A new smart speaker, bearing the model number S13 and Sonos branding, has hit the FCC and carries with it some interesting implications for cross platform connectivity and integration. That’s down to the fact that the listing shows the S13 as having support for “integrated voice controls” and “multiple voice platforms and music services.” To be clear, that could mean the as-yet-unannounced smart speaker could come with Google’s Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa, or any number of other voice assistants built in right out of the box. It could also mean the speaker will have the ability to sync up with other speakers such as Google Home or Amazon’s Alexa device. That’s not too surprising, with consideration for the fact that Sonos has already expressed a desire to incorporate those other services into its connected devices.
Beyond those details, the filing also hints that the device may support both 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi bands. That’s wouldn’t be entirely shocking in a modern connected device, but would likely make connections between the S13 and other devices – including its own network connection – much more stable. The filing also features an image – included below – which seems to show the general user interface that Sonos’ model S13 will sport. A mic button sits just above a ring of dots, which could be volume indicators or some other kind of visual cue, which surround a play/pause button and 9-dot square buttons set to either side of that button. A dash shaped button appears to sit above that. There’s no guarantee, however, that the interface on the final device will even remotely resemble that image since companies often use internal stock images to prevent leaks in FCC documentation.
Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee the speaker will support any of those above-mentioned things when it finally hits the market. If it does, that may give it a leg up over other manufacturers expecting to bring connected speakers to the market in the near future – which aren’t likely to support multiple platforms, although several are expected to also feature built in voice controls. In any case, with the FCC filing now in place, more information should be available from Sonos sooner rather than later.
