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Apple Says HomePod is Delayed Until Early 2018
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Really? Never fails for me. The devices will be turned on temporarily, but only one (normally the closest) should continue "listening" and only that one will process your request.
The feature has the same requirements of Handoff (all devices logged in the same iCloud account, connected to the same wifi network, bluetooth on). My guess is that if handoff doesn't work in your network environment, then this feature also won't work.
Why people continue to play these games with Apple is beyond me. Both Google and Amazon have products that are available 'NOW'. I have a Google Home mini in every room. They turn on TVs, control lights, lock doors, access all my Nest devices, play music, play Netflix, start my sprinklers, close the garage doors, make phone calls, alert me to new notifications, orders pizza & finds an Uber driver - all for $50. In fact Google assistant is so good I'll be picking up the Home Max in Dec for my living room. On top of that, the Google Home minis look good, blend in nicely with furniture in the home.
As Wayne Gretzky would say, 'Don't chase the puck, skate to where the puck is going' - Apple is chasing.
Apple didn't used to announce products they weren't ready to ship. There are a few they have pre-launched a little but they've always been quite good about getting them to market quite quickly afterwards. That's one thing which has differentiated them from the vapourware merchants.
Homepod was a little different. It was announced at WWDC but not because it came with HomeSDK or anything else developers needed to start working with, but in my view to try and disrupt sales of competing products which were already out the door.
In wearables Apple fell behind and let others put out products but they waited until Apple Watch was (arguably) ready to ship and then shipped it, warts and all, and it's been very successful. I respect that.
I'm fine with Apple or any company not shipping a product before it's ready, this is the first time I've seen Apple announce something which clearly wasn't going to be ready for 6 months and actually isn't going to be ready for 9-12. The Apple I enjoy would have announced it at WWCD 2018 as a fully-fledged shipping product with an SDK and owned the 2018 Christmas buying spree instead of trying to disrupt the competition this year.
Not sure it will have worked well either. If people were set on 'getting an Apple Homepod' for Christmas I think that's going to raise awareness for this market segment and drive sales of 'the next best thing' which is probably Echo.
Apple probably saw how good the voice assistant was on their competitors and were embarrassed to release their device given siri was first on the scene and about 3 years behind Google and Amazon. I'm sure the sound quality will be decent for the speaker though.
I just look at a once innovative company and can't help but notice that although they make nice products their competition just keeps getting better while they seem to leave things in limbo for a long time. Everything they do is atleast 2 years behind everyone else. They are always chasing and trying to keep up.
I just look at a once innovative company and can't help but notice that although they make nice products their competition just keeps getting better while they seem to leave things in limbo for a long time. Everything they do is atleast 2 years behind everyone else. They are always chasing and trying to keep up.
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Yep, first thing that popped in my head after reading this story. This has nothing to do with the hardware and everything to do with software. iOS is falling apart, Siri is beyond terrible if you've actually experienced other assistants, and Mac OS Sierra doesn't work on my MacPro.
I'm almost done with Apple.
You can easily unplug and take it from room to room or elsewhere, so I'd say it has portability to it yes. It's not a battery powered boom box, no. But it's not a traditional speaker that is "permanently" wired to a receiver either. It's also not a 75lb 1920s-style room radio.
How does Sonos sound when you watch a YouTube video on your Mac and listen to the audio wirelessly on your Sonos system? Or watching and listening to a Netflix movie on your Mac, etc?
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To each their own. I find no use for it and the idea of something always listening doesn’t make it better.
Valid point, but keep that thought each time you use your iPhone.
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Spot on. Welcome to the over expanding, profit driven, they will buy what everything we show them Apple of Timmy. It's freaking pathetic. If Tim had his act together he would split Jeff Williams position into two. A COO for a iOS Division, and a COO for a Mac Division.
Jeff has clearly lost control of operations, and it shows in these delays, over hyping early, immature product releases, and most concerning just plane slinging of Crap Code.
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Valid point, but keep that thought each time you use your iPhone.
I do keep that thought and I’m OK with it because Apple makes their money selling me hardware. Unlike Google who makes their money gathering data about me and using it to pitch ads. Or Amazon who uses it to promote heir store and products available on it.
Which business model do you think is more likely to abuse what it collects about you?
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I didn’t know Amazon makes a speaker with room analysis and real-time acoustical modeling. Can you point out which model does that?
Further to that point, it’s one less provider listening. I also have Siri disabled, but I’m not sure what that actually does.
Ten years ago, I would totally agree. Five years ago, I'd say usually.... today, I passionately disagree with this statement.
Name a product they have put out in the past few years that was not riddled with bugs, issues, etc.? Not just hardware, but software too.
While they eventually get these issues fixed and worked out (after denying them for ages when they are really bad), the Apple you mentioned died with Steve Jobs. Not that he didn't have issues. But at least Steve Job held people by their innards for it. "What is MobileMe supposed to do?" Jobs asked a room of people. The tell him. He tells them, "Then why the F%#%# doesn't it do that?"
-Apple needs a bit of that back in it's life. If anything, we should have a poll on what issues the bloody thing will have despite a delay, and up the ante on predictions for the fixes. We used to blame Mac issues on everyone being devoted to IOS.... but that doesn't explain IOS11.
For a company that really hasn't had a "new" product in ages, just new iterations of old ones, this is embarrassing.
And this is exactly the problem with this product. Those who care about that, are audiophiles, and no audiophiles are going to replace their high end equipment with a freaking homepod.
I have to say I was really looking forward to this device in December. Particularly because I've been HomeKit-ing my apartment, but also because I think new use-cases will force Siri to become more useful. For example, supporting multiple users in the household... maybe even some social functions/games for when you have people over... Oh well, now I have to wait
I was not referring to a Private Corporation using your data. I was referring to an entity listening to others conversations.
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"Honey, it's Christmas—time to buy that Homepo...let's just get the Sonos to put something under the tree.
I definitely agree with you thought on timing, unfortunately they've now found themselves on the other side of the holiday season. What's also strange is them not releasing their charging mat in the same month, now not even the same year as their new wirelessly charging phones.
Why do you assume their goal would be to replace their high-end equipment?
Providing different utility, it's easy to see HomePod co-existing with a high-end system. Or HomePod units being good enough in some rooms where you don't want to spend thousands of $ replicating the high-end system used in your listening room, such as in the kitchen for example.
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The average person will care about it a great deal. They don’t need to know the underlying technology or how it works. All they’ll notice is that whatever room they put it in, wherever they place it and wherever they’re listening from they will be able to hear their content clearly.
This is not a product for audiophiles, and I have no idea how you can even make the connection. The HomePod is a speaker that adheres to the “it just works” philosophy. Good sound without having to do anything but plug it in and let it set itself up.
It’s the polar opposite of what audiophiles do (careful selection of all their equipment and what works well together, experimentation and adjustment of your room acoustics, careful placement of speakers and fine tuning everything until you get the sound you want).