Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are you using uMatrix? I had to completely disable any scripts to get it to appear, or else I got a 404.
Oh, wow. Thank you, that worked for me.
Happy to help!
Google doesn't want to pay Sonos for technology it copied
71–80 of 302 posts
Re: Google doesn't want to pay Sonos for technology it copied
#72For example, these changes mean you'll no longer be able to control the volume of a group of speakers. Instead, you'll have to change the volume on each individually. It also means you'll no longer be able to use the volume buttons on your phone to control a speaker group. Not here to defend Google, but how can something trivial like that even be patentable?
The argument I see often is things like this seem trivial after the fact. But isn't that what computers are supposed to be for; networking and connecting devices so that one can control them easily?
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Re: Google doesn't want to pay Sonos for technology it copied
#73The basic problem I see here is that you don't own the speakers you have bought. My moral point of view is: I bought the thing so I own it. I must be allowed to understand how it works and I decide what it does. I should be able to change the thing's behavior (if I have the skills) and no one else can do that without my order. Buying locked black boxes is bad (for the customers). Buying locked black boxes that change…
Black boxes that you paid for upfront, that change their functionality, and you have to pay $9.99/mo for it.
Re: Google doesn't want to pay Sonos for technology it copied
#74Well, it's not like Google speakers make any sense even with this behavior. I keep mine generally ungrouped because I have one speaker per room. When I broadcast "Okay Google, broadcast: Hey, son, what do you want on your burger?" it's not exactly a stellar experience... It usually goes 1st speaker: Hey, Son wh 2nd speaker: Hey, Son, what do you wan 3,4,5 in overlap: Hey, son, what do you want on your burger while my…
I use it to play music in multiple rooms... it works great.
Mine's primarily used for intercom, messaging, and simple weather updates, where its main achievement is intercepting audio requests where it tries to answer things I want to do with my phone and thus blocks my phone from providing useful functionality. "I'm sorry I don't know how to do that" yes but my phone does so shut up and get out of the way.
Multi-room music playing isn't something I've attempted. Do you have the speakers grouped together or keep them ungrouped? Does it do a good job of keeping them in sync? Because my biggest disappointments are generally in the poor coordination between the devices on the network not knowing which should handle a request - often I'll be right next to a speaker and make a request, and the one in the next room will reply, bewilderingly.
Re: Google doesn't want to pay Sonos for technology it copied
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
But Sonos claims Google actually did steal the technology. And the court agrees. From the article: Back in 2013, while Google was considering how it could make its music streaming service work on Sonos' speakers, the latter company gave the search giant an inside look at its technology. At the time, it didn't seem like a big deal. Google wasn't making speakers, and it wasn't in the smart home business at all. It woul…
The feature is about adjusting the volume of a group of speakers together. That doesn't sound like the kind of thing that you'd need to copy Sonos' source code to implement. Maybe that inside look lead Google to decide to enter the market, but I really doubt the person who wrote the speaker-group volume functionality had ever seen anything from Sonos. If they had they'd be facing copyright infringement lawsuits too.…
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Re: Google doesn't want to pay Sonos for technology it copied
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
Came here to say the same thing. I'm the last fan of Google but "the ability to connect speakers in groups and control their volume" is obvious to conceive of and implement to any engineer with sufficient expertise in the field.
It's not obvious at all, for wireless speakers, especially in complex multi-room setups. If it were obvious and easy, then everyone's wireless audio products would handle this as well as Sonos does. But they don't. I bought two Sonos One SLs and had them set up as a stereo pair that my Apple TV could talk to almost instantly. Then recently I got a Sonos Beam soundbar and wanted to use my One SLs as surround speakers.…
While the implementation of synchronization is not obvious, the concept of doing it is. They shouldn't be able to patent the entire concept of allowing multiple speaker volumes to be adjusted with a single slider (which is what everyone is complaining about), as the implementation of that is trivial.
Maybe that isn't what they've actually done though...maybe Google is keeping their synchronization stuff, but breaking the volume change since Sonos made the mistake of combining them in a single claim. That way Google can avoid violating that claim by not doing the volume part.
Re: Google doesn't want to pay Sonos for technology it copied
#77I wonder if this also explains the weird >1 year delay for Denon adding the promised wireless speaker grouping support to its Soundbar 550.
Re: Google doesn't want to pay Sonos for technology it copied
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
Came here to say the same thing. I'm the last fan of Google but "the ability to connect speakers in groups and control their volume" is obvious to conceive of and implement to any engineer with sufficient expertise in the field.
Sound engineers and technicians have been controlling speaker group volume for probably a century now. The Sonos patent is more than just an obvious invention. Otherwise the courts would’ve tossed it out.
I have zero faith in court's ability to see through techno-babble.
Re: Google doesn't want to pay Sonos for technology it copied
#79For companies in Google's situation, a common tactic is to stop infringing ASAP and then find a workaround. Since patents are typically for mechanisms rather than features, Google might be able to implement a roundabout mechanism to achieve the same goal.
Re: Google doesn't want to pay Sonos for technology it copied
#80One way around those bullshit patents is to let users program/script their devices, or install whatever software they want. Also, with good enough AIs we could work around many patents! Users could simply explain the AIs what they want them to do. Even if the action they teach infringe on a patent, nobody would be able to sue them.
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