My guess would be a sound bar with a camera that works with an Apple TV, using the TV as the screen.
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Apple Adds FaceTime Framework to Apple TV/HomePod Amid Speaker With Screen Rumors
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Would love a “TravelPod”. Same as mini but wireless with charging dock. The Bose sound link mini does this and it’s around 200 and sounds impossibly good for its size.
Interesting. It would make sense that in the wake of the discontinuation of the original HomePod that Apple would be looking to offer a higher end version of the mini with even better sound and some additional premium features built in.
I don’t see how adding video FaceTime to Apple TV would make much sense unless Apple actually produced its own TV with a built in webcam.
The HomePod and HomePod Mini are pretty good at figuring out what music I’d like to play but I rarely have multiple versions of the same song. I know people who do and would love to just touch the version of the song they want on a built in screen when there’s a question about which version of a song you want to play. There are also certain Siri commands you can’t issue to the HomePod because Siri needs to display a UI of some type to process them. A built in touch screen would solve that too.
As somebody who bought the HomePod because I love the sound I was sad to see it go and would certainly give a premium, larger version of the mini a serious look but the price would have to be right. More than $199 wouldn’t cut it. How about a larger, better sounding $149.99 version that would pair with another at the same price point for stereo sound along with a $199 version it that included a touch screen for those who wanted one?
That way you’re not paying $398 if you want to pair two but only want one of them to have the touch screen. In that case You would only be paying $348. If you don’t care about the touch screen but want to pair two for better sound that would only be $298. If you just want a single HomePod with better sound and a touch screen it’s $199 and if you just want better sound it’s $149.
I don’t know how popular it would be but I’d certainly be interested in something along those lines. I don’t care about a HomePod with a touch screen but a larger, better sounding option than the mini would appeal to me if the price was right.
I don’t see how adding video FaceTime to Apple TV would make much sense unless Apple actually produced its own TV with a built in webcam.
The HomePod and HomePod Mini are pretty good at figuring out what music I’d like to play but I rarely have multiple versions of the same song. I know people who do and would love to just touch the version of the song they want on a built in screen when there’s a question about which version of a song you want to play. There are also certain Siri commands you can’t issue to the HomePod because Siri needs to display a UI of some type to process them. A built in touch screen would solve that too.
As somebody who bought the HomePod because I love the sound I was sad to see it go and would certainly give a premium, larger version of the mini a serious look but the price would have to be right. More than $199 wouldn’t cut it. How about a larger, better sounding $149.99 version that would pair with another at the same price point for stereo sound along with a $199 version it that included a touch screen for those who wanted one?
That way you’re not paying $398 if you want to pair two but only want one of them to have the touch screen. In that case You would only be paying $348. If you don’t care about the touch screen but want to pair two for better sound that would only be $298. If you just want a single HomePod with better sound and a touch screen it’s $199 and if you just want better sound it’s $149.
I don’t know how popular it would be but I’d certainly be interested in something along those lines. I don’t care about a HomePod with a touch screen but a larger, better sounding option than the mini would appeal to me if the price was right.
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How so? It would still need the airplay functionality and the computational stuff that it does to make the sound pretty equal across the room. It even needs the microphone array for that.
They have the perfect starting design for a HomePod with a screen the iMac G4!
Make the design similar use the big hompods guts for the base but slightly smaller and then stick the screen with the webcam on top that swivels just like the G4.
It could then be used for Facetime calls, and controlling HomeKit devices via the touchscreen.
It will appeal to nostalgic Apple fans and achieve the design they want, simple!
Make the design similar use the big hompods guts for the base but slightly smaller and then stick the screen with the webcam on top that swivels just like the G4.
It could then be used for Facetime calls, and controlling HomeKit devices via the touchscreen.
It will appeal to nostalgic Apple fans and achieve the design they want, simple!
Very intrigued to see what they can cook up - makes sense to do try something else now they dropped the larger HomePod - something with a UI/Screen would be nice to looking up stuff, showing weather etc.
When I saw that I was thinking, What are they doing? How can the camera see them? I was wondering how I could do it with my devices.
The characters in the room on the iPhone or iPad just use AirPlay to put the incoming call on the TV so that everyone can see it. The caller out and about only sees the one holding the phone or tablet.
I have ran 27 cables through studs in mine. Just part of the game. One more is a pain always. But isn’t bad if you know how to tie something to another one. Pull it through so you don’t do much but tape the cable onto the same one and pull through. Swapping cables in any too hard unless they are twisted together.
It doesn't matter what APPLE do with the mini iPod will go the same way as the HomePod they missed a hughe market by not letting you use Bluetooth outside there ecosystem so could use speakers to run sound of my TV panasonic/sony etc .Why won't they let you do this as the speakers are far better than TV built in speakers on sound quality ?
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today revealed that Apple has been developing new speakers that are equipped with "screens and cameras," suggesting we could see a future HomePod-like device that has a built-in display and camera feature for FaceTiming and other functions.
Ahead of these rumors, MacRumors contributor Steve Moser was combing through the tvOS 14.5 beta code and found that Apple has added FaceTime and iMessage frameworks, along with a new AVFCapture framework related to capturing images.
You might be wondering what tvOS code has to do with the HomePod, but in April 2020 Apple began using tvOS as the basis for the software that runs on the HomePod rather than iOS. watchOS, tvOS, and the software that runs on the HomePod are all variants of iOS, but each one is differentiated by the device the software is intended to run on with unique interfaces, APIs, and more.
That means features included in tvOS are also included in the HomePod software since they have the same base code. Therefore, the FaceTime, iMessage, and image capture frameworks added to tvOS in tvOS 14.5 could actually be designed for a future HomePod that has a screen and a camera, as described by Gurman.
The HomePod and HomePod mini are able to use FaceTime audio already, but the FaceTime framework discovered in the 14.5 beta is distinct from any code related to the existing audio FaceTime feature. The frameworks are in the tvOS 14.5 beta and the 14.5 HomePod software beta available to select testers.
Gurman says there is no "imminent launch" planned for the camera-equipped speaker, so it's possible no such product will make an appearance. It's also entirely possible that the iMessage, FaceTime, and AVFCapture frameworks introduced in tvOS 14.5 have an entirely different purpose that may be entirely unrelated to a HomePod and could remain hidden in the code or used for an unspecified feature coming to the Apple TV or the HomePod in the future.
In semi-related news, the 14.5 beta also suggests that Apple could potentially be developing some kind of trivia game for Siri, where Siri could provide trivia questions for users to answer. This is labeled as "Siri Edutainment" in the code, but it is not clear if it will be a built-in Siri feature or support for a third-party product.
Article Link: Apple Adds FaceTime Framework to Apple TV/HomePod Amid Speaker With Screen Rumors
Naah... really?
Nowadays I see most people carry their phone on them for almost 24/7. So why put facetime on an speaker or TV then?
Personally I'd just like a faster AppleTV, more powerful for games and stuff. No need for a camera. In fact, I'm actually looking for a good quality but "dumb" TV. No Android crap or other slow software on it.
Nowadays I see most people carry their phone on them for almost 24/7. So why put facetime on an speaker or TV then?
Personally I'd just like a faster AppleTV, more powerful for games and stuff. No need for a camera. In fact, I'm actually looking for a good quality but "dumb" TV. No Android crap or other slow software on it.
And because it’s Apple we are talking about: It will not be possible to use the soundbar with sound coming from any other source than the built in Apple TV. People will wonder how to get their video game systems and Blueray players to play through the soundbar, and will not buy the soundbar because it doesn’t work with half of their stuff. Apple will discontinue the soundbar three years after its release (internally, Cook will claim that there is no market for a TV soundbar, every employee will adopt this stance but nobody will believe it).
Yeah concern for privacy is best explained with another product sticking the camera right where some don’t want it. Masterpiece!
It was the vertical bend I needed to do to get over the fireplace that killed me.
I'd want this for myself -- an-almost-40-year-old software developer. As a parent, I've found myself really wanting a device like the Amazon Show or Nest Hub or Facebook Portal. Part of the whole experience of these is designed around quickly doing one or a couple of things really well and really fast.
Yes, you can use an iPad for FaceTime, but ideally, I'd love to have a couple of devices that stay fixed on the kitchen counter, desk, bedroom dresser, etc. And even more ideally, an Apple TV with FaceTime that has Facebook Portal -like feature(s); the idea of being able to sit in my living room and use my large TV to chat with my child's grandparents and have it focus automatically on the things that matter (people) would be really great.
