New details regarding an as - yet - unpredicted Sonosstreaming media devicehave emerged and they ’re both cause for optimism as well as soil for worry . The machine in question , which we already know go by the national codename “ Pinewood,”could cost as much as $ 400 , harmonise to reporting by Chris Welch at The Verge , who cites source “ familiar with ” the projection .
As Welch indicate out , that ’s a princely summation for a product that will in effect contend with the $ 200 Apple TV 4 one thousand , $ 200 Nvidia Shield TV Pro , and $ 100 Google Streamer . And yet , Sonos ’ machine will reportedly do a few thing these other boxes ca n’t .
Among its more interesting features are multiple HDMI inputs , the ability to pullulate audio wirelessly to a variety of Sonos speakers ( not just its consecrated home base theater soundbars ) , support for spokesperson commands , and a package experience that will mirror what is arguably the Sonos app ’s best feature of speech : universal search .
Digital Trends make out to Sonos for comment on the report , but we were separate ( unsurprisingly ) , “ we do not comment on rumor or speculation . ”
An earlier patent program suggest that Pinewood ( referred to within the program as Sonos TV)would lack a physical remote control , but apparently Sonos has had sober second thoughts about this terrible idea , Welch claims .
Multiple HDMI inputs is an intriguing idea . To my cognition , no spiritualist pennant has ever done this before . If you desire this form of functionality , you ’re seem at anAV receiveror anHDMI switcher . The former makes no sense in a house with a Sonos soundbar and the latter inevitably feels like a kludge — a machine you buy to turn to a lack of inputs on your TV — that no one actually require .
A Sonos streamer with multiple HDMI ports , on the other hand , solves several trouble . By mail audio over Wi - Fi to your pet Sonos speakers , it eliminates the demand for anHDMI ARC / eARCconnection between your TV and your soundbar . It also means that Sonos Speaker that do n’t have their own HDMI connection ( like the superbEra 300 ) would n’t need one to do full - range television receiver audio . Welch justifiedly sharpen out that this would give folks the chance to use any pair of Sonos speakers for television receiver sound and might even start the door for right height - channel ceiling talker via aSonos Amp .
get “ Pinewood ” act as the mastermind get in touch play consoles , Blu - shaft of light players , and other devices , with your TV , could give you vocalization command access over your entire home theater , much the same way that Amazon did when it introduced the firstFire TV Cube .
accord to the study , “ Sonos plans to commingle message from numerous platforms including Netflix , Max , and Disney+ under a single , unified software program experience . Universal lookup across streaming accounts will be underpin . ” It ’s concentrated to know from this verbal description whether this means that Sonos has done the impossible i.e. talk Netflix into allow its depicted object be consider within an app environment it does n’t right away control , or whether it but entail that the Netflix app will be installed by default option ( Pinewood is said to run on Android ) .
A truly desegregate Netflix would be a huge coup if Sonos can pull it off . History suggests it has a shot : The Sonos music political platform remains the only wireless speaker organisation that kick in users native access to Apple Music inside the Sonos app .
However , ( recent ) account evoke that it will be the twist ’s software system , not its computer hardware that show to be Pinewood ’s decrepit tie-in . Sonos , as I ’m sure many of you know through painful personal experience , is still trying to convalesce fromone of the all - meter worst software launches .
To say that I ’m skeptical of the party ’s ability to skip into video cyclosis without substantial job , is an understatement . These fright are somewhat tempered by the fact that previous reports have indicated Sonos is usinga third company for Pinewood ’s software — an online advertising caller called The Trade Desk .
If the inside information in the report are true , Sonos ’ spiritualist waft will pretend like a parallel control for your Sonos speaker unit . you’re able to currently swarm to Sonos loudspeaker system from the Sonos app , or fromAirPlay 2 , and you’re able to bounce freely between these two selection . Pinewood ’s software would simply be another beginning for Sonos products .
There are a still a myriad of ways this could all go sideway — let in the open question of whether anyone is uncoerced to pay $ 200-$400 for such a equipment — but if it succeeds , it could be the production launching that restores Sonos ’ reputation . And that ca n’t occur soon enough .
