Hello, I just had my return call from Sonos. For those who didn't see my earlier email, I was wondering why Amazon Music is not an option for us here in Canada in the Sonos app. The support person I spoke with told me that they are currently working on this and that as soon as Sonos can support Alexa on their new Sonos 1 player Amazon Music will also be added as an available music service for us here in Canada. Apparently there is still some sort of restriction they are working on with Amazon. I also asked about the Sonos 1 in general and at this point there are definitely some restrictions when it comes to Alexa and skills. Sonos was hoping that the Sonos 1 would be just like an Echo from day 1, but that apparently was not possible again because of various limitations Amazon imposes and which Sonos is working on getting resolved. For example, currently only 6 music services can be voice controlled via the Sonos 1 player, making audio calls is currently not possible and there are some other restrictions. The Sonos rep told me just as another one did before that it is the goal of Sonos to support all major voice assistants and home automation standards including Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Cortana and also home automation services/standars such as Control 4, Logitech, Nest and so on. Ultimately even Apple with SIRI and hOme Kit integration, but knowing Apple that is probably going to happen last. Interestingly enough you don't need a Sonos 1 player to integrate Alexa and Sonos since via an Alexa skill it is apparently possible or going to be possible to take an existing Echo or Echo dot and wirelessly ingegrate it with your Sonos system. Since I just ordered 2 Echo Dots, one Echo and one Echo Plus (not sure if I keep all of them, but I thought best way to find out what I want is to try it) I look forward to trying this out when I get them on December 5 which is the official date when Alexa will work here in Canada.
As far as Airplay is concerned I thought the new Sonos 1 speaker supported Airplay 2. However, currently this is not so because Sonos and Apple are still working on making this happen. I was always under the impression that Airplay required compatible hardware, basically that a speaker would have to have some sort of "modem" or whatever you want to call it which allows for the Airplay feature to function. However, this apparently is not so because the Sonos rep told me that once Apple and Sonos work this out, Sonos will simply release a software update and this will make all Sonos players even older ones into Airplay 2 capable devices. All in all this is good news and there is lots to look forward to for Sonos fans in 2018 and the next few years to come. He told me unofficially that he believes once Alexa functionality has been improved and Airplay 2 was rolled out that bringing the Google Assistant to Sonos would probably be next on the list. Best regards, Sieghard -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: [email protected]. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
