After experiencing an annus horribilis in 2024, Sonos intends to bounce back this year with an unexpected product. The manufacturer wants to think outside the box with the "Pinewood project", in other words a streaming box to connect to the TV. A big bet, knowing that this market is already well occupied, between the proposals of Apple, Google (the Streamer TV) or Amazon.
Big pressure on the streaming box
According to The Verge, this box would not have anything very original in its design: seen from above, it would look like a black square, slightly thicker than a pack of playing cards. The general idea of this box is to aggregate the content of as many streaming services as possible: we should thus find under one roof the catalogs of Netflix, Prime Video or even Disney+, with a universal search engine.
That is exactly what Apple or Google have been offering for years with their own streaming boxes (with more or less success, Netflix is still reluctant to integrate its content into the Apple TV). Maybe Sonos will do better, but in any case there is nothing very original there.
The "Pinewood" box will be able to be controlled by voice as well as with a remote control including buttons to launch this or that streaming service. The whole thing would be entitled to a "superb" interface and software developed in partnership with... an advertising agency. On paper, we have known more exciting! This is especially true since the asking price is said to be between $200 and $400.
Sonos will have to find something better than recycling the formula of its competitors to sell its device. This could involve an HDMI switch function: the box would offer several HDMI ports to connect as many devices (game consoles, Blu-Ray players, etc.), all with a passthrough function. It would allow an audio or video signal to be transmitted from one device to another without compression.
It would also be possible to configure a surround system with the different Sonos speakers in the living room: rather than relying entirely on a sound bar, the user could create left and right audio channels at the front with two Era 300s, for example. The box should also offer support for Wi-Fi 7.
The Verge does not give a launch window, except that the box would be one of the only new hardware from Sonos this year. Or at least, the most important. After the debacle of the new app that pushed the CEO out, and a well-made Ace headset that wouldn't sell very well, Sonos needs a convincing success. Will this streaming box be able to play this role?
Source: The Verge
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