Yesterday we reported on what appeared to be a smart speaker by Sonos passing through the FCC. Today they have begun sending out invites to a launch event in New York on October 4 – you join the dots.
The new device set to be announced by Sonos seems likely to be the smart speaker with support for several voice assistants. As you can see above the invite shows a mouth so they are either introducing a karaoke speaker or a voice activated smart speaker. We’re betting on the latter.
The new device that passed through the FCC “is a high-performance all-in-one wireless smart speaker and part of Sonos’ home sound system.” Reading between the lines, and with a bit of possibly wishful thinking, the new voice activated speaker will be able to not just provide information ala Google Home but also control your entire home Sonos system with ease.
The FCC listing also states that there is “voice control functionality with far field microphones” which are present in all other smart speakers. The device will also “support multiple voice platforms and music services” which makes you wonder if how Google and Amazon (and Apple though I have a hard time believing Apple would allow Siri to exist on any device other than their own) feel about their digital assistants cohabiting on a single speaker. Personally I welcome it.
We have reached out to Sonos Australia for any news of a local announcement or release and will pass this on as soon as we have received it. I am looking forward to buying a Sonos Home with Google Assistant AND Alexa (especially with Amazon touching down here soon) although surely they are not the last high end speaker company to release a smart speaker? Everyone loves options right?
It would be good if Google home worked with existing Sonos speakers. Hopefully that’s part of the announcement. A bit like play music and Sonos with the way that can work.
If the sonos speakers were compatable with the google cast system i would be so happy…