Sonos is in talks with Roku to add the latter’s in-development voice assistant to its range of home speakers, according to new reports.
CNET sources say the multi-room audio specialist is in “early stage discussions” over the integration, which would enable users to control their Roku-enabled TVs and streaming devices, via the microphones built into speakers like the Sonos One and Sonos Beam.
However, it’s important to note, Roku’s new Entertainment Assistant isn’t actually available yet and won’t be until next year. It is designed for use with the Roku-branded TV speakers announced back in January.
Given that minor detail, Roku fans probably shouldn’t hold their breath for fast integration. That’s especially true when one considers Sonos One users have been waiting for the promised Google Assistant integration since the speaker was released 12 months ago.
The Sonos One arrived with Alexa support out of the box and a promise that Google Assistant would follow thereafter. Earlier this summer, the company suggested it’d finally arrive before the end of 2018.
Related: Sonos Beam review
In the meantime, Apple AirPlay 2 support arrived on a range of speakers, which also brought Siri controls via a connected iPhone. Sonos hasn’t ruled out bringing direct ‘Hey Siri’ integration to the Sonos speakers, but that would take Apple opening up the assistant to third-parties.
In an interview CEO Patrick 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.”
So, while today’s news is promising for those rocking both Sonos and Roku devices as part of their home entertainment set-up, it’ll likely be a long wait before the benefits of this proposed partnership are realised.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
