AirPlay 2 coming to HomePod rival Sonos One in July, feature of new Beam speaker
Three existing Sonos speakers -- the One, Play:5, and Playbase -- will all get promised AirPlay 2 compatibility in July, the company announced during a Wednesday event.
AirPlay 2 support will let people push audio to one or more speakers through direct OS controls, as well as Siri voice commands. Notably speakers with Alexa support -- such as the One and the newly-announced Beam soundbar that also supports AirPlay 2 -- can control ongoing playback regardless of where audio was started, though of course they can't begin playback on an iOS device.
Another novelty is that while only three speakers will initially be compatible, owning one of them will bring AirPlay 2 to older Sonos speakers.
AirPlay 2 is also present on devices like the HomePod and the Apple TV, and offers features such as multi-room audio and limited HomeKit controls. One of the selling points of Sonos speakers has typically been their ability to play in multiple rooms simultaneously, or push audio from one room to another.
Several speaker and receiver makers have pledged their support for AirPlay 2. These include Bang & Olufsen, Denon, Libratone, Marantz, and Naim.
When iOS 11.4 and tvOS 11.4 went live, though, the only speaker with support was Apple's own HomePod.
AirPlay 2 support will let people push audio to one or more speakers through direct OS controls, as well as Siri voice commands. Notably speakers with Alexa support -- such as the One and the newly-announced Beam soundbar that also supports AirPlay 2 -- can control ongoing playback regardless of where audio was started, though of course they can't begin playback on an iOS device.
Another novelty is that while only three speakers will initially be compatible, owning one of them will bring AirPlay 2 to older Sonos speakers.
AirPlay 2 is also present on devices like the HomePod and the Apple TV, and offers features such as multi-room audio and limited HomeKit controls. One of the selling points of Sonos speakers has typically been their ability to play in multiple rooms simultaneously, or push audio from one room to another.
Several speaker and receiver makers have pledged their support for AirPlay 2. These include Bang & Olufsen, Denon, Libratone, Marantz, and Naim.
When iOS 11.4 and tvOS 11.4 went live, though, the only speaker with support was Apple's own HomePod.
Comments
sirlance99 said: To be honest with two HomePods the sound comes from everywhere, it is just unbelievable, no need for ceiling speakers!
So ... I just played the Dolby Atmos demo 4K video with paired HomePods and I had to duck as the overhead jet shot past me over my head! Absolutely stunning. If it isn't 'true' I guess there will be law suits.
This is directly from the site. They don’t mention having to have the set up with speakers in the ceiling In order to take advantage. They mention sound bars having the ability to reproduce “moving audio” and even mobile devices while using headphones. I def think that the speaker placement you mention would enhance this in a home theatre setting, but it’s not the end all and processing on individual channels is what makes Atmos sound the way it does.
This is what I got from the info on their site. 😎