Sonos partners with Amazon, adds voice support to its speakers

By early 2017, you’ll be able to use Amazon Alexa-powered devices (such as the Echo, Tap, and Dot) to control your Sonos ecosystem. Sonos has entered a long-term partnership with Amazon to introduce things like voice control to Sonos’ connected speakers. Aside from that, the Sonos system also adds Spotify Connect support, which will let you easily stream tunes on the music streaming service right into your speaker system. The support should go live in the coming weeks. Sonos earlier this year partnered with Apple to bring support for Apple Music into its system.

Source: Gizmodo

Sonya's Father's Day Gift Guide 2016

By Sonya Davidson

Most dads will tell you that Father's Day is no big deal. Even celebrity Chef Ricardo Lavillee mentioned in a recent interview that he cherishes the time with his family more than anything else and finds joy when his kids simply know how he likes his coffee in the morning. For the record, it's a decaf Nespresso. Having said that, I'm sure the dads in my life would get some joy out of receiving an unexpected gift. I don't really want to say forget about the predictable new ties and socks but having seen the latest Canadian Tire Father's Day ads, I'm certain that these ideas would get positive reactions...

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Apple Music to start streaming on Sonos speakers tomorrow

Sonos started testing out Apple Music streaming in December last year. Now, the two companies are ready to introduce the full support starting tomorrow, February 10. Sonos speaker systems around the world will be able to access all Apple Music features and stream your entire catalog through these speakers.

To stream Apple Music on Sonos, all you have to do is select "Add Music Services" from any Sonos controller app and look for the Apple Music icon and then enter login credentials.

Apple Music on Sonos was tested by hundreds of thousands of listeners through a successful beta program that started in early December. To stream Apple Music on Sonos, customers simply select “Add Music Services” from any Sonos controller app, scroll down to the Apple Music icon, and login.

“The feedback from Apple Music members on Sonos during the beta period has been great,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “Sonos plus Apple Music provides an amazing listening experience at home – and we’re excited to offer it to all Sonos customers starting tomorrow.” 

“This partnership has been an excellent example of two companies that truly care about music coming together to deliver a great listening experience,” said John MacFarlane, Sonos chief executive officer. “Working with Apple gives us the opportunity to share Apple Music throughout people’s homes in a way that’s easy, intuitive, and sounds great.”

Source: Sonos

Apple Music support rolling out to Sonos users signed up to beta program today

Owners of Sonos speaker systems who are also Apple Music subscribers (and who signed up for the beta earlier this month) will start receiving the long awaited ability to stream Apple Music via Wi-Fi directly to their speakers. The feature, for those who have it, will be available in the Sonos Controller App and is slated for wider release earlier next year. 

Source: 9to5Mac