Sonos is reportedly planning to unveil new smart speakers that are powered by Amazon’s Alexa voice-activated assistant, according to new rumours.
The high-end speaker manufacturer recently updated its privacy policy to now cover voice assistants and microphones, hinting that voice-enabled Sonos products are set to arrive in the near future.
“Voice control works by your voice-enabled Sonos Product ‘listening’ for a specific wake word. Please note that not all Sonos Products are voice-enabled.” reads the private policy update.
Additionally, the new privacy policy covers how the microphones can monitor ambient noise for wake words, and that the user will know when the speaker is recording due to a visual indicator “such as a light on the product.”
Sonos released a statement about the bew privacy policy to Variety, where a rep said, “It covers those things that we’ve already talked about like Alexa integration, currently in private beta. It also covers future voice experiences like additional voice assistants and any future products with integrated microphones.”
In the U.S., Sonos speakers can be controlled by Amazon’s voice-enabled speakers like the Echo. The above statement leads us to expect that Sonos’ speakers could eventually be controlled via their own voice-enabled AI. It’s worth noting that Amazon’s Alexa voice-activated assistant isn’t officially available in Canada.
If these rumours are true, Sonos upcoming smart speaker would be in direct competition with Amazon’s Echo, Apple’s upcoming HomePod, Harman Kardon’s Invoke, and Google Home.
Source: Variety
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