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I am thinking about purchasing the new Google home voice recognition product, I understand that Sonos will work with Amazons echo in the near future. Does Sonos have any information regarding google home integration?
My guess is they will want to work with home but that integration with home will have to come later.... we don't know a lot yet about how developers are going to be able to work with home.



I would assume a lot of what they learn with echo integration will work the same with home integration so future home integration won't be a long way behind echo. I would say if we expect echo by first quarter next year maybe home by 3rd quarter. I guess depends on size of their team if they have ability to work on both simultaneously. Then what about Apple HomeKit. I would think if your doing the voice thing you would want to work with alexa, Google, and Siri.



I debated canceling my order for addition dots because home seems to be more fluid in its ability to recognize speech. But decided alexa was already doing all I need from it, will be first with Sonos support, and the dots are cheaper then the others (as with Sonos I don't need the speaker part).



With my smartthings I can already play and pause my Sonos speakers so I'm sure home will do that out the gate with my Smartthings hub in middle. with home I would have been able control my play:5 in kitchen that has chrimecast dongle I would assume
Sonos seems to be the speaker of choice right now when it comes to whole home integration. Devices like Smartthings have had Sonos integration before even Samsung speakers.
The Playbase has been in development for 4 years, voice activation was announced in August of last year. If you think the 4 year development cycle of hardware affects the software development of the last 6 or so months, then you have a lot to learn about CE development. Simply put, there is nothing about releasing the Playbase which would even be a bump in the road for voice control.



Now go ahead and take the cowards way out of your ignorance by calling me a fan boy. That's when I know I win a debate.
This conversation began with Google Home, but the scope is much larger now with Google Assistant available on every Android phone. This is a huge miss for Sonos to not provide integration either on par or ahead of Alexa at this point.



If anything, the lack of these integrations will hurt Sonos for people like me who want the speakers for the audio quality. I can already say "Hey Google, play music on my speakers" and with Chromecasts in place, this works perfectly. Sonos' inability to adapt and provide integrations for Google Assistant is preventing people like me from buying their top-tier speakers.



Living in a small house, I want just one Play 5 for both TV and music, but I'm limited to using the audio input for TV. Thus, I need this integration to even make this a viable option without buying multiple more expensive speakers.



* Please come soon—I'm willing to even help develop it at this point 😉 *
How long can Sonos hold off on better integration? I'm getting the feeling that the Sonos home automation integrations will be a chapter in a future release of The Innovator's Dilemma.



Sonos has said they want to be platform agnostic, but I don't think they have actually announced a timeline for Google home support yet have they? Alexa support is promised by end of 17. Possibly 16 months from announcement to delivery. But I'm with you Google home support is something that I would really like to come to Sonos.



For all we know they could be working on Google home support now. Or maybe it will never come. If you want voice control of your Sonos in the near future it seems that Alexa is the only sure thing right now and it still could be many months away from release ( or not)
I think Sonos need to get a move on and make some announcements. As someone else said above; I'm very much Sonos at the moment, but I am starting to wonder why and am certainly not investing in extra kit in the immediate future. I could just make the leap now and go google home throughout my home and sell my Sonos kit on ebay to pay for it and pretty much get what I want i.e. the ability to play music in every room via voice control - and of course have extra benefits.



If Sonos are not quick and give us some proper feedback of their intentions and timescales in this area then they're going to lose out on market here as Google and Amazon steal the home audio sector.
I know you are asking about direct support but a Chromecast Audio is only $30-35 and can be used as an input on Play 5 today (I use this already). Therefore, Google Home control is easy to add, assuming your setup includes a Play 5 . Plus, Sonos already supports casting directly from Android devices. It seems like Google Home might be able to exploit this capability as an avenue to provide support pretty soon, if not immediately.



I ordered Google Home because I believe their device will be much smarter than the Amazon version. I also use the Google applications already, so that is a big plus too.
I would guess any announcement on google home will follow on from successful Alex intergration.
I've been posting here for years, and depending on the agenda of the poster, I've heard that Sonos is in bed with Apple or Google, Apple Music or Google Play Music, iOS or Android, etc., etc. The fact is, Sonos integrates with any company who wishes to integrate with them. Key word being "wishes".



And I too find the effort to sign up for a support forum just to say you are returning something to be either childish taunting, or returner's remorse. Either impetus is rather sad.
Why would you say Alexa cannot do things like that? It has access to both your schedule and traffic conditions. As to the "smartness" of Alexa, Alexa's "smarts" are in the cloud, not the device, so its "smartness" is not limited to the device, only to the ability of the cloud.





Have you ever played a song in Alexa? then in the middle of the song ask her how to pronounce the name of this artist, you will see her answer! she can not answer that!


Have you ever played a song in Alexa? then in the middle of the song ask her how to pronounce the name of this artist, you will see her answer! she can not answer that!



There is no hardware based deficiency which prevents Alexa from doing this. As I said, all the smarts are in the cloud, so the capability is there if one wants to enable it. So I'm not going to get in a X-Box/Playstation battle over what voice control method does what. They are usually based on emotional loyalty rather that any facts anyway.
Searching the jobs postings usually gives some general hints about direction. Search for API, several hits talking about the new gen of "direct control", accessible via lan or web. That's the term they used for the new Spotify wizardry, not "Spotify Connect", so I'll make the leap and conclude that they're building their own API that Spotify, Google, Apple, etc are all welcome to use. It will no doubt allow control of Sonos features not included in the Chromecast API.
Hello Adam, which sonos do you have? Do you have a harmony hub as well?
Well then I guess it's a good thing it was last August, rather than last October that Amazon and Sonos announced full Echo/Sonos integration is coming in 2017.



http://press-us.sonos.com/134980-sonos-with-partners-and-industry-leaders-ushers-in-new-era-of-connected-home-listening
Why would you say Alexa cannot do things like that? It has access to both your schedule and traffic conditions. As to the "smartness" of Alexa, Alexa's "smarts" are in the cloud, not the device, so its "smartness" is not limited to the device, only to the ability of the cloud.





Have you ever played a song in Alexa? then in the middle of the song ask her how to pronounce the name of this artist, you will see her answer! she can not answer that!



Do you mean that Alexa is unable to pronounce it or gets the pronunciation wrong? Or doesn't even try as there are many ways to pronounce names?

Is your name Ant-toe-knee or Anth-o-knee?

Is part of my name Blam or Bal-ham or Bal-um
You got me. I wasn't clear. I meant announcement that they were going to have the feature just as the holidays rolled in so the Echo or Google Home could be a hot item to gift. I'm just being picky. I'm using Sonos integration (non-beta) as the tipping point for trying out AmazonEcho/GoogleHome.





Well then I guess it's a good thing it was last August, rather than last October that Amazon and Sonos announced full Echo/Sonos integration is coming in 2017.



http://press-us.sonos.com/134980-sonos-with-partners-and-industry-leaders-ushers-in-new-era-of-connected-home-listening
One thing is for sure, Alexa they have announced and it will be here 1st quarter 2017, so google home is good year way at best, my guess......

You could always sell Alexa in a years time ;O)



Naw, once they get the coding completed for Echo, its a matter of some number changes before they can get it to work with google home, which should take a week if they really wanted to.
If that is your tipping point, your decision is made.



Thank you jgatie for the feedback. I see your point.



Do Sonos users go for the Echo or the Dot? I assume the Dot since the Echo has a better speaker but is maybe rendered redundant The price makes the Dot a low-risk investment. Maybe this isn't appropriate conversation for a Google Home titled thread.



It would be superb if Sonos would allow you to use your Echo as a zone. Somehow I don't see that happening. But, I won't complain much.
I would say the Dot is the most logical, it's more cost effective and the speaker on the Echo is rather redundant if used with Sonos.
I have one original echo. But since then have purchased nothing but Dots. Dots are great for having across whole home to make Alexa a whole home system like Sonos. Once Alexa gets full Sonos control the original echo with speaker won't be particularly needed at all.



Are you having any problems with your dot? How do you like it? I am interested in it for the integration with sonos but I have been reading mixed reviews. I have been reading the dot doesn't always hear you. Reviews coming from people who have both and one of the tech magazines (don't remember which site) and the consensus is the echo is better.



Kris:)
I have 7 dots and they work great. They hear me very well. The microphones pickup great.
Work well with home automation using Smartthings, hue bulbs and harmony hubs I can voice control most everything in house.
Ok, Thanks. I guess I will go with dots then. I have been waiting for the integration.



Kris 🙂
@jgatie - What I'm saying is the Playbase was a waste of time and resources for Sonos. It will not sell well and be an utter loss of money for Sonos. Once again, they need to focus resources on understanding why customers first gravitated to using their products. Ease of use and integration. You seem to be one of the type of people that think releasing a new product every year denotes progress. Let me know how well the Playbase does and if it actually moves the needle this year for Sonos.
@Airgetlam - Also having worked in the software industry for over 15 years, I know that no response to consumer needs is going to lead to a dismal future. I bought into the Sono ecosystem not for the sound (average at best) but for the ease of use and integration into all things music in the home. Spotify, Amazon, TuneIn Radio, etc integration was crucial in my decision to buy. But now, as this thread shows from being over 5 months old, software development for the current product lines seems to be stagnant. There are other threads that ask about 3rd party integrations that are over a year old. I'm not holding my breath for much longer before I jump ship.
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