Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
What's the sound quality of beats speakers like? I ask because I have no experience with them, and that's likely what Apple will go with. They will likely have it run some variant of ios to differentiate the hardware, but I don't expect any noticeable improvements to the sound quality beyond what they already offer.

Average for its size class. No small speaker sounds great.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I have an echo. It works well. It isn't amazing and doesn't get a ton of use, but it does work well.

What's funny is that Siri can do more with the same access. For example, with my hue lights I can tell Siri turn the lights on, 50% luminosity in red and it works. With the echo it's relegated to on or off.

Fortunately, this has changed. Link your Hue account in the Alexa app, and she'll be able to see all your Hue lights without doing a discovery and control the color and light level. She could always control the light level, but the color has only been available for a month or so.

Very good news for me, because when I wanted to change my lighting color, I had to grab an iOS device and do it through Siri. Very annoying, especially since she wasn't that good at it, perhaps because it isn't a standalone device with a good microphone array.

BTW, Google Home can also do all this, including color.

Sean
 
Typical! I just bought the Echo yesterday and received it this morning. Now I'm hearing that tomorrow my echo will be obsolete? F*ck!

I guess I could return it. I'll wait to see what the camera is for. If it's only for videocalls, I think I'll pass.

Obsolete means it will no longer be supported or produced. I wouldn't go that far.
 
I love it. Publish Echo rumors on Macrumors, just in case the Macrumors rumor is realised. The multiverse theory has been proven.
 
Phil Schiller yesterday: A voice assistant without a screen doesn't "suit many situations."

Phil Schiller today: *crickets*

:D

Reminds me of the time Steve Jobs moaned about mp3 players like the Rio karma having 'small and tortured' screens. Moments later he released the Ipod shuffle with NO SCREEN and people (for some reason) went nuts for it.
 
Just got the notice from the Verge. Echo Show. $229
lyrics.0.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: ejfontenot
And it makes wonder how consistent the home automation market will be in the long run. As of now, Amazon is moving fast as you stated and has expanded to three different products across their smart Speaker line, which choices are good. But completion is better. I expect Apple to be joining sooner than later and see where they set the bar in this era of smart speakers. More so, how is Siri improved and ready for being primary. We all know the hardware part to Apple will be well made.

I'm sure just attaching Siri to 8 beam forming microphones would improve its performance dramatically. My Alexa can do very few things, but what it does, it does correctly almost every time. And I attribute that to the microphones being so good at picking up my voice.
 

Interesting, the one thing I think Apple will bring to the area if indeed they are going to release a Siri speaker is a more premium design. I would love to be able to stream my Apple Music to this along setting an alarm to wake me up in the morning, set reminders and so on but all tied up within the Apple ecosystem.
 
The Dot could be a loss leader. Let's not ignore the fact that Amazon also sells the appliances that the Dot controls.

Amazon is the kick of loss leaders. Heck the whole business is pretty darn close to being a loss leader. Very hard to compete against that. But Apple "MUST" compete against it. In just a few years I will only be working with a computer I can speak to because talking to your assistant is the way you give it orders and computers will simply be gateways to artificial assistants. If that computer is made by Amazon, so be it.
 
I am curious to see what the Apple equivalent product will be. I am sure people will snap them up but I have zero interest in have such a device.
 
I wonder why people think that a product like the Echo Dot would benefit from a screen? That fact that it doesn't have a screen and does NOT resemble a regular computer at all is exactly what makes the Echo Dot so innovative. Releasing a product like this actually took courage -- and Amazon had to be sure that their voice assistant works well, because when voice is the only way to interact with the product, all weaknesses will be revealed immediately and you have to deliver real quality to ensure that people keep using it. And Amazon delivered.

Giving the Echo a screen does not necessarily add real value -- it might be nice to see a weather forecast or an upcoming appointment on the screen, for example, but this is not what this device is about. Its invisibility is its greatest appeal.

Personal assistants will evolve to take advantage of one the most important (and for me, one of the greatest) of the five basic human senses, sight.

I can think of a lot of requests and situations where the result would be list of options, perhaps a dozen. Can you remember, and more importantly process (so as to make a good choice), a list of options spoken over say a 10 second period. Most people can't.

I can think of a lot of situations where a request's answer is complex with nuance, where a simple voice response would be inadequate and lengthy - going back to how much complex information can you remember in a short period of time - where a display's persistence would be beneficial.

I can think of a lot of requests where the result would be highly visual, beyond what could be described by words in a sentence or two. A trivial example would be: "Alexa, show me my home's four outdoor security cameras."

"That fact that it doesn't have a screen and does NOT resemble a regular computer at all is exactly what makes the Echo Dot so innovative."

The Dot is innovative, and, currently designed to hit a certain cost target. However, you're assuming a personal assistant with a small display needs to resemble a computer or have a keyboard. It certainly doesn't.
 
That is one non-thought out ugly device. lol.

This totally reeks of a "beat the other ones coming to the market" design.
 
Maybe you are right regarding the Apple TV although I find it to be the best one out there (with the exception of 4K support), but Apple products are regarded best in class when it comes to smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches. Easily.
not the best watch for athletes.
[doublepost=1494340218][/doublepost]
What other smartwatch is considered best in class?

for athletes we'd go with a fenix 5 or a 935. the apple watch is a toy for serious athletes.
 
not the best watch for athletes.
[doublepost=1494340218][/doublepost]

for athletes we'd go with a fenix 5 or a 935. the apple watch is a toy for serious athletes.

Seems you don't understand that Apple's target audience for the Watch is broad (people with an iPhone), and not specific to athletes.
 
Seems you don't understand that Apple's target audience for the Watch is broad (people with an iPhone), and not specific to athletes.

If you read back it's not best in class.

It's not the best for tracking sport metrics.

Maybe it's the best at sending emojis ?
 
I'm amazed at the popularity of these devices. Isn't it just easier to pull out your phone and do the same thing? Plus up until now a phone has had a screen so you can refine your search. I'm curious how nice the screen will be on this thing. The one thing that would drive me absolutely nuts would be having to be in only one room in the house to control these assistants.
 
If you read back it's not best in class.

It's not the best for tracking sport metrics.

Maybe it's the best at sending emojis ?

I did read back.

"Best in Class" by does not mean best for athletes.

Again, Apple's target audience is not athletes. It's people with iPhones.

"Maybe it's the best at sending emojis ?"

That is so adorably cute. You probably do not understand what the Apple Watch is about and what it can do. And the market share Apple has in that space.
 
Last edited:
I did read back.

"Best in Class" by does not mean best for athletes.

Again, Apple's target audience is not athletes. It's people with iPhones.

"Maybe it's the best at sending emojis ?"

That is so adorably cute. You probably do not understand what the Apple Watch is about and what it can do. And the market share Apple has in that space.

I get it. you love the Apple watch. Apple is targeting the fitness world. Maybe you don't care about it but Apple does.

https://www.theverge.com/2015/3/20/8264241/apple-watch-secret-fitness-lab
 
What if Apple released a Siri accelarator? Basically a powered box that combined your processing speed on your iOS device and onboard processing speed to make the station a more powerful Siri station. You could use an iPad for the screen.

I dunno. Maybe crazy. Just a thought.
 
I get it. you love the Apple watch. Apple is targeting the fitness world. Maybe you don't care about it but Apple does.

https://www.theverge.com/2015/3/20/8264241/apple-watch-secret-fitness-lab

I use my Watch for fitness everyday; and it's been on my wrist 12 hours a day for almost two years.

However, there's a huge difference between a watch that is targeted for serious runners/cyclists/etc and targeting a much broader market people who are looking for more than a fitness watch, which is what Apple is doing.

If Apple were to restrict their market to only people who were seriously into fitness, they would sell far fewer Watches.

If one is an elite runner or cyclist there are better watch choices - as you pointed out earlier. Fortunately, Apple has designed their Watch for a much broader range of the population - people with iPhones. That's where the money is.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.