Sonos looks set to launch a new smart ‘home theater speaker’, according to an FCC filing spotted by Variety.
Supposedly, the listing for a product with the model number ‘S14’ initially referred to the device as a smart speaker, but it's been subsequently renamed as a ‘home theater speaker’.
This not only suggests that an overdue update to the Sonos Playbar soundbar is in the works, but also that one could feature Amazon Alexa voice control functionality - like the Sonos One smart speaker.
The filing also mentions an HDMI port which would be a welcome addition, given the current Playbar and Playbase (pictured top) only sport an optical connection.
Whether the new soundbar will bring support for object-based surround sound formats like Dolby Atmos and DTS:X remains to be seen.
Still, if we can assume a new smart soundbar will take performance cues from the Playbar and Playbase, allow voice commands via Amazon Alexa, and, naturally, benefit from Sonos' streaming and multi-room functionality, we could have another unique and competitive Sonos home cinema product on our hands.
And if the filing wasn't concrete enough, the company has just sent out a 'save for the date' for an event on the 6th June, showing an image of multiple TV remotes with the header 'you're smarter than this'...
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