Sonos unveils new headphones, soundbar and brand new audio operating system

Sonos Inc., a Santa Barbara, California-based audio equipment manufacturer, unveiled a new range of products and services on Wednesday, marking a significant expansion into artificial intelligence. The company showcased a pair of premium headphones, an upgraded soundbar, a new audio operating system called Sonos 27, and an updated app featuring generative AI features.

Sonos CEO Tom Conrad, who is spearheading the transformation, unveiled these updates in New York, emphasizing the company's transition from a traditional audio hardware maker to a tech platform on par with Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.

The new Sonos 27 operating system and app are central to the company's AI strategy. Sonos 27 Voice, a generative AI integration, allows users to interact with their speakers similarly to Amazon's Alexa or Google Home, requesting music based on their mood. It also supports Model Context Protocol (MCP), enabling integration with external AI services like ChatGPT.

Sonos Custom Agents, meanwhile, let users customize AI agents to automate tasks across their speakers, such as triggering a speaker at a specific time. Users can also personalize agent voices for different personalities or accents.

The company highlighted Sonos Fabric, its underlying technology for grouping Sonos products, now branded as Sonos Fabric. Sonos 27 includes a voice assistant for discovering music and MCP integration to connect external AI models. Two new features leveraging Fabric technology are Portable Surround, which enables users to move speakers between rooms and automatically sync them, and Headphone Linking, which allows seamless playback between Sonos speakers and headphones.

The updated app introduces a redesigned navigation, lock-screen controls, room organization, and virtual volume knobs for enhanced control and a more tactile feel. Further updates later this year will include Presets and System Health views.