6/15/2023 0 Comments Control sonos remotely![]() The struggle between Sonos and big tech seems personal in many ways, and it may date all the way back to a 2004 encounter with Steve Jobs. I wonder how Gus Fring would respond? Will SmartHome Audio Find Peace in Our Time? ![]() Google spokesperson José Castañeda said the purpose of the lawsuits are to “defend our technology and challenge Sonos’s clear, continued infringement of our patents.” Castañeda said that Sonos had “started an aggressive and misleading campaign against our products, at the expense of our shared customers.” These patents pertain to Sonos hotword detection, wireless charging and the process around the which wireless speaker should actually respond to a given voice command. Two suits filed against Sonos allege infringement on seven separate patents. The company known as Alphabet Inc has filed a tit-for-tat lawsuits against Sonos for its efforts. Google clearly isn’t happy with Sonos’ decision to launch its own voice assistant, as well as the little matter of fighting back against IP theft. It’s fitting that the character actor with a mastery of understated intimidation represents the voice of a closed system that does not share your data to the cloud from which its rivals may prosper. The voice of the only man on Earth that can strike fear in The Boys' Homelander as Vought International CEO Stan Edgar, also known as the gentleman cartel kingpin, Gus Fring from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. In a move of total badassery, the voice of Sonos is none-other than actor Giancarlo Esposito. They may have a point!Īmazon, Apple and Google aren’t as interested in home audio as they are using your voice to mine user-data for advertising and creating new platform for online sales. Sonos charges that since all three companies subsidize speakers with revenue drawn from other business groups, Sonos accused them of anti-competitive practices. This is why in 2021, Sonos aired complaints at a Senate antitrust hearing about their dominance of the smart home market. To tech-giants Apple, Amazon and Google, home audio is an incidental detail in the service of much more lucrative business goals. But to Sonos, there are larger principles at stake that may call into question the very existence of certain hulking tech conglomerates. Sonos’ David may have landed a headshot on Goliath, but it was destined be only an opening salvo in a longer, ugly war. Last January, a US International Trade Commission ruled in favor of Sonos, forcing the tech giant to remove or rejig features into some of its home audio functions. Sonos claimed that Google lifted much of that technology when it was disclosed to Google during talks to integrate its voice assistant into Sonos. Google Chromcast, Chromcast Audio, Nest speakers and even Chromecast dongles and phone apps using Chromecast technology were all part of Sonos patent infringement claim against the search/advertising giant. These technologies have since been adopted by other companies, and while Google was first to get sued, allegations of similar violations are not necessarily limited to Google. Patents included everything from music synchronization to multi-device volume controls. In 2013, Sonos began taking out a series of patents specific to home audio networks. It’s a fight that pits Sonos against today’s largest tech giants, Google, Amazon and Apple. Today, Sonos is no stranger to patent violation claims and its own lawsuits against Google may be part of a larger fight for fair competitive practices in the SmartHome audio market. It may have been a taste of things to come in the company’s long road forward. Physically poking McFarlane in the chest, Jobs threatened to sue the young company out of existence. Enraged by McFarlane’s remote scroll-wheel function, Jobs accused McFarlane of violating Apple patents used in his company’s hot new iPod. While giving his pitch at the 2004 D2: All Things Digital conference, MacFarlane was demonstrating remote control functions when he had a nasty encounter with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. According to legend, co-founder John McFarlane was making the rounds at industry events with a working prototype of ZonePlayer 100, his company’s first speaker.
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