I see there are 92 articles on Amazon Echo here in the SONOS community. Has anyone from SONOS responded? Does SONOS have any intent to support Amazon Echo integration?
I can't imagine anyone not wanting that. It feels like that is just how SONOS should work. We love our SONOS system but we keep finding ourselves using the lesser quality Echo just because it's easier. I wish I could use my SONOS system as my speaker and my ECHO as the controller (unless of course my SONOS could just do the same thing). I can't imagine how anyone will beat ECHO for speed and quality of response. Not even SIRI can compete with our Amazon Echo experience.
If I have to I will replace my SONOS system with a bunch of ECHO's but I would never want to do that. Not even because of the investment I have already made with SONOS. I would buy a whole new SONOS system if I could have the AMAZON ECHO controller.
Are there any representatives of the SONOS company in this community? Can I even wish for true Integration between the two companies?
Has anyone got an official answer from SONOS about AMAZON ECHO Integration?
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Seriously? I didn't know.
Seriously: http://mattwel.ch/im-joining-the-band-at-sonos/
Should be interesting to see where Sonos takes this connected home stuff.
I hope Sonos andf Amazon seriously consider this; a partnering with Amazon (they are different products with an area of overlap in streaming music/radio stations) would be awesome. Sonos could continue to own the higher end sound, while leveraging Amazon for voice control, gain access to Prime music, and probably find other ways to partner. Amazon could develop an Echo mini (my thought for a new product) that is basically a wireless device with microphone to extend Echo's voice recognition to other areas of my house (I really don't need to buy another Echo with the Sonos devices I already have - just extend its range for voice recognition).
Has anyone had any luck doing this? Just got an echo and trying to get it to control Sonos is a must, I used the speaker itself over my Sonos this evening because it was so convenient, I would consider selling all my devices if I wasn't so attached to the ecosystem...
pleeeeeease do this. If I could control it with my echo I'd go out and buy a Sonos system today!
I worked things through and got it working, then dug in and got it to do even more. The key is understanding the connection between the syntax in the intent schema section, the utterances section (both on alexa skills), and the code in the index.js file that gets loaded to Lambda.
If you want to do something new, you will need to define a new intent, new utterances, and make sure the code in the intents.js file does what you need. I've added:
custom slot type for "play " - favorite needs to be all lower case and one word in sonos faves and in the custom slot type value
whats playing (similar to original author)
what's next (same as above, but next song)
play favorite - see above
list favorites - reads off what valid favorites there are
shuffle on/off
repeat on/off
If you want to do something new, you will need to define a new intent, new utterances, and make sure the code in the intents.js file does what you need. I've added:
custom slot type for "play " - favorite needs to be all lower case and one word in sonos faves and in the custom slot type value
whats playing (similar to original author)
what's next (same as above, but next song)
play favorite - see above
list favorites - reads off what valid favorites there are
shuffle on/off
repeat on/off
I'm the guy who wrote the echo-sonos code at https://github.com/rgraciano/echo-sonos
This past weekend, I fixed some bugs and made it smarter - features like next, previously, & what's playing now all work reliably. I also added a bunch of features like playlists and favorites, and many new phrasings to make voice control feel more natural.
Hope it helps!
Ryan
Ok, so this looks complicated and will take a while for me to understand some of this, but given the money spent on sonos, echo and home automation, integrating sonos to echo is a must if i want to keep playing (and spending money) on gadgets with the girlfriends approval.
So a couple questions:
When you say the files need to be installed on a server, will this work on a NAS (have a drobo FS).
Is a Echo developer account still needed to get this operational? Was that difficult to get?
I'm the guy who wrote the echo-sonos code at https://github.com/rgraciano/echo-sonos
This past weekend, I fixed some bugs and made it smarter - features like next, previously, & what's playing now all work reliably. I also added a bunch of features like playlists and favorites, and many new phrasings to make voice control feel more natural.
Hope it helps!
Ryan
I found your GitHub before I found this post and want to say thank you. I haven't embarked on the journey yet but I read through the github and I don't think I'll have any issues. Currently have a multi room sonos setup and hadn't ordered an echo yet but now that you have made the two possible I'm going to move forward with the echo purchase. Thanks for you and everyone else's hard work.
Echo integration is...
As Echo not available outside of the US why would any company waste a large sum of money trying to integrate with anything that is not a global seller?
Until Echo becomes a global success, unlike a certain phone, there is no need to do anything.
The market is subject to a number of competing "standards" for automation. Which one will win?
Sorting out that Sonos refer to home cinema which is full of holes as to accepted data streams would seem to be of a greater priority in the shorter term. But then...more and more TVs output DD5.1...so what is the correct course.
As Echo not available outside of the US why would any company waste a large sum of money trying to integrate with anything that is not a global seller?
Until Echo becomes a global success, unlike a certain phone, there is no need to do anything.
The market is subject to a number of competing "standards" for automation. Which one will win?
Sorting out that Sonos refer to home cinema which is full of holes as to accepted data streams would seem to be of a greater priority in the shorter term. But then...more and more TVs output DD5.1...so what is the correct course.
Great hack! But what about the 99% of people who can't or don't want to do this? I understand that Sonos and Echo MIGHT be considered competitive products but I agree with UP2MTNS and others on that subject. How/why would Sonos providing an IFTTT channel make people buy an Echo instead of Sonos? Doesn't make sense. In fact the reverse is true. The fact that Sonos does not have an IFTTT channel is inexcusable and is hurting their reputation. I was impressed with Sonos until this. Now I will switch from recommending them to warning against them. Come on Sonos, you should have provided an IFTTT channel long ago. Shame on you!
But what about the Echo ONLY being available in the US at present? How and why would a global "premium" product company commit to a regional product?
Whilst the Echo remains a regional product , as the mantra goes, other automation new kids come along. That the Echo integrates with other products is one way. What about opposite spin. What products arrive with Echo integration? Given the choice already of different systems, why pick Echo?
Whilst the Echo remains a regional product , as the mantra goes, other automation new kids come along. That the Echo integrates with other products is one way. What about opposite spin. What products arrive with Echo integration? Given the choice already of different systems, why pick Echo?
I suspect that there are a lot of Sonos customers in America who would like Echo integration. I also suspect there are more Sonos owners who use Android instead of iPhone and Sonos has made TruePlay to only work with iPhone...
Nothing pisses me off more than companies that only put out one app in one ecosystem, usually Apple, and take forever or never put out an Android app.
What android app? Trueplay? That has been explained ad nauseum and only a few posts above.
Whilst the Echo remains a regional product , as the mantra goes, other automation new kids come along. That the Echo integrates with other products is one way. What about opposite spin. What products arrive with Echo integration? Given the choice already of different systems, why pick Echo?
Not sure I get your point about US only... Sonos already supports services that are restricted by region so how is this any different?
Also not sure what choice of different systems you are referring to that compete with Echo. If you are looking for a voice operated digital assistant and control interface for your home (as opposed to one operating on a smartphone or tablet) what other options are out there right now?
I for one am Canadian and have 17 sonos-I would LOVE echo integration but I guess I'm SOL since I'm not in the US...
The Echo is only available in the US. It will no doubt be rolled out globally. It is physical goods and not services.
Indeed the US market is big enough, about the same as Europe which doesn't have the device, to provide US only services but any service is going to be a very heavy weight if those services can't be ported globally and to automation systems developed elsewhere. Amazon is a global company that wants to sell you media and will integrate the Echo primarily into its services with assorted carrots attached to lure purchasers.
Automation takes many forms, voice control is no good outside of the home whilst app/programme based is good everywhere.
It is not the fact that Echo is voice controlled (voice control...that sounds familiar) but that there a number of automation alternatives. Which is the best? Who knows. Is there any standard? What stability is there when someone changes their firmware and things stop working.
Automation is still a very small, but significant, growing market with some very big players not yet in the market. Amazon want to sell you media. Apple want to sell you "premium" devices and media, Samsung/LG want to sell you devices.
Solutions and corporate focus for that three are/will be very different.
Indeed the US market is big enough, about the same as Europe which doesn't have the device, to provide US only services but any service is going to be a very heavy weight if those services can't be ported globally and to automation systems developed elsewhere. Amazon is a global company that wants to sell you media and will integrate the Echo primarily into its services with assorted carrots attached to lure purchasers.
Automation takes many forms, voice control is no good outside of the home whilst app/programme based is good everywhere.
It is not the fact that Echo is voice controlled (voice control...that sounds familiar) but that there a number of automation alternatives. Which is the best? Who knows. Is there any standard? What stability is there when someone changes their firmware and things stop working.
Automation is still a very small, but significant, growing market with some very big players not yet in the market. Amazon want to sell you media. Apple want to sell you "premium" devices and media, Samsung/LG want to sell you devices.
Solutions and corporate focus for that three are/will be very different.
I did a full Sonos Amazon Echo integration, you can read more about the project here: https://medium.com/@MathiasHansen/hacking-an-amazon-echo-and-integrating-it-with-sonos-75dbcc02f5b5#.p9vzjhd2g
That looks very simple...
If anybody is interested in voice control outside the Echo, then have a look at this:
https://www.athom.com
At this stage I cannot confirm how good it is as it's only just about to land after its Kickstarter campaign. But it is more feature rich than the Echo, and an open platform, and is a possible alternative. Also see these two threads about Sonos and Echo in particular (Emile's the creator btw):
https://forum.athom.com/discussion/289/sonos-connect
https://forum.athom.com/discussion/91/amazon-echo
Homey is obviously intended for fuller home integration as well as the basic Echo commands, but is very new so who knows how it will fair. I will try to remember to come back in a few weeks (mine is due within a couple of weeks) to let you know how it works with Sonos, which I'm very keen to get working with voice control.
https://www.athom.com
At this stage I cannot confirm how good it is as it's only just about to land after its Kickstarter campaign. But it is more feature rich than the Echo, and an open platform, and is a possible alternative. Also see these two threads about Sonos and Echo in particular (Emile's the creator btw):
https://forum.athom.com/discussion/289/sonos-connect
https://forum.athom.com/discussion/91/amazon-echo
Homey is obviously intended for fuller home integration as well as the basic Echo commands, but is very new so who knows how it will fair. I will try to remember to come back in a few weeks (mine is due within a couple of weeks) to let you know how it works with Sonos, which I'm very keen to get working with voice control.
I haven't done it yet, but the Echo Dot that was just released has a 3.5mm audio out that can be used to connect to the audio input on a Sonos Connect or Amp, essentially using the Dot as the input device on the sonos system.
I have an Amazon Echo and like it - and the Dot is an interesting addition that I plan on getting.
How would I use the Dot? One use case is to use it in my Bedroom - and in the ideal world connect it to a Play 1
Unfortunately - the Play 1 doesn't have an input connector - NOR - does it have Bluetooth capabilities - which pretty much kills the overall idea ..
Hopefully, Sonos is working with Amazon on some type of integration to make my use case possible ..
How would I use the Dot? One use case is to use it in my Bedroom - and in the ideal world connect it to a Play 1
Unfortunately - the Play 1 doesn't have an input connector - NOR - does it have Bluetooth capabilities - which pretty much kills the overall idea ..
Hopefully, Sonos is working with Amazon on some type of integration to make my use case possible ..
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How would I use the Dot? One use case is to use it in my Bedroom - and in the ideal world connect it to a Play 1
Unfortunately - the Play 1 doesn't have an input connector - NOR - does it have Bluetooth capabilities - which pretty much kills the overall idea ..
Hopefully, Sonos is working with Amazon on some type of integration to make my use case possible ..
If you have a Play 1 why would you need/want an Amazon Dot? Isn't it just a speaker? As a speaker it will be nowhere near as good as the Play 1 either.
So does this open the door to Sonos working on an Echo skillset?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/aarontilley/2016/03/10/as-amazon-echo-takes-off-sonos-announces-layoffs-and-preps-for-a-voice-controlled-future/#276269117bbd
http://www.forbes.com/sites/aarontilley/2016/03/10/as-amazon-echo-takes-off-sonos-announces-layoffs-and-preps-for-a-voice-controlled-future/#276269117bbd
No details on specifics, but here it is in the CEO's words:
http://blog.sonos.com/news/industry-in-transition-invest-in-future
http://blog.sonos.com/news/industry-in-transition-invest-in-future
Here is the problem I have with the blog entry. Streaming Music is a different beast than Voice - and this just isn't about "voice" - its about control in the household and the functionality of the voice system itself
It makes little/no sense for Sonos to compete against the likes of Echo, Cortana, etc - to many players with deep pockets.
So we get back to the initial question. Integrating Sonos with one of these Voice systems - lets say Echo - that isn't a "knee jerk" reaction by any extent of the imagination .. Echo has been out and growing for about a year - and new product here today ..
It makes little/no sense for Sonos to compete against the likes of Echo, Cortana, etc - to many players with deep pockets.
So we get back to the initial question. Integrating Sonos with one of these Voice systems - lets say Echo - that isn't a "knee jerk" reaction by any extent of the imagination .. Echo has been out and growing for about a year - and new product here today ..
Agreed, and that's the point. What is Sonos' core competency going forward? Are they a speaker manufacturer, are they a multi-room wireless service? What's the point of having the Sonos app integrate 10 different music services which are essentially the same? Are they going to develop their own voice system specific to just controlling music? Inevitably, Amazon will add multiroom wireless to the Echo's capabilities - they're almost there already with Spotify and Prime Music integration. Echo will go (and already does) far beyond music control in the home. Google's almost there with CCA, their own music service and Nest. They just need to add a few functionality tweaks. It's a tough road for Sonos.
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