Ikea and Sonos to launch poster that plays music, report claims

(Sonos)

Ikea and Sonos are preparing to launch wall art that can also play music, according to a new report.

The two companies have collaborated before on the Symfonisk line, which integrates Sonos’s smart speakers into the kind of household objects sold by Ikea. So far that has meant a lamp and a bookshelf, both of which can connect the internet and play music.

Both brands have been teasing a new announcement in that line-up, in posts on their respective Instagram accounts that reference the Symfonisk line. They also have been referenced in new filings with the Federal Communications Commission, which indicates that one will be a revamped version of the lamp-speaker, alongside a “wireless module”.

A new report from The Verge suggests the mystery new product will be a speaker that can hang on the wall. It might look like a poster, the report suggested, but can be plugged in to play music.

It is still not clear how exactly the product will work: whether it will be a frame into which any poster can be placed, for instance, or if the wall art would be decided in advance.

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The report only described the product as “wall art”, which could look like any other Ikea print apart from the fact that it includes largely hidden technology to work like a Sonos speaker.

The new product is named “Titan”, according to the report from The Verge, which indicated that it had seen an early image of the product but that the way it actually works was unclear.

The new Symfonisk updates will replace the existing bookshelf and lamp, the report said. While the lamp will be upgraded, the bookshelf could be shelved.

Neither the companies’ official teases or the Sonos report gave any indication of when the product might launch, though the posts may indicate that it is coming soon.

Sonos recently released its new Roam speaker, its first ultraportable and cheapest device, intended to be used both in the house as well as carried outside.