"Hey Sonos" to activate the Sonos Voice Control voice assistant from June

After the announcement of the Sonos Ray soundbar, it's official, Sonos is preparing to launch its own voice assistant, an alternative to Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, themselves already present on many speakers and soundbars of the brand equipped with voice interaction. Named Sonos Voice Control, the assistant will arrive via a software update in the US on June 1, then everywhere else after that.

Sonos Voice Control "Hey Sonos", for the total respect for privacy Sonos Voice Control, as its name suggests, will control its system by voice via the command "Hey Sonos", with the ambition of "making voice interactions completely private, more personal and more natural". Indeed, on the privacy side, the system does not record user orders to send them to the Cloud. Namely, if a Firmware update is necessary to take advantage of it with the models already present in homes, Sonos Voice Control will be directly integrated into commercial products.

The possibilities offered to users are numerous: control of the play music in each room, transfer listening from one room to another and save songs as favorites in your personal library.

We speak to Joseph Dureau, Sonos vice president of voice experience Joseph Dureau, Sonos vice president of voice experience, said, "Sonos' goal is to deliver new experiences that allow listeners to easily interact with their favorite content," said Joseph Dureau, vice president of Sonos Voice Experience. "Voice is one of the most natural ways to interact with music, but speaking to our customers we've found that many are concerned about privacy and dissatisfied with the voice services currently available, as they don't guarantee privacy. accuracy, speed, and ease of use they want. Sonos Voice Control gives our customers the uncompromising experience they seek, with service that places equal emphasis on speed, accuracy, and confidentiality".

Giancarlo Esposito, the voice of Sonos Voice Control The assistant is literally voiced by Giancarlo Esposito, an actor known for his roles in the series Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul and The Mandalorian. Sonos took care of the recordings to ensure that the voice was natural and discreet and at the same time decisive and engaging.However, Esposito will not remain the only voice of the Sonos Voice Control program: over time, other s 'will be added as the service gradually expands.

At launch, Sonos Voice will be compatible with Apple Music, Amazon Music, Pandora, Deezer, and of course Sonos Radio. Spotify and YouTube Music will therefore not be part of the start.