I still have a the iPod Hi-Fi with a old style iPod to dock and provide music and use Amazon Echo for the other stuff.
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Apple Receives FCC Approval for HomePod, Suggesting a Launch Could Come Soon
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I do not have Apple Music so I think it might be useless for me considering I can use Hey Siri on my watch, iPhone, and iPad.
What market, though? The market for cheap spy machines disguised as speakers likely sold at a loss? Amazon makes no money selling the Echo, they just want the data to sell you more stuff. Google makes no money selling the Home, they just want the data to sell you more ads. What does Apple have to sell you? The speaker.
Who cares? How about all the posters taking time out to actually post and tell people they supposedly don't care?
I've got plenty of money to buy this thing but I still can't think of a reason to. There aren't a lot of Apple devices I can say that about. I've already got an Apple TV to run HomeKit. I've got a nice sound bar (I'm not an audiophile but I like my movies and music to sound decent). I've got Siri on my wrist, iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro and Apple TV remote. Somebody please try to sell this to me—a huge Apple fan. Heck, I'd even buy it if it was an 802.11ax AirPort Extreme.
Comes down to what music content plays on HomePod. Nice if Apple allowed the HomePod the same music apps as the iPhone. Seperate the content from the device.
Did they announce this so far in advance to advise the faithful not to buy in until their device was released? It seems like they gave the competition too much advance notice of pending features.
Of course it's not too bad. People need to stop thinking this is just an assistant. It's suppose to be a powerful sound speaker to be used with siri. Not the same
I agree.
The potential for well-executed beamforming and dynamic self-equalization is enormous and will drive great sound. The fact that it's tied into Apple's eco-system is icing.
Have a feeling this will be a big hit and in great demand, similar to AirPods.
"Others will chastise the HomePod and consider it a failure on a tech forum (Which is likely those negatively commenting who will never own one or have experience with it),"
Yeah. Expected. People who come here to rag day after day can be safely ignored.
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Quoted for future comedy.
Literally no evidence to prove this speculation and they said the same thing about the iPhone and Watch.
Yeah, the Amazon and Google products have such amazing sound quality. That Echo Dot. Just incredible.
And there are literally zero Apple fans that want a smart speaker in the Apple ecosystem. All 1 billion+ Apple users already use an Amazon or Google product.
The most underrated aspect of iOS 11 (and the HomePod) is Airplay 2.0. Being able to send audio to more than one speaker with an iOS device is going to be amazing.
PS - I'm wondering if Airplay 2.0 contributed to the delay of the HomePod...
PS - I'm wondering if Airplay 2.0 contributed to the delay of the HomePod...
This seems like another gen 1 product that will quickly become irrelevant and replaced by much better subsequent revisions. I hope I'm wrong.
"Hey NSA! Find me a recipe for lasagna."
My guess is that the initial quantity is very small due to production challenge, so they had to restrict the initial number of countries. As production scales, so too will the supply to other countries.
Already have Google Home and think it’s great, and availability in Canada now ( unlike home pod ). Has a decent assistant too, so not crippled by Siri.
Wonder if Apple will open up HomePod to IFTT? It works great with google home to expand existing command set?
Wonder if Apple will open up HomePod to IFTT? It works great with google home to expand existing command set?
I guess Siri has to learn to handle more than one language at a time. Most english speaking countries are quite insular, they don't listen to foreign music or watch foreign films. Apple adapted to this kind of thinking, and now Siri is useless if you listen to music in foreign languages or by bands with foreign names. If you want to be a world leader, you have to know and understand the world. I am sure the HomePod will suffer from this problem as Apple TV has done for some time. Apple have to get rid of this Steve Jobs style of english thinking.
You are right, they need to focus on something other than a smart speaker as Apple has Siri (there by losing the title smart speaker in my opinion)
At CES, my Siri results became a bit of a joke. It was quite depressing how every query Siri would respond, "let me look the web for that" and provide useless results or it would say "I can't do that". Then my co-workers would say "Hey google" and it would respond dead on 94% of the time (around that, I stopped keeping track after so many disappointments).
Personally, I don't know if homepod would compete with real audiophile speakers. So if you are going for sound and want to waste money, there are lots of companies out there that make top notch products if you have HD music. I think it's more Apple marketing trying to find a place in the world and make Apple consumers feel good that they traded off this so called "superior" sound for a less useful product.
I guess time will tell though.
The HomePod does look nice, but $350 is a bit steep in my opinion. You can buy 2x Sonos Play 1 speakers for that price, and still have $50 left over.
I know I know, the Play1 doesn't have a virtual assistant. But if I already have a virtual assistant in my pocket and on my wrist, I don't feel the need for one in a speaker too.
I know I know, the Play1 doesn't have a virtual assistant. But if I already have a virtual assistant in my pocket and on my wrist, I don't feel the need for one in a speaker too.