Home » Better call Sonos: the assistant has the voice of Gustavo Fring on the smart speakers of the American company

Better call Sonos: the assistant has the voice of Gustavo Fring on the smart speakers of the American company

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Better call Sonos: the assistant has the voice of Gustavo Fring on the smart speakers of the American company

After Amazon, Google, Apple, Sonos also has its own voice assistant. But not just any one: in fact, the actor Giancarlo Esposito will be the voice to the speakers of the American company, starting from June 1st. We know him for his role as Gustavo Fring, first in Breaking Bad then in the spin-off Better Call Saul. Cold and calculating, but always flawless in his manner and clothing, Fring is a ruthless criminal, one of the biggest drug traffickers in South America.

For Sonos, on the other hand, it becomes the expression of an artificial intelligence system that controls the reproduction of music and audio, without transmitting data via the cloud, because all the processes take place on the device. And therefore it guarantees a level of privacy higher than that of Google Assistant and Alexa.

What does he do

Sonos Voice Control focuses solely on music and controlling the Sonos speakers in each room: “It’s not a generic voice assistant and it’s not meant to be,” they explain to the Santa Barbara company. Even so, however, it has some limitations: it is currently compatible with Apple Music, Amazon Music, Pandora, Deezer and Sonos Radio, but not with Google’s Spotify and YouTube Music.

The password to activate the assistant is “Hey Sonos”, then commands can be given. Which are limited: play, forward, backward, volume, dialogue or night mode for the soundbars. It is then possible to ask for the title of the song or artist being played, like, group or separate the speakers in the various rooms. The assistant listens for 6 seconds after the last request, so you don’t have to always say “Hey Sonos” to activate it. In the demo we participated in, the answers are quick and precise, the understanding of the requests perfect, even more remarkable results considering that the Sonos Voice Control is available on all speaker and soundbar models equipped with a microphone, including the first One from 2015. , five years ago.

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To protect user privacy, the Sonos assistant does not record users’ audio commands or transmit them to a remote server for processing (and in fact works equally on the Roam and Move bluetooth speakers, even if not connected to the internet). The opposite, in short, of what Alexa and Google Assistant do, which while offering guarantees of security and respect for privacy, work thanks to the cloud. On the other hand, the use of user data is an important business, because they use voice interactions for advertising purposes.

Sonos, Google and Amazon continue to work together as partners, despite Sonos having publicly accused both companies of favoring their products and using some of its patents without permission. That’s why the Santa Barbara company took Google to court and won the case.

You hear this voice

Google Assistant and Alexa are and will remain available, since their task is wider: Gustavo Fring does not answer questions about the weather, does not turn the TV on and off, does not mark appointments on the calendar. And he doesn’t even speak Italian: Sonos has anticipated that in the various countries it will choose different actors and actresses to give voice to his assistant. This time it is a man, unlike most of the other assistants, who often have a feminine connotation in the name and tone of voice.

“We spent a lot of time choosing the right voice, because it’s very subjective. For example for the news or news, an assertive voice might be more suitable, but if you are listening to a bedtime story or audiobook, a softer tone is preferable. We wanted something positive, but also a comforting tone like the one Giancarlo Esposito has ”. Speaking is Josef Dureau, head of the Voice control team at Sonos.

He was already the technical director of a French startup dealing with artificial intelligence, Snips, acquired by the Santa Barbara company for $ 37.5 million in 2019. And it is with Snips technologies and knowledge that Sonos has come to his assistant. Perhaps for this very reason the next available language will be French, within the year; Italian will also arrive, but it is not yet known when.

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The rest

As expected, another soundbar arrives, the cheapest in the Sonos catalog; his name is Ray and will be available in Italy from 7 June at 299 euros. It measures 56 cm, has an inconspicuous design and is sold only in black or white. It has 4 front-mounted speakers only, but the sound waves generated by the tweeters are directed both towards the listener and towards the walls, to create a wider sound field. Sonos Ray is not compatible with Dolby Atmos, but on the other hand it offers a simple and flexible installation (on a wall surface); the TV is connected with a single optical cable and you do not need a new remote control to control it. It can expand into a complete surround system by integrating other Sonos devices and you can adjust the frequency response with the app (but only if you have an iPhone or iPad). For Apple devices there is AirPlay2. Do not miss the function that highlights the dialogues and the one that optimizes the audio for listening at low volume at night. Too bad, however, for the lack of a microphone, which prevents you from using a voice assistant, even from Sonos, and for the wi-fi connection, which is only on the 2.4 GHz band, now saturated.

The sound seemed powerful, although obviously limited in the bass, the spatial definition good, the voices reproduced with accuracy: “We don’t try to make the best possible product, but the best one in a certain price range. we try to create an honest sound, a transparent window into the world of quality audio ”, they explain to Sonos, underlining that in the world only one TV in ten is connected to a soundbar: that is to say that the market offers ample room for expansion.

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The sector is already quite crowded, and the same can be said for that of bluetooth speakers, where Sonos has two models in the catalog (all the others only use wi-fi). The novelty presented in New York is not really new: the Roam has already existed for a year and is an excellent product, but now it comes in three new colors that are added to the original black and white. They are, respectively: an orange-brick, an olive green, a gray-blue. The Sonos roam Color is already available for 199 euros.

Tech Test

Sonos Beam (Gen 2), the test of the compact soundbar with Dolby Atmos

by Andrea Nepori

10 October 2021


The solar system

The other news comes from the radio: “SOLARSYSTYM is an open window on my mind, it is a place where listeners can directly experience the songs that have left a mark on me and in my life”, says Lorde about the station. curated by her. “They are shapes held together by gravitational forces, they are planets, they are dozens and dozens of dwarf planets and countless asteroids that reflect the light of a single sun. These are the forms that have changed my life for the better ”.

The New Zealand singer’s station offers listeners a straightforward, no-nonsense view of her musical journey, remembers the moments and artists she was inspired by during her teens and early career to date. It is available worldwide on Sonos Radio and, for those on the go, on Mixcloud.

Arc, the first test of Sonos’ smart soundbar

by Bruno Ruffilli

04 June 2020

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