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Apple Unveils $349 HomePod Smart Speaker to be Available in December

Can it stream Apple Lossless audio from an ITunes server? If it can only do lo-fi Apple Music streaming you will never get a good sound quality out of it. It should be High Fidelity only, it is 2017!

Will it track the person(s) in the room? If I walk around and it will adjust the beams for the spatial sound to follow me that would be great and very innovative!
 
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Assuming Siri integration with Sonos isn't coming along any too quickly now.
 
paul4339 said:
if you are comparing to it a Home Assistant market (Echo, Google Home), but I believe Apple is targeting from the home Speaker/theatre market side of things (the Music/entertainment side).

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Consider I can walk into a local Best Buy, buy a Klipsch Promedia 2.1 which includes a subwoofer that will reach pretty low toward the magical 30hz range, and mate it to an echo dot and still be a $100 cheaper than a homepod and will certainly sound much better as a home theater and music experience.

Mind you most people these days are half deaf and lazy, so simplicity and okay sound quality has its perks, but for the price anyone with house full of Apple products would be better served with user their current device, turning on "hey Siri" and getting a decent 2.1 sound system.
 
mpavilion said:
Gotcha, thanks... but I suppose the bottleneck is whatever throughput is used by a streaming service (as opposed to someone streaming lossless files via Wifi to their home network, who's not at the mercy of Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, etc.).
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For sure. I know spotify offers something higher than standard but I don't really know. I only listen in the gym and the car and so google music is good enough lol. I never find time/desire to listen at home.
 
This will be cool if it can play sound from the Apple TV.

I've almost bought a Sonos soundbar a few times already, but I just don't want to use that Sonos app. I want something that is simple, sounds great, and then integrates seamlessly with tv and apple universe.
 
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rmhop81 said:
yeah and that's totally different as the device is only $35, i get that. But we are in an age with voice control, to not take advantage of it makes no sense to me. Sadly, i agree. I recently switched over to google for music as i've grown tired of apple's restrictions and playing their waiting game. I now have 4 google homes, 2 chromecast audios and 3 chromecasts. I used to be all Apple, but things have changed. Sold our iPad's and next computer will prob not be apple either.
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Right. I wasn't justifying. Was just saying that voice control isn't currently something important to me. And if it was, Siri isn't what I would go with lol. I keep telling myself it will get better and then give it a chance every new iOS. In less than a month I am always completely back to using it... never.
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Technarchy said:
Mind you most people these days are half deaf and lazy,
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Sound bars and all in ones are selling like hotcakes right now. It's the number one speaker setup Best Buy sells. People just want an all in one plug in one cable and be done with it option. I think this is why the iMac made it to where it is today. You don't need to know or care about much else beyond plugging in one cable.
 
trip1ex said:
This will be cool if it can play sound from the Apple TV.

I've almost bought a Sonos soundbar a few times already, but I just don't want to use that Sonos app. I want something that is simple, sounds great, and then integrates seamlessly with tv and apple universe.
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It should be able to since Apple TV supports Airplay
 
So how does this work with multiple users? Most people don't live alone.

Would this recognise my voice and then specific stuff for me and then if my girlfriend talked to it, it would switch profiles to her?
 
I will pre-order this for my home office, which currently doesn't have any speakers in it, or I will put it in my bedroom to replace my Amazon Echo assuming it sounds much better. I assume that Apple can produce a better sounding speaker than that. Though the Echo sounds fine. But I won't put this in my living room since I know it can't compete with my home stereo system. I will stick with the Echo Dot providing music to that device.

Many folks who are young enough to be early stage adopters of this sort of stuff are living in apartments and will only need one of these. I think $349 is fine if you only have to buy one. And assuming this is a device with a five to ten year lifespan (relatively safe assumption that there is no obsolesces issue with an A8 running it), I'm going to get good value out of it.
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mva68 said:
Can it stream Apple Lossless audio from an ITunes server? If it can only do lo-fi Apple Music streaming you will never get a good sound quality out of it. It should be High Fidelity only, it is 2017!

Will it track the person(s) in the room? If I walk around and it will adjust the beams for the spatial sound to follow me that would be great and very innovative!
Click to expand...

You've got it hooked up to a very fast home WiFi, right? Then why couldn't it stream High Fidelity? Isn't streaming video much harder than streaming even very high fidelity sound? You would think the A8 chip hooked up to fast wifi and a power cord could handle anything sound related pretty easily.
 
Waiting until reviews come out re:sound quality, but I don't see why there's such a huge wave of negativity over this thing. It's got some unique capabilities to it to set it apart from the crowd.

Provides it reviews good, if he interested myself.
 
And for only double the price the magic of STEREO!
(Surround sound also available with 5 units)

Reinvent home music my arse.
 
wolfme said:
More like:

Amazon Echo Dot $49.99
Sonos Play:1 $199

$199 + $49.99 = $248.99

Given the size of the speaker, it will most likely sound similar to the Play:1. It might compete with the Play:3 on sound quality, but it is just too small to match the Play:5.
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Engadget is saying it's better than the Play:3.

I'm thinking it'll be between a Play:3 and Play:5
 
MrX8503 said:
I was so close to taking the plunge with Sonos. Good thing I didn't!

HomePod here I come!
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I almost purchased a Google home. I'm actually excited to see all the hidden features that they likely didn't touch on today during the conference. I can only imagine the sound quality HomePod is going to boast with all the capabilities it will coordinate with other Apple devices I own And Home Kit.
 
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kdarling said:
Depending on which analyst you read, Google makes from $6 to $16 a year from each user via ads.

So no, the difference in business models is not an excuse for Apple charging hundreds extra. Well, except that Apple's business model is to charge at the upper limit of whatever it thinks it can get by with.
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Just because Apple can charge more doesn't mean their competitors aren't trying to do the same. They just don't have the right mix of innovative products and/or brand equity. Heck, even Google is trying to charge iPhone prices for the Pixel even though it's essentially a me too product. Talk about a ripoff.

As for HomePod, if it sounds as good as Apple claims, it's immediately a much better value than both Echo and Google Home since "AI" is pretty much still a gimmick. Not to mention, you can have multiple HomePods and they'll dynamically optimize output to produce the best acoustics, and it has a slick, intelligent setup process along with a MUCH better design. There's also the issue of security and privacy. The best part? My home speaker won't be pushing ads on me.
 
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I didn't even notice until reading other comments that this device isn't even wireless in the sense that it must be plugged in to a wall outlet. $350 for a tethered speaker? Other than HomeKit integration, I really don't get how this is better than using Siri on any other device with a nice wireless speaker. If you have no use for HomeKit or aren't an Apple Music subscriber, it seems even more basic.

To be fair, I also don't own either Amazon or Google's speakers because Siri on my devices seems to suffice for my needs. But I was hoping Apple would bring something different to the table.
 
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GermanSuplex said:
I didn't even notice until reading other comments that this device isn't even wireless in the sense that it must be plugged in to a wall outlet. $350 for a tethered speaker? Other than HomeKit integration, I really don't get how this is better than using Siri on any other device with a nice wireless speaker. If you have no use for HomeKit or aren't an Apple Music subscriber, it seems even more basic.

To be fair, I also don't own either Amazon or Google's speakers because Siri on my devices seems to suffice for my needs. But I was hoping Apple would bring something different to the table.
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Are there competitors of that caliber that don't plug directly into the wall? Good sound takes a lot of juice
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trip1ex said:
This will be cool if it can play sound from the Apple TV.

I've almost bought a Sonos soundbar a few times already, but I just don't want to use that Sonos app. I want something that is simple, sounds great, and then integrates seamlessly with tv and apple universe.
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What's your preferred streaming service? Spotify supports Sonos through its own app
 
JarScott said:
Anyone who thinks Amazon Echo is even close to being over priced is frankly delusional. They'd have to charge next to nothing for those prices to look unreasonable. They practically give the Echo Dot away, and the full Echo really isn't expensive for what you're getting.
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Im not complaining about the dot (thats a fair price), I just look at the full echo and wonder is it really worth the extra money.
 
GermanSuplex said:
I didn't even notice until reading other comments that this device isn't even wireless in the sense that it must be plugged in to a wall outlet. $350 for a tethered speaker? Other than HomeKit integration, I really don't get how this is better than using Siri on any other device with a nice wireless speaker. If you have no use for HomeKit or aren't an Apple Music subscriber, it seems even more basic.

To be fair, I also don't own either Amazon or Google's speakers because Siri on my devices seems to suffice for my needs. But I was hoping Apple would bring something different to the table.
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I have three Sony SRS speakers in different rooms and I never unplug them from the wall, so personally I don't mind that there's no battery. It means the speaker won't come with a bulky external charger and that all space inside the unit is used for maximizing the sonic capabilities instead of housing a battery.

The troubling aspect is that this is yet another instance of Siri holding back the international rollout of products and features. HomePod is coming in 6 months, and only in US, UK and Australia? Are you ******* kidding me? Is it going to be like this every time something supports Siri?

This is becoming quite the nuisance for non-americans. I'm from Sweden, and it took well over a year after release before Siri was enabled on Apple TV, and once it arrived at long last I still wasn't allowed to use US English Siri like I do on Mac and iPhone/iPad. Only Swedish is available, and it's completely useless since all relevant movie and TV show titles are in English, just like most actors' names. It was supposed to be a hybrid version of Siri that understands Swedish with the occasional English movie title or cast/crew name thrown in, but it doesn't. It thinks everything is Swedish. I speak idiomatic US English so it's not about the accent – it's about the software being ludicrously inferior to competition like Google Now. Certain aspects of Siri are still Apple Maps bad.

Apple is the largest damn company in the world. They should have the resources to make sure that all Siri supported languages are available out of the gate. Their new headquarters can be seen from space, yet somehow it's as if they're still trying to hide behind the "two guys in a garage" excuse in order to dodge responsibilities and reasonable expectations.
 
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As an owner of an Echo and a Tap, was waiting for today's announcement before deciding whether or not to preorder the Echo Show. We've had an Echo in our kitchen for over a year and while I have no qualms with the sound quality (I'm no audiophile, it just sounds good to me) the biggest frustration has been not being able to really interact with Alexa without going into the smartphone app. As it turns out, the rumors that Apple's smart speaker would have a screen were sadly wrong, and with a price point of $120 more than Echo Show, the HomePod is a hard no. Echo Show preorder: check. (And this, coming from an Apple devotee.) I get that Apple wants to appeal to audiophiles, but I think they're barking up the wrong tree. People who care enough will invest in "real" speakers. The rest of us want a super-capable assistant with a good-quality speaker.

Apple uncharacteristically hopped on board the smart speaker boat late in the game, and I don't think they made the right choices to compete with Echo and Google Home.
 
Quick question: How is the HomePod (along with multi-room AirPlay) going to affect Apple's support of Sonos?
 
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