Chris Monroe/CNET
Google is altering the way in which its sensible audio system are arrange and managed following a US International Trade Commission ban issued on Thursday. The ban comes after a decide dominated final 12 months that Google infringed on 5 patents owned by speaker-maker Sonos.
Google outlined the adjustments in a neighborhood weblog put up on Thursday, saying people who use “the Speaker Group function to regulate the quantity within the Google Home app, by voice with the Google Assistant, or straight in your Nest Hub show” will likely be impacted.
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Going ahead, to regulate quantity of speaker teams, individuals might want to change every speaker individually as a substitute of utilizing the group quantity controller. Device house owners can even now not have the ability to change speaker group quantity utilizing their telephone’s bodily quantity button. Attempting to vary group quantity by voice ends in a “Sorry, I am unable to change the quantity on this system” message from Google Assistant.
Google additionally stated some individuals might want to the Device Utility app, or DUA, to finish set up and updates. People might even see a immediate to obtain and run the DUA, Google stated. If speaker teams embody different manufacturers that use Cast firmware, corresponding to JBL or Lenovo, they could want an replace to be on Cast firmware model 1.52.272222 or larger, Google stated.
The adjustments are being made to present Google merchandise with the intention to keep away from infringing on the Sonos patents. After the ITC ruling on Thursday, Google stated it disagreed with the choice however appreciated that the fee authorized its modified designs.
Group speaker use is a pleasant option to create a full-home audio expertise, and asking Google one thing like, “play music on the downstairs audio system” nonetheless works. However, not having the ability to ask for a quantity adjustment with voice instructions and having to individually modify every speaker even when they’re grouped is a giant ache.
In the neighborhood put up, Google stated it should work to attenuate extra adjustments. For now, it seems that all audio system from Nest or in any other case are affected if they’re in a gaggle pairing. There additionally would not appear to be any plan to mitigate this or return to earlier performance. We’ve reached out to Google to verify, and can replace with any response.