New partnerships will let you tell your Sonos speakers what music to play
NEW YORK -- Sonos took a look at the future and realized it's time to put partners first.
The wireless audio company announced it would roll out Amazon Alexa integration early next year, enabling voice control for Sonos systems. It's also pushing out a host of other software updates, including one that will let Spotify users control their Sonos systems with Spotify's mobile and desktop apps.
Overall, the changes are all part of Sonos's effort to become the sound platform for the connected home.
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"We believe Music is killer app of connected home.” said Sonos President Patrick Spence.
The Spotify app integration will bring together the "Spotify Connect ecosystem from headphone, cars and any connected device to Sonos speakers," said Ian Geller, Spotify's global head of hardware partnerships. Sonos executives said that the existing Sonos app and Spotify app can easily coexist in one Sonos environment.
The new Spotify capability will also add the ability to control a Sonos system over the Internet, even when the user is outside their home Wi-Fi network.
The Amazon Alexa partnership will enable, in early 2017, voice control of Sonos systems across all Amazon Echo hardware, including Tap and Dot. A private beta will arrive later this year.
The Alexa update will be free and work with existing (with a firmware update) and new Sonos systems.
In an effort to try to shorten what Sonos calls "time to play" -- the distance between finding a song and playing it through a Sonos system -- the company is upgrading its own control app. Starting on Sept. 7, Sonos users will be able to tap on a song to instantly start listening. They'll still be able to curate playlists by selecting a set of ellipses below each song and album.
The company also announced a new partnership with Airbnb, to provide Sonos systems in Aibnb's around the world.
Founded in 2002, Sonos was an early mover in the field of digital, connected music. Thanks to its high-end products and relationships with traditional consumer-electronics channels (like custom installers), it's managed to maintain its leadership position in connected, whole-house audio. The company struggled in recent years through the rise of digital music services and easy-to-use wireless speakers, announcing layoffs in early 2016.
Sonos will also soon offer deeper integration with existing smart home integration systems, including Lutron, Crestron, iPort and Savant. Sonos President Spence said that eventually users will be able to run their Sonos systems through "a touch-screen panel, lamp or the touch of a button."
The company did not unveil any new hardware or even hardware updates at the event. Later, when I asked Spence about the hardware pipeline he told me with a laugh, "Of course we’re working on a bunch of awesome stuff that I’m going to tell you nothing about."
Lance Ulanoff was Chief Correspondent and Editor-at-Large of Mashable. Lance acted as a senior member of the editing team, with a focus on defining internal and curated opinion content. He also helped develop staff-wide alternative story-telling skills and implementation of social media tools during live events. Prior to joining Mashable in September 2011 Lance Ulanoff served as Editor in Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for the Ziff Davis, Inc. While there, he guided the brand to a 100% digital existence and oversaw content strategy for all of Ziff Davis’ Web sites. His long-running column on PCMag.com earned him a Bronze award from the ASBPE. Winmag.com, HomePC.com and PCMag.com were all been honored under Lance’s guidance.He makes frequent appearances on national, international, and local news programs including Fox News, the Today Show, Good Morning America, Kelly and Michael, CNBC, CNN and the BBC.He has also offered commentary on National Public Radio and been interviewed by newspapers and radio stations around the country. Lance has been an invited guest speaker at numerous technology conferences including SXSW, Think Mobile, CEA Line Shows, Digital Life, RoboBusiness, RoboNexus, Business Foresight and Digital Media Wire’s Games and Mobile Forum.
