It's called "Libratone Can". I can't find any trace of it outside China. I don't know why they don't sell it abroad... I have one and it works great.
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Apple Discontinues Full-Sized HomePod to Focus on HomePod Mini
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It's called "Libratone Can". I can't find any trace of it outside China. I don't know why they don't sell it abroad... I have one and it works great.
Don’t get me wrong. I love my Apple TV despite having LG OLED with built-in (crappy) OS.
But looking at its state today, stuck with A10x while Apple took time to fit the latest A14 chip in a much smaller 12 Mini makes you wonder how would it fare in the near future?
At the very least TV today could use an A12x chipset.
Maybe Apple should turn "Apple TV" into an OS platform they license and put into TV's, ala Google TV and Roku built in?
This whole notion is ridiculous. If they discontinue HomePods and don’t replace it with another large, great sounding speaker I’m gonna flip. Between 3 households I’ve bought 9 HomePods, and 4 HomePod minis. But I’d never have bought the minis if the HomePods didn’t exist. The minis have value because they are part of an ecosystem. For people who want to have a connected Smart Home, you want nice speakers with rich, full sound in your living room or media room, small speakers in the kids room or kitchen, and maybe a sound bar or outdoor speakers as well. Just just like Sonos, or Google, or Amazon, there needs to be a variety of speakers because everybody’s homes and rooms are different sizes and have different needs.
1. If Apple discontinues all large speakers and doesn’t license Siri to Sonos and other speaker makers, they are screwing Apple users and forcing them to use less secure, more invasive smart assistants to achieve their smart speaker needs.
2. If Apple discontinues all large speakers, they are screwing Apple TV users, because only large HomePods are able to be permanently paired with an Apple TV to act as the default speakers. Even if they allow minis to be paired to a TV, there is no way that they can reproduce the rich Lowe’s in highs of the full-size home pods, nor would they be able to reproduce Dolby Atmos in any decent way.
3. If Apple discontinues the full-size HomePod because it’s not as profitable as their other products, that’s a huge disservice to their customers. When you create an ecosystem, and you expect customers to live within it, there is a certain obligation that you have to provide of wide variety of different products, not all of which may deliver max profit. Every time you force people to go outside of your ecosystem, you risk them leaving the ecosystem permanently.
4. If Homepod wasn’t a huge smash hit, quitting and taking your ball home is kind of a loser move. Why not look at the device’s shortcomings (lack of inputs, lack of user EQ control, etc.), make some design and functionality improvements, and come back with a better, even more kick-arse product?
5. For ANY virtual, smart product to work, Siri needs to get WAY better. Like, leaps and bounds better. It’s a complete kick in the teeth to all Apple customers, who are insanely loyal and pay a premium to buy the supposedly best devices on the market, for Apple to reward their loyalty with the #3 personal assistant on the market. This, after being the first to market with Siri! Apple should take the same approach with Siri that they have with Apple Silicon—make it the best by a clear margin. No one is gonna want AR glasses or a car powered by Siri in her current state. As I posted elsewhere, if they don’t announce a major upgrade to Siri at WWDC this June, I’m gonna lose it.
6. Regardless of whether they ultimately come out with another large speaker with a slightly different name, and this was all just an exercise in semantics, the way that this was communicated is a PR nightmare. For a company that typically does a better job than most at this kind of stuff, this is a pretty bad screwup, and disrespectful to all the customers who bought HomePods expecting them to be the opening salvo in a line of speakers that live in the ecosystem for years.
7. Boo.
1. If Apple discontinues all large speakers and doesn’t license Siri to Sonos and other speaker makers, they are screwing Apple users and forcing them to use less secure, more invasive smart assistants to achieve their smart speaker needs.
2. If Apple discontinues all large speakers, they are screwing Apple TV users, because only large HomePods are able to be permanently paired with an Apple TV to act as the default speakers. Even if they allow minis to be paired to a TV, there is no way that they can reproduce the rich Lowe’s in highs of the full-size home pods, nor would they be able to reproduce Dolby Atmos in any decent way.
3. If Apple discontinues the full-size HomePod because it’s not as profitable as their other products, that’s a huge disservice to their customers. When you create an ecosystem, and you expect customers to live within it, there is a certain obligation that you have to provide of wide variety of different products, not all of which may deliver max profit. Every time you force people to go outside of your ecosystem, you risk them leaving the ecosystem permanently.
4. If Homepod wasn’t a huge smash hit, quitting and taking your ball home is kind of a loser move. Why not look at the device’s shortcomings (lack of inputs, lack of user EQ control, etc.), make some design and functionality improvements, and come back with a better, even more kick-arse product?
5. For ANY virtual, smart product to work, Siri needs to get WAY better. Like, leaps and bounds better. It’s a complete kick in the teeth to all Apple customers, who are insanely loyal and pay a premium to buy the supposedly best devices on the market, for Apple to reward their loyalty with the #3 personal assistant on the market. This, after being the first to market with Siri! Apple should take the same approach with Siri that they have with Apple Silicon—make it the best by a clear margin. No one is gonna want AR glasses or a car powered by Siri in her current state. As I posted elsewhere, if they don’t announce a major upgrade to Siri at WWDC this June, I’m gonna lose it.
6. Regardless of whether they ultimately come out with another large speaker with a slightly different name, and this was all just an exercise in semantics, the way that this was communicated is a PR nightmare. For a company that typically does a better job than most at this kind of stuff, this is a pretty bad screwup, and disrespectful to all the customers who bought HomePods expecting them to be the opening salvo in a line of speakers that live in the ecosystem for years.
7. Boo.
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@sidewinder3000
I'm curious - how long will you wait before perhaps jumping ship?
9 HomePods is quite a lot of cabbage to be possibly watching "go to zero" if they just up and move on.
I'm curious - how long will you wait before perhaps jumping ship?
9 HomePods is quite a lot of cabbage to be possibly watching "go to zero" if they just up and move on.
As an optional product?
Why?
I'm not suggesting it should be the only option, but I know I'd love a "HomeBar" that combined their great audio work with AppleTV, all in one unit, wired right into my TV.
Think of all the people using sound bars these days! It has a lot of potential honestly.
So my problem is that Apple appear to have no product/brand direction on what they want to be.
They offer completely stupid overpriced junk like the Mac Pro wheels and monitor stands. And tbh, It’s fine for them to sell stuff like that if they still want to hold that lux brand status....
...but then why discontinue the luxury sounding HomePod product?
Apple basically just said “Oh our cheap and average sounding HomePod mini is popular you see it sells more because it’s cheaper” - like no **** Sherlock
And then proceed to say “So since the cheap one sells more, we are gonna focus on that”. So again what are you now Apple? A cheap and cheerful brand? Because Amazon already fills that void. Doesn’t Apple have the technical resources to offer a cheaper and high end product?
Tim, get your **** together.
They offer completely stupid overpriced junk like the Mac Pro wheels and monitor stands. And tbh, It’s fine for them to sell stuff like that if they still want to hold that lux brand status....
...but then why discontinue the luxury sounding HomePod product?
Apple basically just said “Oh our cheap and average sounding HomePod mini is popular you see it sells more because it’s cheaper” - like no **** Sherlock
And then proceed to say “So since the cheap one sells more, we are gonna focus on that”. So again what are you now Apple? A cheap and cheerful brand? Because Amazon already fills that void. Doesn’t Apple have the technical resources to offer a cheaper and high end product?
Tim, get your **** together.
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@insomniac86
I'm 150% with you. Apple is all over the map and frankly it's pretty concerning.
It's like a ship that is steering erratically with a coked up captain who can't decide what port he wants to visit next.
I'm 150% with you. Apple is all over the map and frankly it's pretty concerning.
It's like a ship that is steering erratically with a coked up captain who can't decide what port he wants to visit next.
I dont think it’s a good idea because you keep TVs for much longer than an average smartphone or tablet.
Apple will have to keep the tv updated for as long and it will be too old and slow to run the latest app or Arcade games while the tv itself is still great.
For example I plug one of my Apple TV into a 10 y.o, non-smart, 65” 1080p plasma in the living room and it still beats any average 4K LCDs craps.
I think it’d be better if it piggybacks your tv just like Apple CarPlay while iPhone or iPad works as the brain. Still impractical and eats up the battery life. But you can always ugrade your iPad and keep the old tv.
I'm literally buying another pair before they're all gone for good. I use the Homepods for my daily music listening and to control all my automations. It's perfect for my needs. I own 2 Mini's for the bedroom but the sound quality can't even compete with the original.
I'm sad that Apple decided to go this route. I hope support won't die anytime soon, but if it does, I'll stick with it until the Homepods break.
Normally that would be my reply also...
But I do wonder how many folks are really using 10 year old TV's right now.
I'd argue that, for TV usages, a top end new A14/A15 in there could easily stay relevant for a full decade running a TV OS. I think that would honestly be enough.
Just go in with eyes open..
They are on a path to nowhere, which would concern me in your shoes..
See below where a developer talked about the different OS path the HomePod and HomePod mini are on:
I won’t be jumping ship, likely ever. But other folks who aren’t as heavily invested will. Once someone gets a taste of other stuff outside the ecosystem, and it’s good, the veil is broken, and people’s perception shifts.
Apple has dropped the ball on Siri, on home networking/mesh networks, on HomeKit, on smart home products, inviting rivals to fill those needs, which in turn increases customers’ likelihood of trying other products by those companies.
If this is what it looks like on the surface, it’s a real bad look for Apple. Very disappointing. Creating friction within their user base.
@sidewinder3000
I really agree with you on the platform/ecosystem and support and trust angles.
Apple are playing with fire by burning people like this.
To your very good point -- once people start dipping toes in other pools, it gets much much easier to fully switch (and never return)
I really agree with you on the platform/ecosystem and support and trust angles.
Apple are playing with fire by burning people like this.
To your very good point -- once people start dipping toes in other pools, it gets much much easier to fully switch (and never return)
Apple's original HomePod did not sell well not because of the high price tag, but mostly because of the state of Siri and other UI issues. AirPods Pro have a high price tag and yet they sell well.
Speaker only assistants were pushed out of the market by assistants with combined speaker, touch display and webcam. Google Nest Hub Max continues where Home Max left off while Apple offers nothing comparable. As a speaker only assistant, Homepod was worse off since it lacks smarts and input options and has limited support for content services. A simple market research would've predicted the outcome.
This one hurts.
Apple has discontinued the standard HomePod to focus exclusively on the HomePod mini, reports TechCrunch. First introduced four years ago, Apple's larger HomePod has never sold well because of its high price tag.
Apple hoped that the HomePod's high-quality sound would give it an edge over competing products, but sales of the HomePod have always been lackluster with so many more affordable options on the market. Apple has been selling the HomePod for $299, but it was originally priced at $350. The HomePod mini is available for $99.
The HomePod mini offers all of the features of the HomePod in a smaller and less expensive package. Many reviews praised the HomePod mini for its sound quality relative to its size, and while it won't quite match the sound available from the HomePod, it features the same Siri integration, Apple Music support, and HomeKit controls.
In a statement, Apple said that the HomePod will continue to be available while supplies last through the Apple Online Store and Apple retail stores.On Thursday, many tech sites noticed that the full-sized space gray HomePod was out of stock in the United States, but it was believed to be just a stock shortage. As it turns out, it was because Apple no longer plans to sell the HomePod.
The space gray HomePod can likely be purchased from third-party retailers, but it is no longer available from Apple, while the HomePod in white continues to be available for purchase as of right now.
Article Link: Apple Discontinues Full-Sized HomePod to Focus on HomePod Mini
This one stings. The sound difference between the two is obvious. The Mini is in no way bad, but dammit.
Apple has discontinued the standard HomePod to focus exclusively on the HomePod mini, reports TechCrunch. First introduced four years ago, Apple's larger HomePod has never sold well because of its high price tag.
Apple hoped that the HomePod's high-quality sound would give it an edge over competing products, but sales of the HomePod have always been lackluster with so many more affordable options on the market. Apple has been selling the HomePod for $299, but it was originally priced at $350. The HomePod mini is available for $99.
The HomePod mini offers all of the features of the HomePod in a smaller and less expensive package. Many reviews praised the HomePod mini for its sound quality relative to its size, and while it won't quite match the sound available from the HomePod, it features the same Siri integration, Apple Music support, and HomeKit controls.
In a statement, Apple said that the HomePod will continue to be available while supplies last through the Apple Online Store and Apple retail stores.On Thursday, many tech sites noticed that the full-sized space gray HomePod was out of stock in the United States, but it was believed to be just a stock shortage. As it turns out, it was because Apple no longer plans to sell the HomePod.
The space gray HomePod can likely be purchased from third-party retailers, but it is no longer available from Apple, while the HomePod in white continues to be available for purchase as of right now.
Article Link: Apple Discontinues Full-Sized HomePod to Focus on HomePod Mini
In the living room I plug an ATV 4k into a 65” 1080p plasma I bought in 2012. And oh boy the picture quality is still stunning even by today’s standard.
Many visitors keep asking what kind of tv I’m using because it looks so much better than average 4K LCD craps. And the ATV breathes a new life into an otherwise clunky, decade old tv. It plays and stream everything with such ease. Paired to an AV receiver it works wonder as a home cinema setup.
I really do hope Apple doesn’t slash tv in the near future. It just needs an upgrade so badly.
You’re right. Even their first product, the ZP100 is still useable and supported 16 years after its introduction.
I don’t care they don’t produce it anymore.
But I will be super pissed off if they stop working.
If I buy speakers, I expect them to work throughout their lifetime.
The problem here is they are Apple tied only. So they better come up with a solution to pair with other systems otherwise it’s pure robbery.
I have a pair which I don’t intent to trash. This is not papers flushed down the toilettes.
I am hoping they address this concern.
But I will be super pissed off if they stop working.
If I buy speakers, I expect them to work throughout their lifetime.
The problem here is they are Apple tied only. So they better come up with a solution to pair with other systems otherwise it’s pure robbery.
I have a pair which I don’t intent to trash. This is not papers flushed down the toilettes.
I am hoping they address this concern.