Popular smart speaker manufacturer Sonos is planning to introduce a voice assistant service that will compete with Siri, Google Assistant, Alexa, and other voice-based personal assistants, reports The Verge.
Sonos Voice will allow Sonos users to play and control playback on Sonos speakers. Sonos speakers already support Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, and Sonos Voice will be able to be used in lieu of these services. Sonos speakers do not support Siri, but a limited number of Siri voice commands can be used with Sonos products that support AirPlay 2.
When it comes out, Sonos Voice will be compatible with Apple Music, so Sonos users will be able to ask the voice assistant to play Apple Music content. It will also work with Amazon Music, Pandora, and Deezer, but Spotify and YouTube Music won't be compatible.
As with all voice assistants, Sonos Voice will have a wake word, so users can say "Hey Sonos" to activate the feature for playing music. Activation and voice recognition will be on device for privacy reasons, and audio commands will not be uploaded to the cloud for processing.
The Sonos Voice feature is set to launch on June 1 in the United States, with an international rollout to follow soon after.
