After the astir tumultuous nine months successful Sonos’ history, the marque is trying to find its footing again. Even arsenic activity continues to rehabilitate the company’s beleaguered mobile app, Sonos is readying to return a large plaything successful a caller merchandise category: it’s getting into video for the first time. In the coming months, Sonos will merchandise a streaming subordinate that sources show maine could costs betwixt $200 and $400 — a genuinely staggering value for its category.
I’ve seen images of the upcoming product, which is heavy into development, and it’s astir arsenic nondescript arsenic streaming hardware gets. Viewed from the top, the instrumentality is simply a flattened achromatic quadrate and somewhat thicker than a platform of trading cards.
But the streamer, codenamed Pinewood, is designed to beryllium much than conscionable different competitor to the Apple TV 4K, Nvidia Shield, aliases Roku Ultra. Don’t get maine wrong: streaming is simply a immense attraction for the product. Sources acquainted pinch Pinewood show maine it has a “beautiful” interface, contempt the package being developed successful business with a integer ads firm.
Sonos plans to harvester contented from galore platforms including Netflix, Max, and Disney Plus nether a single, unified package experience. Universal hunt crossed streaming accounts will beryllium supported. We’ve seen akin efforts to disguise the fragmented quality of modern intermezo from Sonos’ soon-to-be rivals. But I’m told this is simply a cornerstone of Pinewood’s appeal. Sonos Voice Control will beryllium integrated, and Pinewood will besides vessel pinch a beingness distant power that includes shortcuts for celebrated streaming apps. I spot this arsenic a invited replacement to utilizing your telephone (or voice) to navigate astir the software, which could turn tiring.
It’s yet different streaming subordinate that promises to unify each of your entertainment
The hardware’s imaginable extends good beyond these features. According to group acquainted pinch its development, Pinewood serves arsenic an HDMI move and has respective HDMI ports pinch passthrough functionality. You’ll beryllium capable to plug outer devices for illustration gaming consoles aliases 4K Blu-ray players into it. Sonos engineers person been disappointment complete the years by unpredictable issues betwixt its soundbars and definite TVs. These tin see audio sync delays, little awesome dropouts, and different bugs that tin beryllium challenging to reproduce, fto unsocial fix. With Pinewood, Sonos intends to return greater power of the I/O stack. The container will beryllium capable to wirelessly transmit lag-free TV audio to the company’s soundbars and different Sonos products.
Pinewood besides unlocks a capacity that Sonos customers person been requesting for years: you’ll beryllium capable to configure a genuine situation sound strategy utilizing the company’s other speakers. Instead of relying truthful heavy connected a soundbar, you tin create dedicated beforehand near and correct channels with, say, 2 Era 300s. This will let for far much precocious Dolby Atmos setups, but Sonos is still finalizing precisely which speaker arrangements will beryllium supported.
In different firsts for the company, Pinewood will see gigabit ethernet and Wi-Fi 7 for the astir robust connectivity possible. The Pinewood codename was first reported by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
I don’t request to support reminding you of really unspeakable 2024 was for Sonos — each acknowledgment to mediocre decisions made by its executive activity team. But now the institution has a caller interim CEO, Tom Conrad, who will big his first net telephone arsenic Sonos’ leader connected Thursday. He’ll undoubtedly accent that improving the company’s oft-criticized mobile app remains privilege number one. But I’ll beryllium listening to perceive what Conrad has to opportunity astir the future.
Do you cognize much astir what went incorrect astatine Sonos nether Patrick Spence?
In my clip astatine The Verge, I’ve covered Sonos much comprehensively (and I’d for illustration to deliberation fairly) than immoderate different company. Yes, that includes a agelong database of merchandise leaks, but I’m acold much willing successful sparkling a ray connected each the frustrations caused by the caller app — some for customers and unit — and the bad decisions that led Sonos disconnected the tracks. Those choices person had repercussions for mean labor who gave their champion to the brand.
If you person much to stock astir the past twelvemonth astatine Sonos, please scope retired to maine confidentially and securely complete Signal astatine (845) 445-8455 aliases chriswelch.01. I tin besides beryllium reached via DM connected Bluesky, X, aliases Instagram.
Through that lens, Pinewood will beryllium Sonos’ astir important merchandise preamble of fiscal 2025 and could extremity up being the company’s only caller hardware owed anytime soon. After the Sonos Ace headphones — an awesome first effort — were swallowed up by the app controversy, this is different effort to break into a caller merchandise category. Sales of the Ace stay disappointing, according to sources. This has led Sonos to deprioritize planned features for illustration TrueCinema, which was expected to make the Ace’s situation sound moreover much convincing by taking the acoustics of your room into account. Sonos has besides put different in-the-works hardware connected the backburner truthful arsenic not to dispersed itself excessively thin.
Inside Sonos, immoderate labor stay pessimistic astir Pinewood’s chances of becoming thing much than a niche instrumentality successful a crowded, competitory space. The Nvidia Shield TV Pro, among the astir costly streaming devices, costs $200. The Sonos Ace headphones faced likewise daunting likelihood and person fallen good short of the company’s targets. To beryllium fair, those were arsenic doomed by the app situation.
I’m told the streaming container is mostly the pet task of main invention serviceman Nick Millington, who architected Sonos’ halfway networking model decades ago. Pinewood’s early improvement began nether Studio 110, an precocious group wrong Sonos that was helmed by Millington for a time. More recently, Millington has been overseeing improvements to the mobile app and regularly engages pinch Sonos’ Reddit community.
Pinewood was greenlit by erstwhile CEO Patrick Spence and remains successful beta testing, truthful immoderate features I’ve mentioned could beryllium changed aliases dropped from the container by the clip it ships. If the rumored premium value is meticulous — respective sources reiterated that Pinewood won’t beryllium inexpensive — Sonos has to nail the device’s preamble and make a beardown lawsuit for why it’s a must-own summation to the company’s ecosystem.
Positive reviews of the caller Arc Ultra person been a much-needed morale boost astatine the institution and beryllium that Sonos still knows really to make a masterful soundbar. But labor are wary of much occupation cuts successful the adjacent future. Some person expressed uncertainty arsenic to whether the caller shakeup successful Sonos activity will yet nutrient meaningful change.