Number 2 is one of many reasons why I barely use Apple Music anymore. I use my Sonos speakers daily and it's so much easier finding and playing music through the Spotify app than on Sonos' app, and now that Apple is releasing this speaker I doubt they'll ever allow music to play on Sonos speakers right through the Apple Music app. Thankfully the Sonos app is improving but still, I never use Apple Music anymore other than for organizing the music that I already own
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Apple CEO Tim Cook: Hardware and Software Integration Will Set HomePod Apart From Competitors
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Number 2 is one of many reasons why I barely use Apple Music anymore. I use my Sonos speakers daily and it's so much easier finding and playing music through the Spotify app than on Sonos' app, and now that Apple is releasing this speaker I doubt they'll ever allow music to play on Sonos speakers right through the Apple Music app. Thankfully the Sonos app is improving but still, I never use Apple Music anymore other than for organizing the music that I already own
Understood. And lack of Siri/iTunes compatibility is one of my chief disappointments/criticisms of HomePod. It's not a technical issue. It's that Apple is reserving the feature for Apple Music so I'm reserving my money to spend on something else.
As for Siri understanding of various languages that's all programmed by Apple. But to your point specifically, right now if I ask Siri to play "Devorzhahk" she asks which track and then plays it no problem, and I don't even use accent marks in my iTunes database. But also, if I were to be a rube and say "play DeVoRak," Siri understands that as the same.
It's bizarre that the price always seems to be the focal point. It doesn't really take much work to look at the prices for compact speakers, shelf systems, and headphones to see that $350 is not actually a very high price. Apple already sells Beats headphones in the $299 to $399 price range. Sonos sells a compact speaker for $500. The Bose SoundTouch series includes prices that are either identical or higher. Bowers & Wilkins has had the Zeppelin compact speaker priced at $600-$700 for many, many years.
The excessive price will be the catalyst to its failure. Once again under Tim we has an inferior, overpriced entry into a market dominated by already established products.
2018 is going to be a defining year for Apple’s future. Time to dispel “The Emporer has no clothes” Tim. Less “Its Magical”, “Your going to love it”, “We think it’s amazing.”
This is what you need to stick to:
"Some people see innovation as change, but we have never really seen it like that. It’s making things better”
Let’s try to get back to this one, eh?
I’ve already stated what I’ve said
It doesn’t work like it does on an apple product. Not even really close when you compare how you use smart home speakers
I have no idea why you had difficulty connect and playing songs from Apple Music on Sonos. I do it every day.
Did you have the Sonos App? That is how everything is intergrated with Sonos. There is one app, and the library has all of the music services you subscribe to.
Did you have the Sonos App? That is how everything is intergrated with Sonos. There is one app, and the library has all of the music services you subscribe to.
That's nice, Tim...
However, speaking as an average consumer not wrapped into hype or kitsch or trendy products, I see no use for this thing. It's like a Domestibot (or whatever those robots were in the 80s that toddled around and delivered junk on a tray after you spent 10 hours programming its path) which does nothing more than fool a person into thinking there is some greater use for them.
Siri is still below average. It's like you have a great vocal assistant for a few minor tasks, or you are chatting with an utter idiot and wrestling over verbiage and specifics for many minutes to just abandon the damned thing and do it yourself. So how is a HomePod going to be worth anything to most people?? This push for speakers in homes never made much sense to me... maybe if you weight 400lbs and hate breaking your legs to move 2' and get the remote... or you feel the device makes you Captain Kirk...
The sales and use might build much better devices in the future, but at this time they are woefully stubborn and limited.
More attention to the software and AI will help. Siri has had 6 years and hasn't gone very far. The promises of AI and robotic assistants have been so inflated via media propaganda that people think the marvelous future has arrived, but we are still only half-steps ahead of the far past.
However, speaking as an average consumer not wrapped into hype or kitsch or trendy products, I see no use for this thing. It's like a Domestibot (or whatever those robots were in the 80s that toddled around and delivered junk on a tray after you spent 10 hours programming its path) which does nothing more than fool a person into thinking there is some greater use for them.
Siri is still below average. It's like you have a great vocal assistant for a few minor tasks, or you are chatting with an utter idiot and wrestling over verbiage and specifics for many minutes to just abandon the damned thing and do it yourself. So how is a HomePod going to be worth anything to most people?? This push for speakers in homes never made much sense to me... maybe if you weight 400lbs and hate breaking your legs to move 2' and get the remote... or you feel the device makes you Captain Kirk...
The sales and use might build much better devices in the future, but at this time they are woefully stubborn and limited.
More attention to the software and AI will help. Siri has had 6 years and hasn't gone very far. The promises of AI and robotic assistants have been so inflated via media propaganda that people think the marvelous future has arrived, but we are still only half-steps ahead of the far past.
What Apple products do you own? Most of what they sell can track where you are and where you have been, in the real world and cyberspace. Most have cameras and/or microphones built in. If you really are in the minority that avoids personal cameras and tracking devices, it’s hard to imagine what you are doing on the Internet.
Currently, if you look at a classical album listing in Apple Music, each song has the song name in black and the composer name in lighter grey underneath. If you bring up the enlarged album art view, then the composer is listed in red underneath the song name along with the artist name. That will remain the same regardless of whether the track is being played from within the album or from within a custom playlist.
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Why haven't Beats headphones failed? They're priced in the exact same range. Why do both Bose and Sonos have compact speakers that are either the same price or higher? $350 is not a high price at all. It's well within the mid-range for any type of speaker/headphone product.
I don't have a huge problem with the price as a flagship smart speaker. My problem is the price for the features offered. It's seems much more like an Apple Music accessory rather than an Apple accessory. Apple only granting full functionality to Apple Music subscribers rather than opening it up to the whole universe of hundreds of millions of iOS and OS X users will be the products downfall unless Apple is quick with upgrades. Amazon and Google are not resting on their laurels or quaking in their boots with this release. HomePod could be a non-factor come Christmas 2018 if Apple isn't balls to the walls making HomePod more useful to more people soon.
AustinIllini told me on the previous page that Sonos plays directly from the net without the app. Which is correct?
Let me know when I can do this on a Homepod : "Alexa, play Sirusxm classicvinal on sirusxm in the bedroom" Plays
"Alexa play morning playlist from spotify in the kitchen" Plays
"Alexia Play Taylor Swift 1989 in the den" Plays
All at the same time. That's three different streams from three different services in three different rooms. (To be clear,this is a hook up between Sonos and the Amazon echo- not playing thru the low quality echo speakers. Although you can do all of that as well.)
"Alexa play morning playlist from spotify in the kitchen" Plays
"Alexia Play Taylor Swift 1989 in the den" Plays
All at the same time. That's three different streams from three different services in three different rooms. (To be clear,this is a hook up between Sonos and the Amazon echo- not playing thru the low quality echo speakers. Although you can do all of that as well.)
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That's easy to answer: Apple is a technology company that has a long history of being interested in music oriented devices as part of it's platform. Why music? Because it's something that almost everyone in society enjoys and provides a broad doorway to Apple's technology ecosystem. People like to bring up the Apple Hi-Fi as a "failure", but then conveniently leave out highly successful products like the iPod, Beats headphones, and most recently AirPods. The HomePod is an extension of those same ideas, and is much more of an Apple technology platform than the Hi-Fi was.
I believe there is a computer desktop interface but I’ve never used it. I always use the app since I always have my phone with me and it has all the music services I subscribe to built in.
The answer is all of the above. Sonos devices stream directly from the internet (or from your home network). The control apps for both computers and devices, can control that streaming or you can play from local sources like music stored on your iPhone. You can also use Amazon Alexa to control them. Google Assistant and Apple Airplay 2 are coming soon.
I think you are really reaching here. The iPhone was totally innovative. The iPod was a very good implementation of technology that was already out and tied in with an ecosystem that made it a joy to use.
As far as I can tell from the article Apple is saying this thing will have amazing sound and be a better assistant than what is out there. Does that mean you gotta buy 2 to get stereo? Will the App Store allow you to install Alexa?
If no Alexa, people that "switch" to this unit will be disappointed. And like I said. People that actually care about sound quality will consider this a downgrade from their existing sound systems.
But will this thing fly off the shelves? It would not surprise me. Especially if you gotta buy 2.
As far as I can tell from the article Apple is saying this thing will have amazing sound and be a better assistant than what is out there. Does that mean you gotta buy 2 to get stereo? Will the App Store allow you to install Alexa?
If no Alexa, people that "switch" to this unit will be disappointed. And like I said. People that actually care about sound quality will consider this a downgrade from their existing sound systems.
But will this thing fly off the shelves? It would not surprise me. Especially if you gotta buy 2.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is spending some time in Canada this week, and yesterday he attended a hockey game and visited the Eaton Centre Apple Store in Toronto.
Cook today stopped by the offices of Canadian e-commerce platform Shopify, where he spoke to the Financial Post about augmented reality apps and the HomePod.
On the topic of the HomePod, Cook said that Apple's deep integration between hardware and software will help to differentiate the smart speaker from competing products like Amazon's Alexa and the Google Home.Cook also said a quality, "very immersive audio experience" was one thing missing from the smart speaker market, which Apple is aiming to fix. "Music deserves that kind of quality as opposed to some kind of squeaky sound," he said.
The HomePod, which, at $349 in the United States is more expensive than competing products, features a 7 tweeter array, an Apple-designed 4-inch upward-facing woofer, and spatial awareness, all of which is designed to provide the best possible sound.
During his interview with the Financial Post, Cook also spoke about augmented reality, a topic he's covered many times in the past. Cook said AR is "the most profound technology of the future" that's able to amplify human experience instead of substitute it.
Cook said developers across Canada are adopting AR at a "very fast rate" and that he "couldn't be happier" with developer interest in ARKit.
Cook's full interview, which includes additional comments on augmented reality and details on features coming to Shopify, can be read over at the Financial Post website.
Article Link: Apple CEO Tim Cook: Hardware and Software Integration Will Set HomePod Apart From Competitors
So will the price. Meanwhile amazon Alexa is everywhere
I think people are thinking too small.
The iPod in itself was just an MP3 player, and it really took iTunes to make owning music seamless and convenient for the end user, which was what differentiated it from the other music players in the market. Same with the iPhone. It didn't really take off until the App Store, and it took about 4-5 years before it progressed from simply being a better phone to a pocket computer you have on you all the time.
People are fixating on all the nitty gritty details and getting derailed by spec-for-spec comparisons with competing products, and completely missing the bigger picture here. I don't quite know yet what Apple has in store (I am beginning to see bits and pieces of what I think could be their long-term goal, which amongst other things, explains their focus on the Apple Watch at the expense of the Mac). I believe the HomePod is going to have a larger role in Apple's ecosystem than simply an expensive bluetooth speaker.
Let me weigh in on Sonos Play:3. I've owned it for 2 years. It has no smart assistant, it won't play my music files, it only plays streaming music. It will require plugging into an ethernet cable, I've done it twice, for some random reason, and require a new set up process. As mentioned ^ Every reviewer says it is a lesser sound quality compared to the Apple HomePod. It costs $350 so it isn't more affordable, but there are clear drawbacks for someone who already thinks spending $350 on a single speaker is 'okay'.
Sonos does have an aspirational ecosystem, meaning, I want to keep with Sonos and build a home theater setup (4 speakers plus sub). Apple doesn't have an aspirational product line, this is just an accessory. (i've posted about this aspirational ecosystem on this forum already)
I AM the target market for this HomePod.
1. I won't buy a half-baked product.
2. I'm not thrilled with first-gen Apple products, they are abandoned quickly, usurped by a much better product. (iPad vs iPad 2; Watch vs Watch series 1)
3. ^^These two factors combine to entrench my hesitance with HomePod
4. No aspirational product line.
5. The backwards-looking product ignores a world full of products and doesn't integrate with say, TV.
6. It's a personal product, it isn't good for a party with mixed devices.
7. (A friend of mine mentioned it like this
It is music-centered with HomeKit tacked on, I want HomeKit-centered with music. Apple is holding onto the Cachet (as my friend puts it) of artists/musicians/iPod because it makes their brand relevant. (also I think they are comfortable in the old maxims created at Apple in 2001 (music/iTunes/bands/brands).What are you talking about? What is suppose to sync? I can play music on my Sonos just as easily as I'm sure I could with a Homepod.
By looking at your sig, it's clear that your biased and won't be thinking objectively.
Great sound quality! Unless you have two ears - no stereo at launch. So what is this great hardware software integration getting us users?
Of course Alexa deeply integrates with their own music but it doesn't integrate well with general queries. Alexa requires specific skills requiring specific syntax to be loaded manually by users in order to understand a variety of requests. Whether you like Apple's current ecosystem or not, Siri beats Alexa in software/hardware integration for most every example. If you load Alexa up with skills and memorize thousands of commands, it becomes more useful but you have to be computer yourself to make that viable. Google is different story and Apple needs to match their ability to parse and decipher most queries.
1. "technical capabilities". Please explain. I'm calling this pure marketing BS right now. Do you even know what you're talking about? Your colors show by randomly throwing out that it has an A8 processor. Why does that even matter?
2. "taking over every single market". Windows would like a word with you along with other online services, I'll allow you to pass on talking about social networking. Oh, and have we already forgotten Hifi?
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