Audio-Electronics Maker Sonos Debuts Digital Assistant for Its Devices

Audio-electronics maker Sonos will be debuting a digital assistant in a market crowded by big players like Amazon and Apple, Bloomberg reported Wednesday (May 11).

Called Sonos Voice Control, the service will focus on controlling media content on the company’s devices rather than being a conduit for information as rival companies’ devices have been.

Sonos Voice Control will be able to manage music and video playback, along with adjusting volume and letting users specify what speaker they want the audio to play on. The Sonos technology will function similarly to wake words like “Hey Siri,” with users being able to activate it by saying “Hey Sonos.”

It will roll out first in the U.S. and then later in France and other regions. This is part of a lineup of products Sonos announced Wednesday, which will include other things like a lower-cost sound bar for TVs.

Sonos said the functionality is the “most private” on the market because of the fact that the data isn’t shared to the cloud or monitored by the company. It will be added to existing Sonos devices by June 1. The company also plans to release its Roam portable speaker in the new colors of blue, orange and green.

Sonos has been known as a premiere company in the personal and home audio space, but it will now be taking on a more crowded market, which has dampened its stock price, with shares falling around 30% this year so far.

PYMNTS wrote earlier this year that the CEOs of Sonos and Yelp met with the White House to lobby for the legislation in the House about several acts including the “American Innovation and Choice Online Act, and perhaps also the Open App Markets Act,” which could put more restrictions on Big Tech.

Read more: Big Tech’s Chorus of Critics Grows Ahead of Hill Hearing

The American Innovation and Choice Act would make it so Big Tech firms can’t favor their own services over others. The bill would target companies with platforms with 1 billion monthly users worldwide.