Premium audio company Sonos is bringing Google Assistant to its Sonos One and Sonos Beam speakers in another six countries. The rollout follows Google Assistant's initial arrival on these speaker models in the United States in mid-May, enabling device owners to utilize Google's personal assistant in the same way they would use one of the company's Home speakers.
IKEA doesn't just have affordable Sonos-powered speakers in the pipeline, but a simple remote control to liberate users from the Sonos app or talking to a smart assistant. The IKEA Symfonisk speakers are set to launch in August, and in the process become the most affordable Sonos-compatible models around. However it's an accessory that fans of the platform may be more excited about.
Sonos' Google Assistant support is finally launching today, joining Alexa on the smart speakers. It's been a long time coming, too, Sonos electing to miss its original 2018 release in favor of spending more time making sure its two voice assistants would happily co-exist on the same hardware. Now, courtesy of a free software update, we can see how that works for ourselves.
TVs are getting as smart as phones these days but not everyone may want or need a full-blown smart TV. Most, however, will have some set-top boxes, media centers, consoles, and speakers around that could benefit from a single hub. That's what Caavo's Control Center offered when it launched late last year and, this year, it's opening its doors to even more feature that will make you think you already do own a smart TV.
Apple has truly pulled down walls when it shook hands with Amazon to integrate its Apple Music service on Echo speakers. That despite the two having competing music streaming services. Now that bridge is extending even outside of Amazon's direct territory. The latter promised non-Amazon Alexa-powered devices will soon support Apple Music control as well and, nearly four months after its promise, it's finally happening on Sonos' speakers.
Sonos and IKEA have teamed up on a range of affordable connected speakers, and Symfonisk looks likely to bring in a whole new audience to multi-room audio when it arrives in stores this summer. As with earlier IKEA smart home products, the focus is connected technology but at an attainable price point - in this case, kicking off at under a hundred dollars.
IKEA will take the wraps off its new Sonos-powered Symfonisk smart speakers in Milan next month, the company has announced. Earlier this year, the company revealed that it would start selling these speakers in the US and Europe in August, but we'll get our first proper look at the products in April. IKEA released a brief teaser video to join its announcement, but few details were offered.
Sonos revealed today that they'd be releasing a Sonos One (Gen 2) starting tomorrow, March 6th, 2019. Because of this release, the original Sonos One (the one still in stores right now), will be put on discount at some retailers. Sonos One was originally approximately $200 USD, and Sonos suggested today that some retailers will be cutting the price down by $20, while Sonos One Gen 2 is "transitioning into market."
Music through your Sonos system can now follow you outside, with the arrival of new Sonos by Sonance speakers that include an outdoor version of the streaming hardware. Part of the Sonos Architectural by Sonance lineup, the range kicks off with a trio of speakers intended for more integrated installation in - and outside - the home.
If you're a YouTube Music subscriber who happens to have an arsenal of Sonos speakers, then today is a good day. Google and Sonos have flipped the switch on YouTube Music integration for the latter company's speakers, making it the latest on a long list of music services that play nice with Sonos' products. With this new functionality comes the ability to control YouTube Music from within the Sonos app as well.
Sonos plans to launch a set of premium headphones to expand its footprint - and its virtual assistant integrations - beyond the home, according to reports this week. The headphones would be Sonos' first completely wireless product, after it built a reputation for easy to install and straightforward to use streaming speakers and multi-room audio.
There are plenty of multi-room audio options out there, but few have the reputation that Sonos does, which is why a Super Bowl season deal on some of its best connected speakers is worth paying attention to. Sonos kit is rarely on sale, and you have until February 3 - the kick-off date for Super Bowl LIII - to invest.