Eh, I wouldn't put the HomePod in this because it's seemingly like a phoenix as the mini really saved it from the ashes
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Apple to Launch AI-Powered Home 'Command Center' as Soon as March 2025
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I get it. I use the HomePods for voice commands when needed. Not sure about the value of a central hub. Apple knows how to price high. Maybe just add another quality speaker. Will see what is delivered.I know, but when I’m in the kitchen with my dirty hands, my choices are limited.
Also, many times I dont get the choice. No matter how far I am from the HomePods, most often the commands are processed by them, even though my phone which is right next to me lights up too. It just thinks "oh the pods have got this covered." 🤦♂️
You and at least a dozen others fail to grasp what goes on with various products.
Some like Apple's Newton investigate new technology and lead directly/indirectly to later important products like iPhone and iPad. The Apple Vision Pro (AVP) is absolutely in a similar mode as the Newton was (pricey, somewhat experimental, and hence with moderate sales). AVP is IMO farther along the development path than Newton was, and sales of hundreds of thousands of AVPs despite the $3500 price tag suggest AVP is already successful, despite ignorant folks who want to diss on anything that fails to jump into the immediate fancy of low-retail consumers and sell like the latest hula hoop.
Others like the HomePod were/are great products introduced into a marketplace full of much lower competence, low priced competition like the Echo. Again, products like the HomePod are not failures simply because they fail to jump into the immediate fancy of low-retail consumers and sell like the latest hula hoop.
None of us outside Apple know what the value of the Apple Car was or was not; certainly it was not an introduced product that failed as stated by T0rqx. And we do not know where the tech investigated may show up in later products. The point is that aggressively pursuing new product tech like the HomePod, the Apple Vision Pro and the Apple Car are exactly what the world's largest, most successful tech company should be doing, and it is not called "fail."
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Apple Vision Pro (AVP) is no joke. Hundreds of thousands have been sold at $3,500 each. Ask any of the folks who have had surgery done on them with help of the AVP. I am still investigating but am close to buying one for my workflow.
You are 100% correct that
"This seems like it would be software restricted hardware. Even the base iPad could do 10 times what this would seemingly need to do."
Hopefully what "they have something special up their sleeves" is that they have for a decade been evolving the referenced new operating system into a solid really good OS product before they release it.
Such a product is all about the software, i.e. the new OS. The hardware really is trivial. Even though hardware does need to work and look good (pay Jony), Apple's hardware competence is already for beyond what such a product requires.
Isn't this thing basically just an iPad? I fail to see any distinction.
Requires an iphone to set it up? This is a smart home hub, but not necessarily a home kit hub? I hate that I need an iphone to set up Apple homepods, just let me connect them to my Apple Tv, I bought both devices, why do I need a third?
I just want Apple Intelligence to be smart enough to let me change Siri's name. Just like iOS is trained with your fingerprint and face at different angles and positions so it has a good image, it should be possible to change the name used to "bring up" Apple Intelligence with some vocal training using the new name multiple times.
I leave my iPad at home except when I don't. And when I take the iPad those at home would have a "command center" with no screen and no brains.
I'd like to see this new device have the rumored robotic arm and stereo face-time cameras. That way you could call into it from Vision Pro and see the room as though you were there. With the robotic arm you could even "look around".
Eventually when they put it on wheels or legs, you could walk around using telepresence.
I hope this is a real new product line and not just an iPad on a stick.
That’s a generous interpretation. I think it more likely that Apple simply ignores the HomePod until they decide it’s time to update it by releasing a new one with Apple Intelligence, then pretend the old one never happened. This is the Apple way.
I mean they did it with their flagship product. They’ve done it many times to laptops and iPads. They’ll do it again.
It always works for them. There is wailing and gnashing of teeth in the short term but eventually people forget and just buy a new one.
You know the homepod "failed" so much they brought it back, right?
And the minis have been pretty popular since they launched, even with no major updates
The current ones leverage your phone for a lot of things, it wouldnt be a stretch for them to use this dedicated device the same way
Release new products?
Huh?
If it can’t integrate into existing smart home services I think this is a flop. Apple is late to this market, and a lot of customers have ring, nest, etc.. if it lacks that integration I’m not quite this this is going to be very successful.
Of course they're competent enough to make the rumored device—I'd say they're already selling it! But even a new-screen-size twist on existing hardware requires non-shared parts to be sourced, new casings to be developed, PCBs to be laid out, molds to be made, and other sunk costs that a cost-conscious industrial engineer like Tim (he who gave us the "SE" lineup) would try to avoid; a new app or StandBy-like mode just needs some software engineers to be retasked for a while. The question is basically whether there is some feature that would plausibly require a new, uniquely-optimized device—maybe the wall mount rumor is incorrect and the motorized arm is permanently attached?—or if Apple management simply believe that the sales potential of a shiny new device outweighs that of endowing iPads with new software functionality.
So many weird choices
Why not make a soundbar with ATV, Facetime camera & Siri/AI built in?
That feels like something folks might actually buy and use
Why not make a soundbar with ATV, Facetime camera & Siri/AI built in?
That feels like something folks might actually buy and use
Only 15 years too late!
Apple is planning to launch an AI-powered smart home display as soon as March 2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The display will measure in at approximately six inches, and while it is similar to an iPad, it is square rather than rectangular and it has thick bezels around the edges. There is a camera at the top front so that it can be used for FaceTime, plus there are internal speakers for playing music and a built-in rechargeable battery.
Apple will offer the hub in silver and black, and it will use a touch-based interface. The operating system will look like a mix of the iPhone's StandBy mode and watchOS, though it will primarily be controlled by voice. Apple plans to integrate Apple Intelligence for accessing apps and controlling smart home products, and it was designed around App Intents, a Siri system that will be able to control apps and tasks.
Apple designed a customizable home screen with widgets that can be used to show things like the weather and upcoming appointments, a photo slideshow, or important home controls. A software-based dock will be available for launching apps, and multiple systems in different rooms will work as intercoms. Apple plans to focus on security as well, providing alerts and camera footage from connected smart home cameras.
Built-in sensors will be able to determine how close a person is standing to the device, and it can adjust features from there. When no one is nearby, for example, it might show the temperature, but as someone approaches, it can switch to an interface for adjusting the thermostat, much like Nest thermostats. It could also detect how many people are nearby using external sensors that plug into outlets throughout the home, but Apple may or may not manufacture these extra sensors.
In addition to offering smart home controls and FaceTiming features, the device will include several Apple apps like Safari, Apple News, Apple Music, Notes, Calendar, and Photos, but there will not be a dedicated App Store. Apple is designing different attachments, such as a plate for attaching it to the wall and a base with additional speakers for using it in a central location in the home.
Apple plans to position the smart display as a "command center," with the aim of furthering Apple's position in the smart home market. The smart home hub has been in development for more than three years, and Apple CEO Tim Cook has been pushing the engineering and design teams to prioritize the device. It will be a standalone device, but it is meant to work in concert with other Apple products and will require an iPhone for setup.
With the smart home hub, Apple is looking to compete with Amazon and Google, who have similar devices. Amazon has the Echo Hub, and Google offers the Nest Hub Max. Apple will likely need to price the device similarly to these products, and the Echo Hub costs $150, while the Nest Hub Max costs $230.
While Apple has considered creating its own line of smart home accessories like an indoor security camera, it is not yet clear if the company will do so. Apple could get into accessories if the smart home display is a success. Earlier this week, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple was working on a smart home camera with wireless connectivity and deep integration with Apple Intelligence, with Apple planning to launch the device in 2026.
In the future, Apple plans to release a robotic version of the smart home hub that can move the screen around, Gurman reports.
Article Link: Apple to Launch AI-Powered Home 'Command Center' as Soon as March 2025
What will you do with it?
I had something like this from Google and ended up selling it as I found it basically redundant and useless when I had phones and tablets