Those hoping Sonos would release a streaming player are in for bad news. The company has now shelved the idea and no longer plans to release a streaming video device.
Development of the Sonos streaming player was understood to have been well underway, even close to a launch. In fact, a report from last month suggested that the release of the streaming device had become a top priority for Sonos.
In spite of seemingly being a priority, confirmation of the cancelation came through today during an all-hands call, as reported by The Verge. On the call, the company confirmed it had abandoned plans to release the player, and now plans to reassign the team working on the device to other projects.
As we reported last month, it remained unclear how widely popular the streaming player would have been. While many like Sonos products in general, it had previously been suggested that the device could cost as much as $400 in the United States.
Although the device was expected to come with a number of premium features, especially in terms of audio, to help justify the higher cost, it is still a significantly higher cost than other streaming players currently on the market.
Another potential hurdle could have been the user interface. Again, while reportedly set to offer a premium interface, the Sonos streaming player was expected to come loaded with a highly customized version of Android.
Similar to the price, it was unclear as to how popular a new mainstream player with a highly customized version of Android would be. A customized version of Android opens the door to a variety of other issues, including a lesser user experience and limited app compatibility.
While there are no indications to suggest this is the case, it is entirely possible that some of those interface issues may have already surfaced, leading to the company’s decision to cancel the release of the streaming player.
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