It doesn’t look like Apple can wake up - with its compromises to shareholders, and the special-interests pulling its strings.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook: Hardware and Software Integration Will Set HomePod Apart From Competitors
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It doesn’t look like Apple can wake up - with its compromises to shareholders, and the special-interests pulling its strings.
No, Double E Boarder, you are not crazy. I would not and will not have any of these devices in my home, either. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever.
They’re already there if you have computers and iDevices spread around the house.
Since I am subscribed to Apple Music, the HomePod seems like an obvious choice. I doubt a third party speaker will be able to integrate with the Apple ecosystem the same way the HomePod can.
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Because amazon doesn’t have the same extensive ecosystem that Apple does. Prime music doesn’t even exist here in Singapore!
I can't even play Spotify properly on my amazon echo. can't fast forward music, can't repeat, can't play songs that aren't available from the catalog (ripped old CDs, recordings). I can't Airplay so I have to fiddle around with bluetooth connections (it auto-connects when I don't, and a bit difficult to connect when I need it to).
There's something good about having a tightly controlled system that works together.
That said, Apple Music is terrible.
Your comments remind me of the time when the iPod and iPhone were released. Both were thought to be crippled projects entering an already mature and crowded market, but it turned out that the market was actually still only in its infancy. And the rest as we know it is history.
In a sense, both the iPod and the iPhone completely reinvented their respective markets. What is to say the HomePod won’t do the same as well?
I'm curious but none of the details about the homepod makes a good case to switch from someone already invested in Sonos. Play 5 sounds great, easily connects to my soundbase for quality surround sound when watching TV and can then connect to multiple Play Ones to stream music across different rooms in my house. Can easily switch between Alexa, Google, Spotify, Apple Music, etc. and apple isn't even offering the ability to connect homepods at launch after months of delay. WTF is Tim Cook doing? Listen, I love apple, own stock, use a macbook pro and iphone on a daily basis but these periphery items they've released (homepod, apple tv, carplay, watch, airpods) since Tim Cook took over as CEO leave a lot to be desired. It's time for a new CEO. One that brings excitement and innovation back to the company. Just watch a Tesla product launch - it reminds me when I use to watch a Steve Jobs keynote.
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He's kidding.Wow, I didn't think about that. That does seem like quite a hardship. The reach to the pocket is bad enough, then having to read it and type a reply... ughh.
Seriously, that's your example of hardship?
He doesn't bother wearing pants when he's 'working at' his computer
They had to announce this a week after I got tired of delays and ordered 2 Amazon Echo's. I can take them back , but first I need to know that HomePods will be good replacement for my current Echo + Sonos setup.
What would convince me to switch -
Homepod -
I haven't found a good HomePod review that give a detail list of out of the box features. If you know of a good one, please link it here.
What would convince me to switch -
Homepod -
- Configurable Flash briefing(morning news + local weather )
- Homekit device control
- Send/recv calls via handoff from my phone like my Apple Watch and computers can do
- Apple Music Control
- Audible Audiobooks access
- Pocket Casts podcast access
- Airplay
- Information - News, local Weather, local movies -basically what Siri already does
- Order food delivery - pizza, chinese, etc
I haven't found a good HomePod review that give a detail list of out of the box features. If you know of a good one, please link it here.
To be perfectly honest, sonos does the same thing. Play something via the sonos app and it appears in the now playing on your watch. I was surprised to discover this with my Girlfriend’s sonos
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Exactly too much mystery which doesn’t fill me with confidence
No, you don’t The message gets synced to iMessage on macOS just fine. You can even reply to it, it will send a green message to your Android friend.
I don’t subscribe to Apple Music but if I am going to subscribe to any of them it will be be Apple Music. However the HomePod is the only one that can play my iTunes Library without having to upload it to other places.
It’s the only one that integrates with my Apple devices. If I ask Siri to set an appointment or reminder and I want it on my phone I don’t have to jump through hoops to do it.
I can send messages and use it to take calls.
Apples deep integration =
- Only does what we want it to do
- Try to lock you into the ecosystem
- Doesn't play well with other devices
I am trying to do a prototype at the moment around NFC and Apples deep integration hinders to the point that NFC works on Android but not on Apple devices.
Nope. You're not the only one. But I'm not shocked that a lot of people are buying these like crazy. People simply don't care about privacy at all. I am not getting a HomePod, Sonos, Alexa or one from google.
There is already way too much tech in my house, and this has a privacy killer written all over it. Not worth it imo.
With the greatest respect - how do you know that when the product has not been released yet ? Sonos also has major restrictions in the way content is sourced and played on the speaker....
I guess he never heard of Bluesound, Bowers, Bang&Olufsen... or even Bose and Sonos.Tim Cook said:
I do wonder what apple have developed concerning augmented reality wearables. I recently tried Microsoft’s hololens and I was blown away by how incredible it was. I’m still unsure how successful it will be at a consumer for level but for sure it has many great benefits in industry, I was actually using it on a construction site where I could see the virtual 3D model as I walked through so could see very easily which items had already been constructed and which items were missed based on what I saw on the headset and get all the info instantly thought the headset of any item as I walked around. It really was quite something.
I have no doubt Apple will have developed their own sort of AR wearable, but whether they ever release such a product and if they do when and how it’ll function is a totally different matter. But I can totally see it being their next new product as I can’t see much else on the horizon.
I have no doubt Apple will have developed their own sort of AR wearable, but whether they ever release such a product and if they do when and how it’ll function is a totally different matter. But I can totally see it being their next new product as I can’t see much else on the horizon.
Uh, yes it does. My entire music library from my Mac is synced to my Sonos app. The Sonos app has Apple Music integrated into it (as well as amazon, google, pandora, tune-in, Spotify, etc, etc). Airplay 2 is also coming to Sonos.
Btw....all that for a little more than half the price of HomePod.
Lots of opinions on this site about Sonos from people who clearly do not own or have never used Sonos.
Btw....all that for a little more than half the price of HomePod.
Lots of opinions on this site about Sonos from people who clearly do not own or have never used Sonos.
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No worries, dudes.
The HomePod should be able to play brilliantly Schubert's Unfinished Symphony No. 8./s
The HomePod should be able to play brilliantly Schubert's Unfinished Symphony No. 8./s
And you never worried about the bug - your smartphone - that you carry with you all day and to every place? So far it has been proven that phones have been used as bugs and movement trackers, both by the manufacturers AND by governments. However, no security expert has yet discovered ANY evidence that those voice assistants/smart speakers have transmitted any data they were not supposed to transmit. Actually, that would be the immediate end of that business model. (But history has shown that only the American government has ever been stupid enough to endanger the businesses of their tax payers... That was when they planted spy software in Cisco equipment.)
This is a standard Apple talking point. Maybe at one point it was true but it’s not anymore so I wish Cook & Co would stop using it.
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Who had heard the HomePod outside of the demo area at Apple’s event? Can you provide some links to these reviews?
I really don’t know. I have two echo dots for basic things (home automstion lights, blinds, etc). One upstairs, one downstairs. I find the “app store” of Alexa features more useable than Siri has ever been. Siri feels dull to me and I really never use it than for basic features such as alarms, weather, etc. Alexa will add things to my shopping list, tell me the flash briefing of the news agencies I’ve added, on and on.
I feel like this product is not promising riding on a Siri platform as it currently is unless Apple has something incredible coming up. Siri can’t even understand semi complex things. I can ask Alexa to remind me that the chicken will be done in 17 minutes and upstairs it will remind me on either both or the echo of my choosing - simply saying “remind me on echo upstairs” - and furthermore when I actually ask it to remind me to “take the garbage out at 8pm” it will transribe that request with the time much better than Siri could currently do.
My two cents.
I feel like this product is not promising riding on a Siri platform as it currently is unless Apple has something incredible coming up. Siri can’t even understand semi complex things. I can ask Alexa to remind me that the chicken will be done in 17 minutes and upstairs it will remind me on either both or the echo of my choosing - simply saying “remind me on echo upstairs” - and furthermore when I actually ask it to remind me to “take the garbage out at 8pm” it will transribe that request with the time much better than Siri could currently do.
My two cents.
iPod had the iTunes Store and iPhone multi touch and a decent web browser in your pocket. To me HomePod is nothing more than an iPhone accessory for someone with an Apple Music subscription. Yes there is a market there (not sure how big) but I don’t see how HomePod is reinventing anything.