Google wants to turn your phone into a Sonos-style multi-room speaker system

Who doesn't love listening to their favorite songs through the tinny speakers of a smartphone, eh? Everyone, right? No? Oh. Well, you may want to plug your ears up then before hearing of the latest audio patent coming out of Google's labs.

The Android king is exploring the potential of linking up multiple smartphone speakers in sync, turning them into a mini multi-room audio system, like a mobile Sonos.

The patent describes a method of creating a small mesh network around devices in close proximity, allowing them to keep their audio in sync, with one handset acting as a master controller.

Mobile musicality

Now, while we jest at the relative ineffectiveness of smartphone speakers, you can't knock the inventiveness of the patent here. 

If achieved, it'd be quite the feat to have multiple devices, potentially from different manufacturers, all keeping in sync wirelessly. For those times when a party situation presents itself, but a speaker just isn't available, being able to boost the volume through your friend's handsets could fill the gap nicely.

And then there's the potential to integrate it with Google's Cast system, increasingly built into TVs speakers and of course the Google Chromecast dongle. Suddenly, every audio-outputting device in your house becomes a potential multi-room unit.

Gerald Lynch

Gerald is Editor-in-Chief of iMore.com. Previously he was the Executive Editor for TechRadar, taking care of the site's home cinema, gaming, smart home, entertainment and audio output. He loves gaming, but don't expect him to play with you unless your console is hooked up to a 4K HDR screen and a 7.1 surround system. Before TechRadar, Gerald was Editor of Gizmodo UK. He is also the author of 'Get Technology: Upgrade Your Future', published by Aurum Press.