Sonos CEO Patrick Spence said he’s been pushing his team for a long time to get rid of the HDMI cable when connecting their soundbars, replacing it with a wireless link.
The new Sonos Era 300 wireless speakers are capable of operating as rear speakers with Sonos Arc or Beam soundbars, but not as a TV speaker replacement, which would require Sonos to add an HDMI module to the Sonos Era 300 or support some kind of wireless connection between the TV and wireless audio systems .
This is something that Amazon, Apple and Roku have already implemented with their Echo, HomePod and Roku TV models. The HomePod can connect via Wi-Fi to an Apple TV 4K, while the Echo and Roku TV speakers can work via Wi-Fi with compatible Amazon Fire TVs or Roku TVs.
Wireless support will allow Sonos speakers, such as a pair of Era 300s, to be connected directly to a compatible media player or TV, although he noted that not many users use wireless speakers in this way yet. “We haven’t seen many people actually use HomePod in this way ,” added Patrick Spence. “Most people still choose the soundbar” .
These comments confirm the rumor that Sonos has an internal “Home Theater OS” project that links to apps directly on the smart TV. The big question, of course, is how Sonos will be able to bring its technology into other brands’ TVs.
