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But HomePod does support Wi-Fi, with 802.11a, b, g, n, etc with MIMO for enhanced speed/connectivity. And, most importantly for Apple device connectivity, AirPlay 2.

Does Sonos support Bluetooth? Or does it have that same "huge disadvantage?"
No, but it DOES support: Apple Music, Pandora, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Deezer, TuneIn, Napster, Microsoft Groove, Slacker, Stitcher, Tidal, and more. Not just one ecosystem, and only 1 music service...
 
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No, but it DOES support: Apple Music, Pandora, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Deezer, TuneIn, Napster, Microsoft Groove, Slacker, Stitcher, Tidal, and more. Not just one ecosystem, and only 1 music service...

Can I watch a YouTube video on my Mac and have the sound from the video (or any other generic audio source such as Apple's MP3 player) play on a Sonos across the room wirelessly?

And will Sonos support hands-free phone calls from my iPhone?
 
Even for casual listening I doubt the HomePod would compete with a dedicated sound system. Listen. I’m not bashing the HomePod, I’m sure it will sound pretty good.

You mean it will sound good just like how BOSE sounds good to the average consumer? :)
 
You mean it will sound good just like how BOSE sounds good to the average consumer? :)

Probably to the average consumer. However, for those that take their music a little more seriously, and listen more critically, I suspect HomePod will sound far better. And being part of the Apple eco-system, it will offer far greater utility.
 
Can I watch a YouTube video on my Mac and have the sound from the video (or any other generic audio source such as Apple's MP3 player) play on a Sonos across the room wirelessly?

https://www.sonos.com/en-us/airplay

Probably to the average consumer. However, for those that take their music a little more seriously, and listen more critically, I suspect HomePod will sound far better. And being part of the Apple eco-system, it will offer far greater utility.

I agree in that I think it will sound decent. However, the Apple eco-system's biggest weakness is Siri. When Apple announced that as a big reason for buying the Home Pod, I thought that was pretty funny.
 
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Weird, pretty sure they were showcasing the sound capabilities, not Siri.

The Home Pod is meant to compete against Alexa and Echo. I said it was a big reason, and I did not say it was the only reason. Few are going to be buying the Home Pod primarily for its sound capabilities. They probably are looking at it for it's IoT integration into the home/Apple ecosystem. Previously, many people were using an array of chromecasts/echos/homes. This could merge 2 devices into 1 if people are willing to spend again.
 
Hate to be the bearer of bad news...but you can't suggest someone to do their homework, when you haven't done yours'....It doesn't have bluetooth, which seems to be mentioned in every article about the homepod. It's a huge disadvantage as matter a fact...

Oh wow. This would suck if true. As a traveler I don’t always have accesss to WiFi. Ideally it would be nice if it had backup Bluetooth similar to AirPods.

Honestly, I doubt Apple would limit the content on which I can experience on my Hoempod.

Nevertheless, with the capital and verticle R&D Apple has, I’m extremely curious and anxious to hear how this beam-forming beast sounds.
 
Weird, pretty sure they were showcasing the sound capabilities, not Siri.

And for me, as an Apple customer , i ask myself, why that is the case and why Apple is not able to improve Siri in a significant way. Wouldn’t it make more sense, if the Home Pods had powerful assistance capabilities like Alexa in addition to „just“ good sound? To finally push Apple Home forward and not laying there dormant? I have the impression that Apple concentrated on the sound aspect, because they know Siri is 2-3 years behind.

Or do you believe one second, if Siri was smarter and being able to tackle Alex, Apple would have not exploited that when introducing this product? Sound quality PLUS good Ai, anyone?
 
Ummm...Did you read your link? They said to plug in an Apple device that supports Airplay. :eek: That simply means that Sonos has a couple of devices with an aux input.

That is like Apple saying that the HomePod gives you $100,000 worth of sound....just plug an AppleTV into a $100,000 setup and stream to it from the HomePod.

Reminds me of that old Steve Martin skit: “How to become a millionaire and never pay taxes”....”first get a million dollars...”

No, but it DOES support: Apple Music, Pandora, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Deezer, TuneIn, Napster, Microsoft Groove, Slacker, Stitcher, Tidal, and more. Not just one ecosystem, and only 1 music service...
The HomePod supports Airplay which means it works with every single service you mentioned along with apps like Overcast that Sonos doesn't support.

Airplay supports every audio and video iOS app that I have tried, while Sonos doesn't. Also, Airplay works with HTC10, many rooted Android devices, Windows via iTunes or Airfoil, and MacOS. In other words, the Airplay feature means it will work with many music services and many ecosystems.

You may have meant that the HomePod natively supports only Apple Music with Siri. However, you won't be able to control Apple Music on Sonos by voice, so there is the shortfall I have already mentioned.
 
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I think it works well to stop some people from going to Amazon or Google. I waited for Sonos to release smart speakers, but a native Apple product is probably going to be better.
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But most people don't want speakers anymore. How many under 30 wants to have the traditional home stereo set up? The high-end stereo system is dead to the mainstream.

Very true. I’m 30 and definitely the only person I know who has a home theater my age.

I actually see a good amount of people concerned with quality now compared to 5 years ago though.
 
Calling someone delusional isn’t the best argument. Maybe explain your viewpoint rather than attack the person?

Anyways...

HomePod is a technological breakthrough.

Beamforming via phased arrays to control directivity is years ahead of mainstream home hifi (ie passive flat-baffle speakers).

Most manufacturers you could care to name haven't got the foggiest clue about engineering for controlled directivity which has manifold psychoacoustic benefits, let alone design advanced DSP to control it.

Only massively vertically-integrated R&D-heavy firms with huge economies of scale (eg Harman International, Bang & Olufsen) are even close to nailing beamforming technology for home audio. Not even hifi stalwarts like Focal or Dynaudio are anywhere close to that level of engineering expertise and manufacturing capability.

While we shouldn't assume Apple will knock it out of the park, one must also recognize that home hifi is largely woefully underengineered, with some companies not even using computer modeling to design their speakers(!!!). This is even more the case especially wrt directivity control, and passive flat-baffle speakers are pathetically antiquated compared to what apple has with the HomePod.

It will likely slaughter any bookshelf speaker below a $2k price

Apple is showing off their sound engineering chops, and really doing something special here.

The only other beam forming speaker on the market that you can currently buy is the BeoLab 90 from Bang & Olufsen. It costs $40,000 (yes, you read that correctly) because beamforming is THAT far ahead of normal HiFi speakers. For apple to release that tech at $350 is unprecedented, and almost unbelievable... like the original iPhone.


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Totally agree with you. Probably the best ‘overall’ product, but not leading the market in any sense, besides convienice.
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AirPods were quite underpriced compared to other products on the market. It happened before, it will happen again.
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MAN you are funny! How do you even come up with expressions like "manifold psychoacoustic benefits"? :-D

And please don't call Bang & Olufsen a research-heavy firm. As a Dane I would love them to perform better, but it is not the case.
 
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Very true. I’m 30 and definitely the only person I know who has a home theater my age.

I actually see a good amount of people concerned with quality now compared to 5 years ago though.
”Home Theater” is kind of a wide open name that means different things to different people. The “home theater in a box” is definitely on its way out. Most people that want better than their TV’s sound quality just get a sound bar these days that can handle multiple inputs for their bedrooms.

However, people that care about quality will continue to buy receivers or pre/pros that can handle more if they care about getting a better experience in their main viewing and listening rooms. The vinyl resurgence has happened alongside the upswing in smart devices.

Many are saying the HomePod will not replace receivers or sound bars because of the lack of inputs, but it doesn’t have to. It will compliment the main system and if it sounds as good as people were saying after the earlier demonstrations, people will prefer it for background music while they do other things. No one I know has ever had a home theater in their kitchen, but the HomePod will take a little over 5 inches of counter space and put music (with decent SQ) where there was none.

There have always been a lot of people that simply use their TVs speakers...that is the case for people that are 30+, as well. The HomePod will be more appealing than anything that adds complication to listening to music for these people and this group have always been the majority.

Doesn’t mean that receivers, amps, DACs are going anywhere. There are still a lot of enthusiasts out there. I suspect more than a few of them will buy a HomePod to compliment their main systems, though.
 
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Ummm...Did you read your link? They said to plug in an Apple device that supports Airplay. :eek: That simply means that Sonos has a couple of devices with an aux input.

That is like Apple saying that the HomePod gives you $100,000 worth of sound....just plug an AppleTV into a $100,000 setup and stream to it from the HomePod.
Yeah I read my link. The original question was whether there was a SOLUTION to do that. The poster never said that they required a built in solution.

The HomePod supports Airplay which means it works with every single service you mentioned along with apps like Overcast that Sonos doesn't support.

Did you read what you said here? You provided a SOLUTION but not a built in solution.

Might want to proof read your post to rid any signs of hypocrisy before hitting reply
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No one I know has ever had a home theater in their kitchen, but the HomePod will take a little over 5 inches of counter space and put music (with decent SQ) where there was none.

Echo: 3.5" wide, does more than the HomePod out of the box, $79.99
Google Home: 3.79" wide, does more than the HomePod out of the box, $79 (currently)

HomePod: 5.69" wide with spatial recognition and proclaimed sound fidelity. Try asking Siri to step you through cooking recipes and see how you do. $349

Who is going to use this in the kitchen?
 
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Yeah I read my link. The original question was whether there was a SOLUTION to do that. The poster never said that they required a built in solution.



Did you read what you said here? You provided a SOLUTION but not a built in solution.

Might want to proof read your post to rid any signs of hypocrisy before hitting reply
You apparently have a reading comprehension issue. I was quoting a different post that was already discussing Sonos ability to work with services like Apple Music. It can’t without a seperate device. Therefore, if you are comparing the HomePod to a Sonos being controlled by an iPhone (which is what happened in the post I quoted), I pointed out that AirPlay still works with more services. I wasn’t pretending that HomePod will have all of Sonos features....you just need to buy an Airport Express and a Sonos system.

Obviously every Sonos product prior to the current speaker with Alexa features was worthless without a separate device to control it. The controller (which Sonos dropped their own remote due to the popularity of mobile devices) has always been part of the Sonos ecosystem (unlike the Airport Express), so I wasn't just going to say that Sonos can’t work with Apple Music. It just doesn’t support it natively. (Which I actually pointed out in the post you partially quoted...conveniently leaving that part out).

The good news is that they have said that the holes in the Sonos system will be filled with AirPlay 2 down the road. To me, this would make Sonos much more appealing to iOS users. This means that it will work as part of the HomePod’s ecosystem.
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Echo: 3.5" wide, does more than the HomePod out of the box, $79.99
Google Home: 3.79" wide, does more than the HomePod out of the box, $79 (currently)

HomePod: 5.69" wide with spatial recognition and proclaimed sound fidelity. Try asking Siri to step you through cooking recipes and see how you do. $349

Who is going to use this in the kitchen?
People with open kitchens or “eat in” kitchens that want decent sound quality in the area and prefer using a tablet for their recipes.

There are also people that prefer Apple’s approach to privacy or have Apple Music, as well. In addition to being able to control their other AirPlay 2 devices.

I should mention that I don’t see this product as being the market share winner in these type of devices. It will most likely be the most profitable like most of their other devices in their respective markets. The Dot costs $30 right now, so most people can put one of these in every room of their homes for less than one HomePod. I see this as being something people will buy for the room they are in most often (kitchen/living room). Most people have a place they can put the speaker that will feed audio into two or more spaces. It is probably the main reason Apple put speakers around the thing for decent sound in every direction. I won’t be throwing out my Dots, but I do have a place I can put this that will give me access to our two most frequently used rooms. What Apple is hoping is that buyers will like it so much that they will put one in the bedroom and home office, too.
 
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You apparently have a reading comprehension issue. I was quoting a different post that was already discussing Sonos ability to work with services like Apple Music.

My apologies, you're right. I had to re-read what you wrote a few times because your writing style is equivalent to spaghetti code.

I should mention that I don’t see this product as being the market share winner in these type of devices. It will most likely be the most profitable like most of their other devices in their respective markets.

So what market does this fit in that it will be the most profitable?

After reading this, I don't agree with your statement: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...s-homepod-is-three-years-behind-amazon-s-echo
 
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My apologies, you're right. I had to re-read what you wrote a few times because your writing style is equivalent to spaghetti code.



So what market does this fit in that it will be the most profitable?

After reading this, I don't agree with your statement: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...s-homepod-is-three-years-behind-amazon-s-echo
You might be better off if you refrained from commenting when you don’t understand what is being said, but I accept your apology.

Time will tell. The reason I believe it will be the most profitable is because Apple has the following track record despite rarely being first to market:
  • The most profitable smartphone
  • The most profitable tablet
  • The most profitable laptop
  • The most profitable desktop
  • The most profitable smartwatch
  • The most profitable pair of wireless headphones
  • The most profitable streaming TV box
https://www.aboveavalon.com/notes/2017/8/15/apple-has-the-best-business-model-for-generating-cash

As a side note, a writer for Bloomberg had one of the best quotes I have seen about the iPhone:

The iPhone is nothing more than a luxury bauble that will appeal to a few gadget freaks. In terms of its impact on the industry, the iPhone is less relevant… Apple is unlikely to make much of an impact on this market… Apple will sell a few to its fans, but the iPhone won’t make a long-term mark on the industry.”
Mathew Lynn ( Bloomberg)

Some other nuggets, including Lynn’s quote, at the link below:
http://www.loopinsight.com/2012/06/29/iphone-turns-5-here-are-the-naysayers/


Gotta love it.
 
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You might be better off if you refrained from commenting when you don’t understand what is being said, but I accept your apology.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaghetti_code. Even in person, I would not refrain to converge your speech to be concise.

Time will tell. The reason I believe it will be the most profitable is because Apple has the following track record despite rarely being first to market:

I agree that they are really good at supply chain management. They are good at charging premiums for their products such that their returns net them greater profits than other companies in respective domains.
 
It‘s a shame. I really was keen to get two of those equipped with a new Apple TV 4K and enjoy some nice Christmas holiday blockbuster fun. Well...
 
It‘s a shame. I really was keen to get two of those equipped with a new Apple TV 4K and enjoy some nice Christmas holiday blockbuster fun. Well...
We don't know yet how well they'll do with surround sound that is common with movies. Maybe great, but maybe "wow, Apple should make rear-channel satellites and a subwoofer to go with the HomePod". (Regardless, I want a pair too.)
 
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We don't know yet how well they'll do with surround sound that is common with movies. Maybe great, but maybe "wow, Apple should make rear-channel satellites and a subwoofer to go with the HomePod". (Regardless, I want a pair too.)

Well, depends where you come from. Since our children arrived the subwoofer was not in use anymore anyhow, as they would be awake immediately. So some decent quality sound is what I‘m looking for currently...
 
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