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All I can think is why. As another option to use for facetime perhaps? That's about the only reason I can think of for a camera. As for facial recognition - I can only assume it's because voice recognition is beyond them to differentiate who is giving the request?
 
Good for engineers ego, but not for sales people.

Geeks (people who can buy something like this) would be like "oh but there's now a Google one, I think Google would do a better job", and now "oh Apple is making one with camera, better wait to see what they are capable of, and how Google and Amazon would respond", and ends up buying nothing...
Meh... who knows. It is free publicity for the Amazon Echo either way.
 
Let's see, 2 competitors announce products that demolish Siri and suddenly rumors begin about a future version of Siri that actually doesn't suck. Why is it people believe positive rumors like Siri not being such a disaster but ignore negative rumors like the iPhone 7 borrowing Benders eyes?
 
riiiiight - because google has been soooooo successful with their hardware - glass, and nest being at the top of the list. And i see millions and millions wearing their watches.

Don't get too cocky! It's a little more difficult to go from hardware to software - Apple has proven that. And yes I have seen millions of Android wear products, android phones, and tons of Chromebooks - I live in Orlando - they're out there and they're propagating.

I don't give a crap what anyone says. Apple is losing this fight. Three years ago I would have agreed with you, today not so much. Too much Samsung, the Nexus line, Pixel lineup, Nest products, Chromebooks, you name it. Chromebooks are destroying the tablet market. Heck try an Nvidia Shield TV - the thing blows away anything Apple will ever throw at the TV. I had to return my AppleTV - it was embarrassing. And most shareholders would agree with me. Watch for a major acquisition soon. This company needs an injection of something, and fast. Netflix is my guess ($50B Cash) With that being said, Apple has never been great at software. On top of that, the rest of the world has caught up when it comes to hardware design. Apple no longer has an advantage. And at the end of the day if you're going to charge more for a product, you'd better offer something compelling. And Apple software ain't it!
 
I really hope whatever they release isn't a bunch of things thrown together as one and thrown at the wall to see what sticks. Personally, I think that's what happened with their watch.
 
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Reading the comment sections here lately is 'depressing' (or amusing depending on the mood you're in) as hell. You'd think Apple is on the verge of going literally extinct according to the comments here.

Not extinct, but trends in the market aren't usually wrong. Icahn hasn't made billions by being stupid with his money. I received some new price targets for AAPL this morning - Some of you would have strokes if these prices came to fruition. Like I said, Apple knows this - look for a major acquisition in the not too distant future. Or Apple will be forced to use that cash to prop up their stock.
 
I just imagine some marketing types at Amazon just chuckling every time there is a another article like this. About every one of them compares these upcoming devices to the Amazon Echo, kind of implying that is the standard to beat.
Hardly anyone needs this (or the Echo for that matter). But plenty will come to depend on these household AI devices. Remember (if you're old enough) that we got along without smart phones or even mobile phones.

There are some Apple fans who are on the verge of going with Amazon or Google's offerings. Now many of those will wait and see what Apple brings to the table.
 
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Don't get too cocky! It's a little more difficult to go from hardware to software - Apple has proven that. And yes I have seen millions of Android wear products, android phones, and tons of Chromebooks - I live in Orlando - they're out there and they're propagating.

I don't give a crap what anyone says. Apple is losing this fight. Three years ago I would have agreed with you, today not so much. Too much Samsung, the Nexus line, Pixel lineup, Nest products, Chromebooks, you name it. Chromebooks are destroying the tablet market. Heck try an Nvidia Shield TV - the thing blows away anything Apple will ever throw at the TV. I had to return my AppleTV - it was embarrassing. And most shareholders would agree with me. Watch for a major acquisition soon. This company needs an injection of something, and fast. Netflix is my guess ($50B Cash) With that being said, Apple has never been great at software. On top of that, the rest of the world has caught up when it comes to hardware design. Apple no longer has an advantage. And at the end of the day if you're going to charge more for a product, you'd better offer something compelling. And Apple software ain't it!


i love when people say apple has never been good at software. OS X is the most stable OS on the market. It is rock solid. nest products aren't selling, the new apple tv is awsome, Chromebook is a webbrowser (tablet) with a keyboard - I couldn't do my job on one. most shareholders agree with you - no - I don't and I'll take Apples profits over googles any day. The rest of the world has not caught up with hardware design - Apples cranking out chips like crazy and my iPhone is rock solid. Just because apple doesn't pre-announce products doesn't mean they aren't investing 100's of millions on them. I don't hate Google. I think both Apple and Google are both doing incredible work.
 
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What'll probably happen is we will keep hearing rumours about it for the next 10 months and then Google will release the new Google Home with a far more sophisticated computer vision system than Apple could ever produce. They already have several API's available to recognise objects and people, and it would tie in far better to their Photos and assistant than it would to Siri.

Yup, and included in Google's race-to-the-bottom package will be their legendary god-awful software - prone to hacks, exploits and malware. http://forensics.spreitzenbarth.de/android-malware/
 
Not extinct, but trends in the market aren't usually wrong. Icahn hasn't made billions by being stupid with his money. I received some new price targets for AAPL this morning - Some of you would have strokes if these prices came to fruition. Like I said, Apple knows this - look for a major acquisition in the not too distant future. Or Apple will be forced to use that cash to prop up their stock.
I miss the days when Apple was known more for its product line and less for its stock price and market cap. If only they knew focusing on the former takes care of the latter... But that's what we get with a bean counter in charge.

Hardly anyone needs this (or the Echo for that matter). But plenty will come to depend on these household AI devices. Remember (if you're old enough) that we got along without smart phones or even mobile phones.

There are some Apple fans who are on the verge of going with Amazon or Google's offerings. Now many of those will wait and see what Apple brings to the table.
I see the base station for home automation as only a small problem to the solution, the far much bigger one is the smart devices that hook into the network. Until some big names jump in with prices that don't empty ones bank account, this will continue to be a goofy niche market.
 
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This forum is disappointing, with all the nay-sayers, and none discussed the obvious rumor/speculations:
Airport Extreme goes out of stock, current version has a Cortex A9 class processor at least similar in class of Amazon Echo's Cortex A8. (Granted the latest Apple TV has more powerful CPU).

Let alone the similar in shapes... the site's frontpage even has back-to-back articles with the two pictures lined up. Seems to make sense for the voice recognition to tie in the Airport Extreme/Express cluster setup.

At least it makes more interesting gossips.
 
Reading the comment sections here lately is 'depressing' (or amusing depending on the mood you're in) as hell. You'd think Apple is on the verge of going literally extinct according to the comments here.

It can happen rather quickly. The public is very fickle.
 
What'll probably happen is we will keep hearing rumours about it for the next 10 months and then Google will release the new Google Home with a far more sophisticated computer vision system than Apple could ever produce. They already have several API's available to recognise objects and people, and it would tie in far better to their Photos and assistant than it would to Siri.

Because Google has such a strong track record of announcing revolutionary products that are always 1-2 years away? And then a few years after the hype of IO they just end up copying some other company's more pragmatic approach or killing the product outright?
 
It COULD feature anything.
Indeed. Let's add to the list. It could have laser hologram imaging and be self driving around the house (maybe they AREN'T working on a CAR) so that we can finally have a device that can replicate "Help me obi wan - you're my only hope"
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Because Google has such a strong track record of announcing revolutionary products that are always 1-2 years away? And then a few years after the hype of IO they just end up copying some other company's more pragmatic approach or killing the product outright?
Home is due out before the end of the year.
 
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i love when people say apple has never been good at software. OS X is the most stable OS on the market. It is rock solid. nest products aren't selling, the new apple tv is awsome, Chromebook is a webbrowser (tablet) with a keyboard - I couldn't do my job on one. most shareholders agree with you - no - I don't and I'll take Apples profits over googles any day. The rest of the world has not caught up with hardware design - Apples cranking out chips like crazy and my iPhone is rock solid. Just because apple doesn't pre-announce products doesn't mean they aren't investing 100's of millions on them. I don't hate Google. I think both Apple and Google are both doing incredible work.

LOL - Do I need to start quoting sales figures? Market share? Profits? Moving averages? Trends? We've unloaded all of AAPL, as have most hedge funds. Don't doubt me on this! Retail investors are the only ones holding the bag right now.

And yes Apple is mediocre at best when it comes to software. I stand by that. And I've been around for a while.
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Because Google has such a strong track record of announcing revolutionary products that are always 1-2 years away? And then a few years after the hype of IO they just end up copying some other company's more pragmatic approach or killing the product outright?

But Google doesn't need hardware to survive.
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I miss the days when Apple was known more for its product line and less for its stock price and market cap. If only they knew focusing on the former takes care of the latter... But that's what we get with a bean counter in charge.

Yep! Times have changed.
 
Apple has about the chance of pulling off successful facial recognition as they did with launches their of Siri, TouchID, Apple Maps, or countless releases of x.0 iOSs. It's just not going to work.
Yup. The Tim Cook Apple is all about disappointment. The software is really atrocious under his guidance. Unreliable and buggy as hell. I know the engineers can do better. I think they are being held back for some reason.
 
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