Yes boring if you want look for new stuff to unlock your door and make your coffee..., but there's millions of regular people that enjoy music and entertainment that currently are buying Bose, Sony, Sonos, etc. everyday.
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Apple Unveils $349 HomePod Smart Speaker to be Available in December
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Yes boring if you want look for new stuff to unlock your door and make your coffee..., but there's millions of regular people that enjoy music and entertainment that currently are buying Bose, Sony, Sonos, etc. everyday.
I see a few people bringing up the HomePod's possible sound quality compared to Bose. Just to be clear, Bose blows!
Anyway, this might be nice to take outside by the fire pit or into the bathroom while showering. Certainly can't replace anyone's dedicated home theater/hi-fi setup. Wish it were priced a bit lower though.
Anyway, this might be nice to take outside by the fire pit or into the bathroom while showering. Certainly can't replace anyone's dedicated home theater/hi-fi setup. Wish it were priced a bit lower though.
That's pretty much it. Go to the product page that's up on Apple's site now and it's obvious this product is heavily oriented around the sound quality. That part of the equation is largely an afterthought with Amazon's stuff.
The fair comparison isn't "an Echo ($179.99) and Sonos PLAY:3 ($299) for $349."
It's Echo Dot ($50) and Play 3 ($299), so same price as this Apple device. Now, it's true Sonos and Echo have more third party integration happening, but neither integrate with Apple stuff, of course.
I brought up the price ($350) compared to what Bose charges for their very popular SoundLink series speakers (typically $200-$300) and the fact that those Bose speakers don't include some of the other features like Siri and home hub capability etc. There are other brands in that same price range that you might consider better than Bose, but they're still not going to include those other features.
Exactly, so Apple is breaking into their (Sonos, Bose, speaker) market with something the others don't offer.
I have a Bose Soundlink mini and the sound is amazing for a BT device.
I still use my iPod hifi, got 2 of them when they were discounted, both are connected to airport expresses. Which is something they should have done originally, wholes pretty well with airplay from a mac mini as multi room system.
Will this things, the homePods, sound any good. Well it seem Apple is big on just good enough as far as sound. But, really for the vast majority of people just good enough in reality all they want or will pay for. I'll bet most listeners to apple music do it from the included white cord things. Those sound better than the cheapest earbuds and are just good enough for the majority of buyers. I buyers really cared about sound quaintly Bose wouldn't be in business and no one would listen to Pandora.
One good thing about the HomePod is its nearly idea for Apple music. the big difference between am's 256 m4a files and applelossless or FLAC is the soundstage. you can tell the difference with decent headphones etc. but speakers actually have to well placed to produce the imagery. the percentage of homes were actual speakers are place correctly isn't a high percentage. Its really all those echos that give your brain spacial clues that get lost with compression lower than 256 and even them most modern music isn't recorded to have a real soundstage. That's not a problem with a speaker creating a virtual sound stage. So apple music will likely sound pretty good, just don't A/B with a real 2.1 system playing lossless of material that ...
People forget that the Apple Hi-Fi speaker retailed for $350 when it was announced, and it didn't have an SoC inside of it, wasn't wireless, didn't have voice control or search, didn't act as a home hub, and didn't have things like beam forming speakers or room awareness. The HomePod is basically the 2017 reincarnation of the Apple Hi-Fi speaker, and what you get for the money looks quite a bit better.
Even that's not a fair comparison, since the Sonos PLAY:3 can do stereo by itself.
It takes TWO HomePods to do that.
So a HomePod is more like a Dot, plus half of a Sonos, plus maybe some extra tweeters?
His new stuff is actually pretty good, if you can get past your ego and manage to not care what people think of the music you listen to.
Yep, Sonos works!
Sonos has experience. Sono's has support. Sono's is reliable for multi-room speaker system AND Stereo. Sonos has tuneplay. Sono's support multiple streaming companies. And, I don't need to talk to a freaken speaker. Hopefully, Sonos will work with airplay2. And as someone posted; if Siri is activate on the phone and on this silly homepod. What will happen?
Bose is quality and reputable but the Soundlink is subpar compared to many others on the market.
I have two gripes with this.
They've allowed Siri to remain a complete mess. Plus, they've apparently pulled out of the WiFi Router game. If they had kept the router piece in their ecosystem, then this would be a no brainer.
Now, I'm wondering how will this work with a 3rd party router and will the frustration of using Siri spoil the whole UX.
Notice, I didn't even talk about the exorbitant price.
#Fail
They've allowed Siri to remain a complete mess. Plus, they've apparently pulled out of the WiFi Router game. If they had kept the router piece in their ecosystem, then this would be a no brainer.
Now, I'm wondering how will this work with a 3rd party router and will the frustration of using Siri spoil the whole UX.
Notice, I didn't even talk about the exorbitant price.
#Fail
Apple today announced its plans to "reinvent home music" with the unveiling of its newest product, HomePod, a wireless speaker powered by Apple's A8 chip with Siri integration that's just under 7 inches tall.
HomePod is a combination of high quality music playback speakers and smart speaker systems that are on the market today. The HomePod can intelligently detect the space it is in with "spatial awareness," which the company said provides better quality audio playback than its competitors.
HomePod has an upward-facing woofer and an array of seven beam-forming tweeters. It has a six-microphone array that can detect commands even when music is playing loudly. When there are two HomePods in a room, they will automatically detect each other and optimize music playback complementarily. Setting up a new HomePod works similarly to AirPods set up--simply holding an iPhone near a HomePod will pair it.
HomePod automatically works with an Apple Music subscription and can play back playlists, radio stations, and more content found within Apple Music. Siri commands will let users direct the HomePod to play music, add songs to playlists, and even answer music trivia questions.
Siri will also act as a home assistant and include support for News, Messages, Podcasts, Stocks, Weather, Reminders, alarms, timers, sports and traffic. HomePod will also be a HomeKit hub and let users control lights, blinds, locks, and other accessories by voice, even when users are away from home.
The HomePod will launch in December for $349 and will be available in white and space gray in the US, UK, and Australia to start.
Article Link: Apple Unveils $349 HomePod Smart Speaker to be Available in December
Lots of gripes about $350. A Bose revolve+ bluetooth (not even wifi) speaker costs $300, to say nothing of their wifi options. So assuming the sound on Bose and HomePod are comparable, you're getting computing power and Siri for $50 more. Granted it's gen 1 so they will improve but I'm all over this.
Could we do a PLAY:1 for comparison? Because then the Dot + Play 1 would be $100 less than this Apple device.
Give me an example (in a similar price range). I've tested others and they didn't sound as good to me. Of course not everyone will agree on sound quality.
Am I missing something? It's called "Home" Pod, well I have something in my "home" called "Apple TV" and there's no mention of integration. I want to ROCK THE HOUSE when I watch movies! Can someone shed some light?
Valid points. I I think when consumers hear the word smart speaker, they're thinking somewhere of a price point that would reflect near $200 or under. When Apple launches there smart speaker, it's significantly higher and others are shocked by the price point due to competitors prices. But when you start talking the Bose Sound Link quality, you're correct, $350 isn't necessarily unreasonable, assuming this device meets the expectations for sound quality.
But then it's also important remember, Apple always prices their hardware significantly higher than what most would expect. But in return, you do get a premium product that is well-made and will last.