One of the most serious recent threats faced by Sonos, the biggest player in connected speakers, came from Amazon, whose Echo "smart" speaker proved to be a surprise hit. Now Sonos is embracing its erstwhile rival to bring voice control into its own speakers. At a New York event on Tuesday morning, the company announced a partnership with Amazon that will allow the users to operate their Sonos devices using Amazon's Alexa technology. But there's a catch: Alexa's voice technology won't be built into Sonos speakers. Instead, users will have to purchase an Amazon device, like the Echo or Dot speakers, and use it to control their Sonos system. Sonos will open up a private beta of the integration at the end of this year. The features will become available to all Sonos owners in early 2017. The software integration is happening at deeper level than other Alexa partners, said Sonos president Patrick Spence. Right now, Alexa users can do a range of things using what Amazon calls as "skills" -- everything from ordering an Uber car to turning up the temperature on an internet-connected thermostat. Sonos could build an Alexa skill today if it wanted to, but the integration has to work well in Sonos' software environment too. Users will be able to, for instance, ask Alexa to play the Beatles and then open up the Sonos app to change the volume or switch to the next song. The two companies are working together to make that experience seamless. The partnership highlights just how important Alexa has become. Nobody was quite sure what to make of the Alexa-powered Echo smart speaker when it launched in 2014. But since then, its capabilities have grown and it's now starting to demonstrate a compelling future where accessing a range of internet services no longer requires fumbling around with a phone app or sitting at a computer. Users just speak to Alexa anywhere Amazon is listening. Amazon is estimated to have sold 3 million Echo devices. Sonos is having to adapt to this new world. In the 14 years since it was founded, Sonos has grown to nearly $1 billion in annual sales and has received more than $300 million in financing, but Amazon began stealing its thunder, as the Echo has become an increasingly popular way to play streaming music. Earlier this year, Sonos CEO John MacFarlane wrote a blog post announcing the company was laying off some employees while investing more in voice and paid streaming music services. “Alexa/Echo is the first product to really showcase the power of voice control in the home,” MacFarlane wrote at the time. ”Its popularity with consumers will accelerate innovation across the entire industry. What is novel today will become standard tomorrow." Sonos denies there's competition between the two companies. "We exist to fill people's home with music -- we invest in sound quality, multi-room experience and music services," said Spence in an interview. "Amazon built a great platform that allows people to order more things from Amazon. Both companies have different ambitions in terms of where we want to be." Tech giants Apple and Google are also trying expand their voice-control capabilities. Apple opened up its voice assistant, Siri, to developers in June at its annual developers conference. And at Google's developers conference in May, the search giant announced its own smart speaker called Google Home, which will be released sometime later this year. Sonos thinks there's a possibility to integrate with all these intelligent voice systems. "Amazon lit the fire and is proving out voice services," said Spence. "We'll see more and more just like with music streaming services. Amazon is at the forefront, and we're excited to see what others do." Here's a video of the Sonos-Amazon partnership: VIDEO
Sonos users will soon be able to control their wireless music - streaming devices by voice after the company said it partnered with Amazon to integrate the e - commere ##tore 's virtual assistant , Alexa , with its apps . A private beta test will take place later this year with a roll - out anticipated in 2019 . Sonos has made staff changes recently as it seeks to compete with rival streaming platforms .