecting like IoT speaker products together - broaden scope, think Customer not just “SONOS” . Min bar is Sonos collaborate with like companies (Amazon, Apple, Samsung) - standard no cost protocol (e.g., http) would be ideal. I know it’s a hail Mary.  https://www.mokoblue.com/why-bluetooth-iot/


Hi.  For the sake of slow-witted users like me, could you please explain what “hooking up dissimilar products” means, how Bluetooth relates to that, and on what data you are basing your assertion that the cost would be minimal and would be a more valuable addition to Sonos than other uses of scarce development resource?

How does more Bluetooth fit with Sonos’ fundamental nature as a multiroom networked audio system?

Bad word choice on my part - sorry about that. I mean a non Sonos IoT speaker product. Apple, Amazon, IKEA, Samsung, Bose, Klipsch, numerous others have them and some can connect across IoT products using their apps or a  third party IoT app. It’s the future.  Guess they might need time to get the basics right. So far, really enjoy my Sonos Arc.  In ceiling speakers / subwoofer next. More info than you might want / educational -> (https://www.mokoblue.com/why-bluetooth-iot/). 


There are a few problems here:

  1. Bluetooth doesn’t do multiroom
  2. Sonos make all their money by selling Sonos speakers
  3. The Sonos app is a remote control for the Sonos system.  It is not a music player so how would adding Bluetooth to Sonos speakers change its ability to play to non-Sonos speakers?

I really don’t think you have thought this through.


Great question: I mean / dissimilar product == not a Sonos product, Iot speaker product. There are apps that can group IoT speaker products together Sonos / Alexa enabled speakers / Apple miniPods.

 

Which specific apps are you referring to?  And how is bluetooth involved with this? Are you expecting these different speaker brands to be able to play in sync as if they were one system.

 

  The customer benefit is removing the frustration of connecting like IoT speaker products together - broaden scope, think Customer not just “SONOS” . Min bar is Sonos collaborate with like companies (Amazon, Apple, Samsung) - standard no cost protocol (e.g., http) would be ideal. I know it’s a hail Mary.  https://www.mokoblue.com/why-bluetooth-iot/

 

Your link is talking about network communication via BLE, which is not exactly the same thing as bluetooth.  In fact, most if not all of the Sonos products sold today use BLE during product setup.  There is a new BLE audio standard, and Sonos has recently bought a company that specializes in it….leading one to believe it’s something Sonos may implement in the future, or something like it.  However, it’s unlikely that it would mean Sonos would be able to play in sync with third party speakers.     

Worth noting that the Matter IoT standard is also supposed to be coming later this year.  Amazon, Samsung, and many other big players are involved.  It uses WiFi and Thread, which is similar to BLE in terms of size.  I can’t imagine Amazon and Samsung would be looking at BLE as a IoT communication method while Matter is in the works.


There are a few problems here:

  1. Bluetooth doesn’t do multiroom
  2. Sonos make all their money by selling Sonos speakers
  3. The Sonos app is a remote control for the Sonos system.  It is not a music player so how would adding Bluetooth to Sonos speakers change its ability to play to non-Sonos speakers?

I really don’t think you have thought this through.

Bluetooth can connect / see IoT (https://www.mokoblue.com/why-bluetooth-iot/). Sonos is about customers too if they want to stay in business.  The Sonos App can use some customer experience expertise. Sonos is getting better. It’s up to Sonos to think it through - I’m mealy making a suggestion for best customer experience posed as a question.  I appreciate you voicing your opinion. Cheers. 


There are a few problems here:

  1. Bluetooth doesn’t do multiroom
  2. Sonos make all their money by selling Sonos speakers
  3. The Sonos app is a remote control for the Sonos system.  It is not a music player so how would adding Bluetooth to Sonos speakers change its ability to play to non-Sonos speakers?

I really don’t think you have thought this through.

Bluetooth can connect / see IoT (https://www.mokoblue.com/why-bluetooth-iot/). Sonos is about customers too if they want to stay in business.

 

 

‘connect’, in order to communicate and send commands can already happen over WiFi.  Bluetooth, or rather BLE, isn’t needed for that.  Sonos and Amazon already communicate.  They do not play in sync together, but that has nothing to do with the ability to communicate.

 

  The Sonos App can use some customer experience expertise.

 

 

Nothing to do with bluetooth, or other 3rd party speakers.

 

Sonos is getting better. It’s up to Sonos to think it through - I’m mealy making a suggestion for best customer experience posed as a question.  I appreciate you voicing your opinion. Cheers. 

I still don’t know exactly what your suggesting, or how bluetooth is the answer.


Me neither.


Actually, reading your link a little further, I don’t see any mention of IoT to IoT device communication, unless I missed it.  It’s about communication between a controlling device, your phone, and the IoT device.  This is exactly what Sonos already does during setup.  Sonos needs to have WiFi capability for multiroom audio, so there is no point in using BLE for communication between phone and speaker after that point.  Besides, you can use multiple controllers via WiFi, not limited to point to point communication like BLE.