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Apple Shares First Series of HomePod Ads With Focus on Music

legacyb4 said:
Some more hands-on feedback

https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/7t51a2/nda_is_up_what_can_i_tell_you_guys_about_the/
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So it sounds great. That's good, but I'd love him to hear my subwoofer if he thinks the HomePod's bass was amazing.

His highlights:
  • Significantly better audio than Sonos Play One or Google Home Max.
  • Walk around in the room you never feel like you’re leaving the sweet spot. An impressive feat.
  • Volume is more than adequate. The speakers sound accurate, never introducing extra bass when the song didn’t call for it. 40% was fine for me. Pushing them to 80% was really fun
  • Highs are great, but I expect that they’ll become crystal clear with a second HomePod.
  • For a speaker so TINY, these are ****ing AMAZING.
  • The bass is really clean, and well controlled. Build is solid.
 
"If you add music to your home iTunes library that was not acquired through a purchase, HomePod will not be able to access it."

I was intrigued, but I consider this a glaring oversight on their part. This is going to be a deal breaker for so many potential customers. Me included.
 
Very weak ads. I expect better from Apple.

I personally found the "Order Now" message to be far too aggressive and desperate-sounding.

@Apple, you can do better. Stop trying so hard to be cool. Find your roots again!
 
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OllyW said:
Not sure, 9to5Mac confirmed the purchased music works but Apple are only pushing the Apple Music angle and said anything about it yet.
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also in that 9to5Mac article:

"If you add music to your home iTunes library that was not acquired through a purchase, HomePod will not be able to access it."

 
I’ve waited over 10years since the ill fainted A1121 and have already ordered a HomePod but so disappointed that, despite a processor from an advanced smart phone, the command ‘play bbc radio four for 30 minutes’ seems to be beyond its capabilities. Let alone ‘wake me at 0530 with (insert any radio station). It’s 2018. Is this really as good as it gets?
 
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ike1707 said:
also in that 9to5Mac article:

"If you add music to your home iTunes library that was not acquired through a purchase, HomePod will not be able to access it."
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On the other hand, nobody knows if this is based on actual information, or on speculation and (mis)reading of what Apple is saying. And the music in my library is all acquired through a purchase. Some is acquired through purchasing an LP and recording it. Some is acquired through purchasing a CD and ripping it. Some is acquired through purchasing MP3s from Amazon, which iTunes Match nicely upgraded to AAC. Oh wait, some music I didn't purchase - I got it as presents.

legacyb4 said:
Some more hands-on feedback

https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/7t51a2/nda_is_up_what_can_i_tell_you_guys_about_the/
Click to expand...

What's really interesting in the article: The HomePod separates sources (left and right) but it's different from stereo. Now stereo isn't optimal - ancient quadraphony and modern surround sound are better (and obviously sound different). So there is no requirement that beam forming must be _the same_ as stereo, as long as it achieves the same, that is telling the listener what direction sound comes from, where musicians and instruments are positioned.

If one HomePod is better than mono and similar quality but different from stereo, then two HomePods should be able to achieve something that is better than ordinary stereo. Now what would be amazing would be taking the technology of the HomePod and moving it into a £1,000 speaker.
 
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ike1707 said:
also in that 9to5Mac article:

"If you add music to your home iTunes library that was not acquired through a purchase, HomePod will not be able to access it."
Click to expand...
It didn’t say anything about iTunes Match though which matches or copies your own music to the cloud.

I’m sure more details will become available once the actual review units go out so they can be tested properly in real life.
 
ouimetnick said:
I think the ads are terrible. Horrible “music” doesn’t highlight any feature or showing the HomePod integrating with anyone’s life, and begging me to ORDER NOW
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You guys don’t understand at all I see. The ads intention was not to highlight specific features of the home pod but to simply let people know there’s a new speaker in town. Also Apple isn’t begging anyone to order, they’re letting people know you can order it now. People who didn’t know what the HomePod was before seeing this ad will probably look it up after seeing it, and there they can find more information about it. If they’re interested they can order it.

This ad is meant to tickle people’s curiosity, and it will. This ad is not meant for you or I, we obviously know what the HomePod is.
 
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OllyW said:
It didn’t say anything about iTunes Match though which matches or copies your own music to the cloud.

I’m sure more details will become available once the actual review units go out so they can be tested properly in real life.
Click to expand...

One clarification that I found: If you don't have iTunes Music or iTunes Match then you can only play music purchased from Apple _using Siri commands_. You can play absolutely anything using AirPlay. That's probably were the ridiculous claim comes from that you can only play purchased music.

iTunes Match will be interesting and complicated. The majority of my songs in iTunes Match is _matched_ with songs in the AppStore. About 20% is uploaded. If I can play purchased music, then I _should_ be able to play music that is _matched_ because that's just songs that are in the AppStore, as if I had purchased them. One problem is that titles in my library and on the AppStore are often not the same. So it could be that with Siri, you have to use the titles from the AppStore, not the ones from your library.

Abazigal said:
The HomePod is a computer with speakers. It’s a smart speaker today, with the potential to be so much more in the future.
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I'd say it's a speaker with a built-in computer, not a computer with speakers. There is _huge_ emphasis on the sound quality.
 
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The entire focus of the HomePod is music. Why don't people understand that?

Apple talked 90% of the keynote about music and the HomePod. Just 10% was about Siri and that was at the very end. 90% of the HomePod webpage is devoted to music. Only the very bottom mentions Siri. The clear focus is music.
 
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gnasher729 said:
Works with every reasonably modern Mac that supports Airplay. Works with any Windows PC with Airplay software that you can buy for less than $30.
Click to expand...

So I can airplay anything from the library stored on my Mac? Including songs that I've recording myself?
[doublepost=1517099614][/doublepost]I chatted with Apple and they told me no, it will not work with a Mac,
 
CmdrLaForge said:
I really wanted a HomePod but it turns out it is a Trojan Horse for Apple Music and doesn't work with my iTunes music library.
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[doublepost=1517100301][/doublepost]That is not true. I spoke with Apple sales this morning and HomePod will work if one only has iTunes match. You don't need apple music with iTunes match for iTunes match to work. I was told it can also perform Airplay from a device.

Rogifan said:
Kirk McElhearn confirms that HomePod can only natively play music you’ve purchased vis iTunes or from Apple Music. So if you have ripped music in iCloud Music Library the only way to play it is using AirPlay from another device. He claims it’s a Siri limitation.

https://t.co/dP3pcDarLX
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Not True. Spoke with Apple this morning. It will work with iTunes Match, without being part of a subscription to Apple Music. It also supports AirPlay from other devices.
[doublepost=1517101022][/doublepost]
OllyW said:
Not sure, 9to5Mac confirmed the purchased music works but Apple are only pushing the Apple Music angle and said anything about it yet.
Click to expand...
I spoke with Apple this morning . HomePod will work with iTunes Match without Match being bundled with Apple Music. HomePod will also AirPlay from other devices.
[doublepost=1517101306][/doublepost]
ike1707 said:
"If you add music to your home iTunes library that was not acquired through a purchase, HomePod will not be able to access it."

I was intrigued, but I consider this a glaring oversight on their part. This is going to be a deal breaker for so many potential customers. Me included.
Click to expand...

Not True. Checked with Apple Sales this morning. Will play your iTunes Match without Apple Music Subscription. Also, will AirPlay from another device.
[doublepost=1517101439][/doublepost]
OllyW said:
It didn’t say anything about iTunes Match though which matches or copies your own music to the cloud.

I’m sure more details will become available once the actual review units go out so they can be tested properly in real life.
Click to expand...
I spoke with Apple this morning . HomePod will work with iTunes Match without Match being bundled with Apple Music. HomePod will also AirPlay from other devices.

truthertech said:
Doesn't it work with iTunes match?
Click to expand...
I spoke with Apple this morning . HomePod will work with iTunes Match without Match being bundled with Apple Music. HomePod will also AirPlay from other devices.
 
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tfw love bass but there has not been a song with nice bass for years. all of the songs now are black people rapping about feministic stuff. looks like i wont be getting this since i cant play music in my room anyway
 
1997AAPL said:
I spoke with Apple this morning . HomePod will work with iTunes Match without Match being bundled with Apple Music. HomePod will also AirPlay from other devices.
Click to expand...


Thanks, that hugely important information. It needs to come out officially from Apple.
[doublepost=1517105458][/doublepost]
BWhaler said:
So I guess it’s a speaker. It’ll be interesting to see what the market for (quasi) dumb speakers are.

Feels like Apple is going where the puck was, but perhaps Siri and cloud services will catch up.

There is some promise in the features and ideas to support the catch-up hopes, but then again it’s also shipping without two core baseline features.

Apple is shipping a lot of incomplete products of late on the software side. Wonder if Tim notices?
Click to expand...


Again, you mistakenly assume Apple is pitching the Homepod against these two devices when they are not. Apple obviously could have put out a cheap smart speaker two years ago if they wanted to compete against Echo and Google, but as always, Apple isn't interested in pushing out cheap, loss leaders. (My gosh, the first time I saw the Google speaker in person, I was appalled at how cheap it looked.)

If it helps, think of the Apple Watch and how many people said Apple was behind Pebble, Fitbit, etc., because these companies were selling before Apple had the Watch out, and how when the Watch came out how Apple was again behind because the battery life, etc., of the Fitbit, sleep tracking, etc.,and the Apple Watch was too expensive to succeed. But the problem for them was Apple wasn't trying to compete with cheap fitness bands and cheap looking smart watches. Apple wanted to produce a terrific smart watch that they were proud of. The rest is history as the company that was "so far behind" has now left all the companies in the dust as it turns out they knew what the public really wanted. The Homepod is set up to do the same. Hint: what do surveys show the number one thing people use their smart speakers for? You guessed it, listen to music!
 
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MaxGravy said:
So I can airplay anything from the library stored on my Mac? Including songs that I've recording myself?
[doublepost=1517099614][/doublepost]I chatted with Apple and they told me no, it will not work with a Mac,
Click to expand...

Maybe there was some miscommunication between Apple and yourself.

I have AirPlay speakers and I can confirm you can airplay from iTunes on a Mac to an AirPlay enabled speaker. It’s been this way for years.
 
This is iconic:
2005-iPod-lge-340.jpg


These HomePod ads are crap.
 
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