Roku Smart Speakers Prepare to Undercut Sonos and Co? Michael Kwan November 10, 2017 News Everyone is getting smarter these days and that has turned an increasing number of companies into proverbial Renaissance men and women. The newest rumblings on the Internet are pointing toward the possibility of Roku smart speakers. It’s not enough to stream all your favorite hit songs to the big screen in your living room. You want those tunes to fill your house, right? Based on a regulatory filing spotted by Variety just yesterday, the next big move for Roku could be to move into the world of multi-room home audio. If this sounds familiar, it’s exactly what you might already be doing with the new Sonos One and others in the family. A big difference, of course, is that Roku has always been known to provide more affordable solutions while still delivering all the main features we desire. The super affordable Roku Express (2017) that we recently reviewed is a testament to that dedication. In this way, it’s more likely that the potential new family of Roku smart speakers would compete against something like the Chromecast Audio, except they’ll actually be speakers. What gave rise to these recent rumors is the fact that Roku acquired Danish startup Dynastrom a couple of months ago for $3.5 million. At least, that’s what the rumblings on the web seem to indicate, as several key Dynastrom employees have joined Roku too. Dynastrom specializes in software that allows you to stream music throughout your house using a standard Wi-Fi network. That software can then be embedded into Roku smart speakers and you’ve got yourself a much more affordable alternative to Sonos. Considering that Roku is also working on far-field voice control, as would be the case for tapping into Alexa or Google Assistant, these smart speakers could be looking even smarter indeed. Share This With The World!
