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Apple Announces HomePod mini With Spherical Design and S5 Chip for $99
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They needed this thing YEARS ago.
Does anyone know of these things can set more than one timer? iOS weirdly can’t. And can they play audio from a Bluetooth source and control it through voice, so I could use them for audiobooks and podcasts from my phone like I can with my google home mini?
Does anyone know of these things can set more than one timer? iOS weirdly can’t. And can they play audio from a Bluetooth source and control it through voice, so I could use them for audiobooks and podcasts from my phone like I can with my google home mini?
The worst part: it ships with an external 20W power supply. So not only is there a cord, but also an ugly wall plug.
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After looking online your right, so is the HomePod Mini just utilising this through the U1 chip whereas the original HomePod utilises another method for the same result?
Bemused during the presentation that Apple are still flogging the dead horse of homekit - I bought into homekit years ago but the lack of devices and usability coupled with Apples slow development resulted in my move to Google Home - Give it up Apple you missed the boat on the Smart Home and should just embrace Google Home and Alexa like everyone else has.
I recently switched from Alexa for use with my smart devices to HomeKit, and I have to say it performs a lot faster than what Alexa did in my experience
Oddly the article doesn't mention the more interesting tidbits such as the Mini doesn't support Apple TV 4K Surround like the full size homepod according to the Apple HomePod comparison page, it only supports stereo pair. Also the mini doesn't support spatial awareness.
My multi-room receiver supports Airplay 2 and that means I can use the HomePod as for control and as the streaming source with the receiver just powering the speakers. Much better solution than using analog out, going from digital to analog (and likely back to digital for any processing and back to digital). It also makes the process much more seamless.
A friend had an Echo Show. Loved the idea, did not love the implementation. I would love to something like an iPad with a great mic array for the kitchen and some other spaces. I want it to have local apps and be well integrated into my ecosystem.
Does your Echo Dot control your amp/receiver or just feed it audio? When you have multiple of them playing, are they all in sync?
You mean not having any and passing all your information to a company that is trying to sell you things all the time?
When they added speaker identification to the HomePod my BF and I were really happy. It meant I could have it send him a text message or add items to my calendar instead of his. It works really well for us and we have 7 HomePods right now.
If you have iTunes Match you can play your music, or if you use Airplay 2 from a device.
In the same post you seem to be arguing that it is too expensive and not expensive enough. (It cannot be battery powered with an inductive charging base and be $99).
True. The former works only if iTunes Match normally works for the particular track (which is not always the case, but usually it does) and the latter is probably not what he meant.
Same here. I picked up an Echo Dot to control my LIFX smart lights in the kitchen and Alexa is about half a second slower to respond than Siri on my iPhone. (I assume Siri on the HomePod mini will be just as quick.)
(Edit: Just tested it again now and Alexa is actually about 1 second slower - around 3 seconds instead of 2.)
Even worse, my Echo Dot is terrible at recognising the wake word. It recognises "Alexa" / "Computer" around 80% of the time. My phone recognises "Hey Siri" 99% of the time.
For these reasons, plus the privacy issues, I'll be getting one of these HomePod minis to replace the Echo Dot.
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False. If you have a song that doesn’t match, it uploads your file to iCloud for access on your other devices.
In theory you’re right. In practice, however, I’m re-using existing Amp and speakers for a very specific setup. The Echo Dot 3 did cost me 22€ and the cable to the Amp another 5€. Sound quality (via Amp) is more than sufficient for party room/garden music. And the price/performance ratio for my use case is stellar, when compared to having to purchase new components for an Airplay2 setup (plus the environmental impact when I would replace perfectly working equipment).
Thanks for the feedback in part 1 and fully agree with part 2. Still, an Echo Show 5 for 44€ is a tempting offer, yet I hesitate as I couldn’t make full use of it due to privacy concerns.
Simply feeding Audio (plus a routine to switch AC/DC for the Amp on/off). Output is identical indoor and outdoor, other parts of the house have separate sources. Multi-room / being in sync is irrelevant for my setup.
Precisely! That’s why the few Dots around the house are fully separated in their own Wlan network, without access to the other devices in the house network. But I admit that it’s tiring to regularly switch off the Mic on them (and besides that counters the basic idea of a smart speaker), so I may take a closer look at the new HomePod mini’s (though Apple also got caught in the act of storing data and listening to recorded voice ... :-/You mean not having any and passing all your information to a company that is trying to sell you things all the time?
I didn’t say that it didn’t do that. I said that sometimes that doesn’t work. Of the around 12,000 tracks I use iTunes Match for, about 125 are not available on any of my other devices, because, for whatever reason, iTunes Match doesn’t like them.
It looks like the larger HomePod will receive some minor updates.
Searching Apple’s site, HomePod (2018) comes up separate from just HomePod.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they updated the chip and added the U1. That improved Handoff feature makes me a little jealous but not enough to trade in my original HomePods.
Searching Apple’s site, HomePod (2018) comes up separate from just HomePod.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they updated the chip and added the U1. That improved Handoff feature makes me a little jealous but not enough to trade in my original HomePods.
My understanding is that HomePod (this one and the big one) can’t be used as a speaker - ie for my tv. That would sell me.