Spence didn’t specify the exact finish timeline and only said “we’re working on it.” He said the company is working closely with Google on this effort. Both companies want to make Google Assistant work seamlessly on the speakers and function the way customers expect.
Smart speaker Sonos’ integration with Google Assistant is on the way and is planned to be realized in 2018, Sonos CEO Patrick Spence told the media recently.
In an interview with The Verge, Spence discussed the company’s plan of working with various smart assistants.
Sonos debuted its first smart speaker the Sonos One last year. The company claimed then the speaker will combine the power of Alexa and Google Assistant. However, Google Assistant support hasn’t been available as of mid-2018.
Spence didn’t specify the exact finish timeline and only said “we’re working on it.” He said the company is working closely with Google on this effort. Both companies want to make Google Assistant work seamlessly on the speakers and function the way customers expect.
The company’s goal is to roll out Google Assistant support in 2018, said Spence. When the Google support is ready, both Sonos One and Sonos Beam, a smart soundbar introduced recently, will get the voice feature.
Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa do similar things. The former is better at answering random questions while the later supports more smart home devices. Integrating both assistants into one device will no doubt benefit customers.
“For now, the voice experience on the Sonos One and Beam will continue to be centered on Alexa,” The Verge’s report says.
Siri support is also coming to Sonos’ devices. The company is adding AirPlay 2 support in July. With voice request using iPhones, Users can ask Siri to play songs from Apple Music on Sonos’ speakers.
Talking about the possibility of third-party devices having full Siri features, Spence said, “I think, at this point, Apple needs to decide if they’re going to be opening Siri to third parties, but we have a good relationship with Apple, and we’ve had some conversations on this and look forward to having more.”
Overall, Sonos adopts the open-platform strategy to integrate most popular voice assistants as well as music streaming services.
Spence took the CEO position in January 2017. He stated in his first letter to company employees that “The next few years will define our future as we step into the big leagues – partnering and competing with global leaders like Amazon, Google and Apple.”