Apple Developing New 'HomePod' Models With Screens and Cameras

[Shanghaichica]

Sounds like an issue with your setup. Just asked my HomePod what the weather was like and Siri gladly provided the info.

It used to be fine and then one day it just stopped doing it.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Did you disable Location Services? Siri can't tell you the weather if it doesn't know where it is... Check the settings for your HomePod in the Home app...

Nope location services is on

 

[McScooby]

Once again Apple are looking to the wrong places. The problem I feel isn't the controllers, it's the ecosystem. When compared to Google/Alexa, the Homekit universe is still relatively minute. I recall that last year apple got together with Amazon to create an open standard how devices can operate seamlessly where's that at?
It's just possible that folk don't buy into the controllers such as the HomePod as the devices still aren't up to scratch - I can prob count on one hand the number of cameras that are truly Homekit enabled (none of this signing up to a manufacturer app first).
Most people I know won't consider Homekit despite Apple taking the privacy approach, they want the popular device approach which is what they're not getting with Apple
A radical idea or Apple is to bring a whole low cost suite of products to market to introduce what can be done with the tech, create the market first & sales would follow - a bit like the airport suite, where apple could then exit market.

 

[BWhaler]

How about just making amazing computer cameras? Start there.

 

[truthertech]

Apple really dropped the ball with the Smart Home stuff. They were way too late and the HomePod was just a glorified music speaker (nothing against it, I own one and its great for music). And also too expensive. As someone else mentioned the HomePod mini should have been their FIRST product not one that followed years later.

Yet, in the head to head tests, more accurate than Alexa and close to Google. Hmmm. Much of my family and friends have a HomePod and, while not perfect, the HomePods work great for

Playing terrific sounding music
Interacting with lights and other Homekit stuff
Playing podcasts
Playing audio books
Setting timers and alarms
Checking weather
Checking traffic
Sending and reading texts
Making phone calls
Answering general questions, definitions, etc.
Etc.

Surveys show the above are 99% of what people use smart speakers for.

"Just a glorified music speaker." LOL

 

[truthertech]

The only reason Siri is less capable is due to privacy restrictions. Google’s AI compromises your privacy and learns more about you in order to deliver more features/information. ( also for better advertising from selling that same information.)

You seem to be way behind the tests that show Siri is way behind Google.

 

[truthertech]

Please stop with the propaganda that Alexa and Google are so much more accurate than Siri. I have used all three and it is simply not true. Most tests support that Siri is more capable and more accurate than Alexa. They almost all show Google is the most accurate in answering questions, but Siri the most capable in terms of functions. Alexa is almost always last. Here's just one from last November.

"Since Google has a lot of experience answering questions with its search engine, it’s no surprise that the Google Assistant provides more detailed and informative answers. In a recent test, researchers asked each of the smart assistants 800 questions, and the Google Assistant was able to understand 100% of the questions and answer 93% of them correctly.

In that same test, Siri was only able to answer 83% of questions correctly. However, Siri actually beat the Google Assistant when it came to commands, such as sending a text message, playing music, adding a meeting to your calendar, and more.

Alexa came in last place in the test, only answering 80% of the questions correctly."

 

[MacCheetah3]

Apple, my lord...Why do you have to be so late in the game?This will likely take them a good 1-2 years to develop and by that time there is new tech and people moved on and you have to cancel that too. Like making a mini HomePod should have been the FIRST product years ago. I love my large HomePod, but it was quite frustrating to not be able to expand all around the house without a significant footprint and high price...The entire HomePod team needs a shuffle and head shake.

Mostly what I was thinking. Products such as Time Capsule, AirPort Extreme, and similar that added convenient bits to products is fine. Any innovation is generally good. However, with the loss of Jobs, Apple lost its ‘vision'.

Some people say, "Give the customers what they want." But that's not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, "If I'd asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, 'A faster horse!'" People don't know what they want until you show it to them. That's why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page.

Basically, Tim appears to be primarily a trend chaser. Sooner or later, you’ll fall too far behind. The M1 and future Apple cellular modem are offspring of a longstanding vision to return to devices entirely designed by Apple.

 

[MacCheetah3]

Please stop with the propaganda that Alexa and Google are so much more accurate than Siri. I have used all three and it is simply not true. Most tests support that Siri is more capable and more accurate than Alexa. They almost all show Google is the most accurate in answering questions, but Siri the most capable in terms of functions. Alexa is almost always last. Here's just one from last November.

"Since Google has a lot of experience answering questions with its search engine, it’s no surprise that the Google Assistant provides more detailed and informative answers. In a recent test, researchers asked each of the smart assistants 800 questions, and the Google Assistant was able to understand 100% of the questions and answer 93% of them correctly.

In that same test, Siri was only able to answer 83% of questions correctly. However, Siri actually beat the Google Assistant when it came to commands, such as sending a text message, playing music, adding a meeting to your calendar, and more.

Alexa came in last place in the test, only answering 80% of the questions correctly."

From my observations, none of them have made significant progress. They’ve changed, but overall, aren’t vastly more capable.

This is one of the reasons I want to get involved with ML. It can’t be impossible to create virtual assistants that are easily interactive (not worrying about every specific word, etc).

 

[MacAddictPM]

From my observations, none of them have made significant progress. They’ve changed, but overall, aren’t vastly more capable.

This is one of the reasons I want to get involved with ML. It can’t be impossible to create virtual assistants that are easily interactive (not worrying about every specific word, etc).

Exactly. I was viewing the Google home subreddit the other day and there was a thread on the recent development of how Google assistant on Google home’s and nest audios had gone downhill. Simple requests unanswered and information not being retrieved. So those who think the grass is greener on the other side is sadly mistaken. Siri needs improvement, but from where it started she is more than capable of holding her own against Alexa and Google.

 

[TimFL1]

iPad with better speakers? Sounds like a very stupid idea unless they whimp it down to be not really an iPad and as cheap as Amazon stuff.

A better idea would be add U1 chips to the iPads and add a proximity mode for owning both: Place your iPad (using your smartcover *wink wink*) next to your HomePod and it turns into a smart display for showing visual HomePod information. That way you can have your smart display but still get the "cheap" voice only speaker. Or do the same for an Apple TV... that's nearby and turned on but not used (have HomePod UI elements float in on the Apple TV screen).

Best of both worlds... you get the HomePod / smart speaker fans to buy your "cheap" smart speaker and the iPad users might be interested in one too for that smart display functionality... and your average Apple freak will probably buy both the HomePod and the new U1 iPad just to try it out (so best of 3 worlds).

 

[Tagbert]

This would be a game changer for HomeKit. A central hub to adjust lights, temp, view cameras etc. I really hope this comes to fruition.

You’ve just described the iPad. IPads work as HomeKit hubs and have screens that could view cameras. Do you think a HomePod with a screen will be cheaper than an iPad?

 

[Neepman]

Alexa can hear a whisper and give accurate results from across the room, but Siri can't handle a simple query that is fully and loudly enunciated 2 feet away.

Certainly thats been my experience. My anecdotal opinion is Siri over "thinks" and overshoots way more than Alexa. Just like how dictation to text often gets it right the first time and then "corrects" to something wrong.

 

[BornAgainMac]

An iPad, a Camera, a HomePod. These are not separate devices. It is one device.

 

[Sterian]

Apple is so far out of touch it not funny anymore. The Apple before Tim Cook would have been one of the first to market with this device, or at least the second and would have done way better than Amazon with software. As it stands, there is no way they will ever beat Amazon in this market. I have eight Echos in my home and Alexa is far and away better than Siri ever was. I am a huge Apple fan, but there's no way I'll ever pay $1k for something I can get for $99 that's better. I've been buying Apple devices for decades. That said, I'm writing this on my late 2014 MacBook Air. I won't buy another MacBook until they stop being stupid and put useful ports back on their machines or I don't have to buy 15 dongles and docks to make it work. Siri absolutely sucks. Apple software used to be amazing. While Amazon continues to make Alexa better everyday, Apple continues to focus on..... I don't know what they're focusing on. Since Tim took the reigns the software has gone downhill and even Amazon is beating them at their own game. Get rid of Cook Make Apple Great Again!

 

[Tagbert]

The only reason Siri is less capable is due to privacy restrictions. Google’s AI compromises your privacy and learns more about you in order to deliver more features/information. ( also for better advertising from selling that same information.)

Siri has other problems that do not require significant privacy violations. Some of these issues are also problems for the Amazon and Google assistants, too.

1. Inconsistent responses. For a given request, it sometimes provides a good response, sometimes it gives you a web search results, and sometimes “something happened”.
2. Responses have no context. Siri is never aware of what you are doing now. It is also never aware of what you had just asked it. You cannot refine a response by clarifying your request. It should be more conversational.
3. Most or all responses require a request back to apple servers. This makes Siri slow and fragile. More requests should be parsed and handled locally. This would allow them to store context data locally and process locally while keeping privacy. Responsiveness is a significant benefit.
4. Give us more control over how Siri responds. Sometimes we don’t need a long, pseudo-cheeky response. sometimes we don’t need Siri to shout responses.
5. Siri has strange restrictions about what it can do on which devices. Example, why can the HomePod create multiple named timers but Siri on the phone cannot?
6. Let me change the activation phrase per device. If I have a phone, watch, HomePod, and laptop each with Siri activated, you never know which one will respond and since they call cannot do the same things, it will often fail.
7. Let me change the default app to respond to various requests. (That may be coming in 14.5 or not, Apple is being cagey about how they frame that.). I don’t even want to switch to Spotify, but want the option along with lots of people.
8. I’m sure that others could add to this list. Siri should be class leading and not of the special class.
   

 

[MY_USERNAME]

Apple doesn’t need a display. They’ll integrate it with AppleTV.

 

[Sterian]

The only reason Siri is less capable is due to privacy restrictions. Google’s AI compromises your privacy and learns more about you in order to deliver more features/information. ( also for better advertising from selling that same information.

 

[Sterian]

The only reason Siri is less capable is due to privacy restrictions. Google’s AI compromises your privacy and learns more about you in order to deliver more features/information. ( also for better advertising from selling that same information.)

Siri is less capable because she will literally take you around the block in circles telling you you're destination is on your right. I've literally driven around in circles several times trying to figure out where she's telling me to go, just to realize that my destination is four blocks away. And before you tell me that Siri is not Maps, yes, she is. If I ask Siri to take me to a restaurant or ask her what the weather is, it's the same AI. Amazon, and even Audi and BMW are better at giving me directions with years old maps than Apple is. That says something. Apple needs to get it together and start focusing on their services rather than political activism and TV shows.

 

[jerryk]

In a report today focused on an unactivated temperature/humidity sensor in the HomePod mini, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman briefly mentioned that Apple has "been developing new speakers with screens and cameras."

This reporting suggests that Apple could be at least exploring the idea of new HomePod models with a display and camera to compete with the likes of Google's Nest Hub Max, Amazon's Echo Show, and Facebook's Portal, but Gurman cautions that "a launch isn't imminent," so there is no guarantee that Apple will release such a product.

Google's Nest Hub Max, for example, is equipped with a 10-inch touchscreen that can also be controlled by voice with Google Assistant. The Nest Hub Max allows users to view daily info like the weather and calendar appointments, stream video from Netflix and other sources with built-in Chromecast, play music through the stereo speaker system, make video calls using the built-in 6.5-megapixel camera, control smart home accessories, and more.

The Nest Hub Max also functions as a "smart digital picture frame" for photo albums, and it can display a live video feed from Nest cameras and video doorbells, making it suitable for a kitchen countertop or bedside table.

Apple's camera-equipped HomePod would presumably offer similar functionality like FaceTime video calling and HomeKit integration if it ever comes to market.

Earlier this month, Apple announced that it is discontinuing the full-size HomePod and shifting its focus to the HomePod mini. Gurman said that Apple still lacks a "unifying strategy" for the smart home market, with some people within the company apparently blaming the lack of progress on Siri's shortcomings compared to Google Assistant and Alexa. Whether new HomePod models with screens and cameras come to fruition remains to be seen.

Article Link: Apple Developing New 'HomePod' Models With Screens and Cameras

The article should make clear that this is a picture of a $89 Google Nest Hub, not a concept of an Apple device.

 

[CJ Dorschel]

Mostly what I was thinking. Products such as Time Capsule, AirPort Extreme, and similar that added convenient bits to products is fine. Any innovation is generally good. However, with the loss of Jobs, Apple lost its ‘vision'.

That part.

Jobs was the visionary, Ive helped bring his ideas to life, and Cook ran the financials. Without Jobs and Ive, the ship ran into a pier a long time ago. The Apple Watch was the last “new” product from the Jobs era (he wore a medical device that Ive developed into the Apple Watch). Otherwise, not much else aside from design changes. The HomePod is floundering because there’s no one there to say “no!” to bad ideas and smooth out the bumps. Jobs may have been difficult and he wasn’t perfect but he had great ideas and reigned Apple in post-Scully. Now it’s fragmented again and there’s no one really leading.

 

[Sterian]

Please stop with the propaganda that Alexa and Google are so much more accurate than Siri. I have used all three and it is simply not true. Most tests support that Siri is more capable and more accurate than Alexa. They almost all show Google is the most accurate in answering questions, but Siri the most capable in terms of functions. Alexa is almost always last. Here's just one from last November.

"Since Google has a lot of experience answering questions with its search engine, it’s no surprise that the Google Assistant provides more detailed and informative answers. In a recent test, researchers asked each of the smart assistants 800 questions, and the Google Assistant was able to understand 100% of the questions and answer 93% of them correctly.

In that same test, Siri was only able to answer 83% of questions correctly. However, Siri actually beat the Google Assistant when it came to commands, such as sending a text message, playing music, adding a meeting to your calendar, and more.

Alexa came in last place in the test, only answering 80% of the questions correctly."

You sound like an Apple employee. My experience is exactly the opposite. My wife and I got so frustrated at Siri for always answering with "let me look that up" or some other not helpful answer that we started testing Siri vs Alexa and Alexa gave us better answers 100% of the time. Amazon seems to be continually working on Alexa while Apple seems to be too busy on watch bands and TV shows to make Siri actually work.

 

[SuperMatt]

Apple is so far out of touch it not funny anymore. The Apple before Tim Cook would have been one of the first to market with this device, or at least the second and would have done way better than Amazon with software. As it stands, there is no way they will ever beat Amazon in this market. I have eight Echos in my home and Alexa is far and away better than Siri ever was. I am a huge Apple fan, but there's no way I'll ever pay $1k for something I can get for $99 that's better. I've been buying Apple devices for decades. That said, I'm writing this on my late 2014 MacBook Air. I won't buy another MacBook until they stop being stupid and put useful ports back on their machines or I don't have to buy 15 dongles and docks to make it work. Siri absolutely sucks. Apple software used to be amazing. While Amazon continues to make Alexa better everyday, Apple continues to focus on..... I don't know what they're focusing on. Since Tim took the reigns the software has gone downhill and even Amazon is beating them at their own game. Get rid of Cook Make Apple Great Again!

Seriously? Apple is a $2 trillion company, firing on all cylinders. Tim Cook is Steve’s hand-picked successor and you can see what a fantastic job he has done.

Regarding ports, your MBA has 2 USB ports, a thunderbolt port, headphone jack, and a card reader. The M1 MBA has 2 USB ports and a headphone jack... so you’re losing 1 port and a card reader. If you honestly need 15 dongles then you would have probably needed 13 or 14 with your current machine.

 

[MacBH928]

If Jobs was still around, he would know how to make the HomePod beat Alexa and Goolag assistants.

 

[HarryWild]

Amazon, Google and Microsoft have this already for years! I doubt Apple will make many sales since those who want this type of assistance device have it already. Siri is still lacking the other two!