My single hesitation on getting the HomePod is lack of a roadmap on development of features and how quickly these might get outdated on Homekit support (a la Apple TV Gen 3); as a speaker, it's not something I would anticipate upgrading every 2-3 years and if Homekit support is dropped within 2-3 OS versions, this could be a pricey buy.
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Apple Receives FCC Approval for HomePod, Suggesting a Launch Could Come Soon
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As a speaker, It'd be interesting to hear this. As a smart speaker, I think they need to first make improve Siri. As of right now, Siri is really awful compared to Alexa/Google.
I don't trust most of the articles talking about it online because they are written by people with different fidelity tastes. If Apple markets Beats as great sounding headphones, I'd be hesitant to take their word that this is a great sounding speaker. BOSE at one point was marketed as a great sounding speaker, but then many who cared about audio realized it was overly artificial.
I don't trust most of the articles talking about it online because they are written by people with different fidelity tastes. If Apple markets Beats as great sounding headphones, I'd be hesitant to take their word that this is a great sounding speaker. BOSE at one point was marketed as a great sounding speaker, but then many who cared about audio realized it was overly artificial.
My smart TV outputs sound via Bluetooth.
My Apple TV outputs sound via Bluetooth
My iPad outputs sound via Bluetooth
My Apple AirPods are Bluetooth
So - what DOESN'T appear to come with the homepods? What interface is missing that's ESSENTIAL to the ecosystem and a connected room?
No point in buying a standalone gadget that can't replace my soundbar.
I'll be interested in a HomePod if it sounds as good as promised. Siri isn't very good, but if it sounds good and reduces clutter in my home I'm interested.
I expect Apple will release to a few reviewers, if they haven't already done so
I expect Apple will release to a few reviewers, if they haven't already done so
It will do this if you have an Apple TV, the same as other Airplay speakers do now.
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This bit about HomeKit is completely wrong - Alexa and Google Assistant aren’t even smart home platforms, if you don’t get an Echo Plus (and if you glance at reviews you’ll see how terrible that is) you can’t have it do anything without you specifically asking it - no timers, no occupancy status, no motion sensor actions, no automation whatsoever. HomeKit as a platform is actually light years ahead of the competition - and its occupancy status geofencing features are absolutely brilliant if everyone in your household has an iPhone. It’s also the only platform (besides Hue, which came first) that isn’t going through the internet to turn on a lightbulb 3 feet away from you.
The only problem with HomeKit is lack of device support, which Apple doesn’t have much control over since they opened up the API’s.
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You’re making an assumption. Whether they rag or not it might actually be that their opinion is right, (not just different), and yours is wrong. Ever considered that?
I am curious and will wait for real life reviews. This "beamforming and dynamic self-equalization" could be some marketing crap or a game-changer. Unlike some enthusiasts, I've some doubt about it. Time will tell.
Not that market share is everything, but I didn't think the marker penetration of these things was all that great yet?
If the majority of households don't have one yet, and the market is expected to grow significantly over the next year or two, I think its a bit premature to say its too little too late.
Really curious to hear how this will sound compared to the Marshall Stanmore?
The HomePod is supposed to be a really good speaker that has smart speaker capabilities.
Echo devices are smart speakers that are Bluetooth speakers by default.
The HomePod is supposed to be a really good speaker that has smart speaker capabilities.
Echo devices are smart speakers that are Bluetooth speakers by default.
Apple has tough requirements, mainly in encryption which in the past included hardware, that other smart devices don’t. I originally thought that having better security would make it a better product and more popular.
But it also makes HomeKit more expensive. And manufacturers aren’t bothering to build and program their devices to Apple’s higher standards. Their lower security rated products are selling fine with Alexa and Google Home.
And this is a reason that I’m not sure HomePod is going to be a hit. Yes it sounds better than Google & Amazon but its not going to match the sound of really high end products. And Siri, perhaps because Apple isn’t willing to sample and store customer information, isn’t as good of an assistant. So you have a device that is more expensive than its already established competitors that provides an improvement over those competing devices in sound but will not be as good as decent high end sound systems and it will also not be as reliable in voice recognition. HomePod may be more secure but in a world where ‘password’ and ‘123456’ have been the top passwords for decades despite experts warning how dangerous that is, people obviously really really don’t care about how secure their IOT devices are.
Sure I consider it. But when ragging on Apple is all they have to contribute, day in and day out on the forum, I usually come back to my opinion. It's pretty easy to see a pattern after a bit of time. Your mileage may vary.
Some podcast I heard last week cited an analyst report that one in six Americans has a smart speaker. I'm skeptical of this, since it's more likely that some smart speaker users have multiple units, but they're definitely not niche products.
That said, however mediocre Siri is, she's more ubiquitous than any other digital assistant, just on the basis of iPhones, so many consumers who have yet to jump into the smart speaker market will consider the Siri brand to be a positive.
Personally, I use some software called homebridge that adds support for practically every home automation device ever made to HomeKit. It’s unfortunate that more manufacturers aren’t adding HomeKit support to their products - and it could be added very easily to existing devices via a firmware update now, but with a bit of effort it isn’t necessary.
I’ve never used Alexa or Google but I agree Siri sucks. If I’m dictating a text message or requesting a search there are going to be basic words it doesn’t get right. I wish there were some way to train it like you can for mispronunciations.
Installing Homebridge on macOS
https://github.com/nfarina/homebridge/wiki/Install-Homebridge-on-macOS
Adding Homekit support to Belkin WeMo devices (for example)
https://blog.mbcharbonneau.com/2016...t-support-to-your-belkin-wemo-switches-today/
No it’s not.
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You going to list the positive features too or just what helps your bias?
That would be a good point if everyone in the market based their buying decision on your preferences.
What use is one of these if it doesn't support Apple Music? Huh? Its useless, isn't it? I'll try and stream it from my phone, and it just won't work. So what_on_earth even is the point of an Echo 2?
Did you listen to it? If the sound is good then $350 is cheap. If the sound is rubbish then $150 is overpriced.
I think Siri is suppose to learn over time just like its competitors, but Google/Alexa seems to understand and learn things a lot better and quicker. I used the word "serious" a lot at work, and Siri always activates
It's at the point where I just turn off Siri on all my Apple devices.
Amazingly, I just tap on my iPhone and say "Siri, turn on the lights" and the lights turn on. That's because I have an old phone. My wife can leave hers in her handbag, say "Hey Siri, turn on the lights" and they turn on.
When they only have one endlessly repeating point of view about how terrible Apple and their products are then that’s a risk I’m willing to take.
I have criticized Apple products and policies, so I don’t just constantly apologize for them, but they also have policies and products that I like, and if they didn’t I wouldn’t waste both my time and other readers by continually posting that I hate them.
I think this is largely the fault of the comparatively shoddy microphones in iPhones and iPads - it’s not really fair to compare something with a 7-microphone far-field array to the speakerphone mic on your phone.
Its what people have said for virtually every Apple product.
One underestimates Apple to their own detriment. And still they do not learn.
My general observation here is that the majority of comments posted tend to be extremely myopic and superficial and contribute practically nothing to the discussion at hand. I think it says a lot when you can probably skip the first 80-100 comments of any new thread here and you still wouldn’t have missed anything of importance.
That’s mainly why I typically take 2-3 days before posting in a thread. Because it takes time to allow the enormity of the article to sink in, form an opinion and craft a proper coherent response. What sort of value can be had in a knee-jerk reply made literally seconds after an article is posted?
And that’s even before considering whether it’s right or wrong. History has shown that any response claiming that Apple is doomed invariably ends up being dead wrong. And yet people persist in making an argument.
If they cannot demonstrate that they even understand how and why Apple grew, and came to grow so large in the first place, then based on what track record should anything they say now be believed? What credibility do they even have, beyond being brought together by a common desire for Mac Pros or an intense hatred of iPads?
As a general rule of thumb, I dareday one can safely assume that the opposite of anything the naysayers say here will end up happening, and largely be on the right side of history.
That’s how toxic this place has become. That people are allowing their hatred and displeasure and dissatisfaction of Apple to blind them to the larger picture.