Apple's Siri-Based Smart Speaker Has 'Over 50% Chance' of Debuting at WWDC in June

[nuckinfutz]

This isn't even a confirmed thing yet and already feels DOA. I have 2 Amazon Echos and they're pretty great for simple things. Apple can't seem to get Siri to work in any capacity from their own phone, let alone tied into 3rd party services.
Apple, start focusing on your core hardware again. At least get THAT right.

LOL the Echo is going to get butchered. You Echo owners are just being naive. Apple's product will catch and surpass the Echo within 2 years. Apple already fixed Siri...but you're too busy buying crap hardware and setting up cloud accounts to be data mined to understand.
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Before you factor in Apples lagging HomeKit platform..

Lagging HomeKit....that's funny. It if were only true.

 

[sonsofnarcissus]

Not sure how good these speakers (compared to higher end wireless speakers from B&O, B&W etc) will be especially if it's using Beats technology. But I could see this being used with augmented reality and the satellite technology they're exploring with Boeing to create something really cool within people's homes which takes IOT to another level. Possibly the idea would be a couple of these "speakers" within the home to really connect the home via wireless tech as well as AR

 

[rp2011]

Not sure how good these speakers (compared to higher end wireless speakers from B&O, B&W etc) will be especially if it's using Beats technology. But I could see this being used with augmented reality and the satellite technology they're exploring with Boeing to create something really cool within people's homes which takes IOT to another level. Possibly the idea would be a couple of these "speakers" within the home to really connect the home via wireless tech as well as AR

Hopefully, they can be used as a mesh and have a nice surround system throughout the house.

 

[Karma*Police]

I do want Apple to succeed with this. I really do. But they need to really up Siri's game to get people to convert. If they can provide an overall better experience -- and show that Siri is actually useful -- then I could see myself leaving the Echo. One nice thing would be the integration with iCloud to avoid the IFTTT style kludges required of the Echo.

Well, it's not like Echo is any better... at least based on my experience and the people I know. They all say the same thing: it's a good party trick for kids and/or it's the most expensive alarm clock they've ever owned.

That's why I think promoting the premium speakers aspect of it would be a good strategy. When people realize the assistant is pretty dumb, they'll use it for some basic commands, but the high quality audio will always sound great. I can see Apple giving a free one year sub to Apple Music with each purchase.

 

[Shlooky]

In true Apple form...last to the party.

Last doesn't always mean a bad thing.

 

[farmboy]

it was reported by Wall Street Journal this morning that apple has 250 billion dollars parked on banks overseas. With that amount of money they can give away those speakers to each and every American. Or do something novel like pay their taxes.

What taxes have they not paid? Assuming you're not talking about the Irish/EU thing, which Apple will win at some point down the road.

 

[imicca]

Sales are going up. You look at the recent software and hardware updates for the Apple Watch and it's right where it needs to be. GPS and water proofing. Just need to get the battery to where it lasts a week.

Yeah I agree. But even Apple is so unsure of it that in all Financial Quarters you cannot find Apple Watch in a separate category. They never released the numbers, preorders, sales, whatever. There is something else needs to be done to make it mainstream, apart from more affordable price.

 

[iReality85]

It's not clear to me what immediate benefit there would be with owning a 'Siri Smart-Speaker' other than as an Apple ecosystem tie-in.

I mean, at least with Echo and Home, you have very tight and close associations with major online services (or for that matter the modern lifestyle in general). Obviously Amazon is known for online shopping, so it's easy for consumers to see that convenience with using Echo in their home. For Google Home, well, Google pretty much owns web search anyway, so there's a strong connection with Home and the internet and IoT stuff.

What would be Siri's, other than a 'me too' sort of deal? I'm getting an 'Apple's Maps' vibe here. Apple Maps is OK, but not Google Maps great.

 

[DotCom2]

When was the last time Apple sold something at a reasonable price?!

Actually, I thought the AirPods were reasonably priced given what we know about Apple.
I thought they were going to be a lot more.

 

[Rob_2811]

The next version is a certainty. Bluetooth 5 will be in all the new devices. I have no idea why you think Apple would not opt in as it uses the current standard itself.

I've honestly no idea why you think there is a new version of the AirPods coming any time soon really but if you're happy to wait good luck to you. The AirPods and Beats X are barely available and you think gen 2 are imminent.

I'm not convinced I think Apple thinks they've offered enough benefits with the W1 chip, I don't think they will be rushing a bluetooth 5 version out.

You might see it on the new phone and maybe this speaker but only if it makes sense to them commercially if it makes it less likely to buy the subsequent add on products (which Ming Chi Kuos article suggests)you can expect a more proprietary solution in my opinion.

 

[doelcm82]

Kinda like with HomeKit they are late to the party. With some devices that people replace every couple of years it might be fine, but I don't plan on switching my smart light switches, thermostats, garage door openers every couple of years. I have a couple of Echo Dots that control these devices. HomeKit doesn't and probably never will meaning a Siri enabled device probably won't either.

They are late to YOUR party. Most homes are not yet automated and still rock dumb toasters.

When the iPod came out there were those who were totally wed to their Diamond Rio MP3 players. Apple to their eternal dismay, didn't sell early iPods to those folks.

I had a Beta VCR, so I didn't have any use for VHS. My Sega Dreamcast kept me from buying an Xbox or a PS2.

I've been holding off on automation until:

1. I build my own home (hopefully in a year or two).
2. I can have something that plays seamlessly with my various other Apple devices.

I probably won't be in the market yet when Apple's smart speaker gets released, but I'm excited to see what it can do.

 

[44267547]

Fix Siri first. Alexa etc are not successful , due to the hardware....

Your post is completely untrue regarding Alexa not being successful. Amazons expansion with Alexa into the Dot and Echo has been huge, selling over 8 million units since late 2014, which is three times the amount it was projected to sell. And I have no idea what your implying by "Due to their hardware." If anything, their software would be the main draw for improvement for deciphering and dictation with Alexa, but naturally they will improve the hardware over time with build and speakers.

In comparison to Google Home, they both are very similar.


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ge...ustomer-awareness-increases-dramatically/amp/

http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-echo-success-could-spell-big-trouble-for-google-2017-1

http://www.geekwire.com/2016/report-amazon-sold-3-million-echo-smart-speakers-awareness-grows/amp/

 

[rp2011]

I've honestly no idea why you think there is a new version of the AirPods coming any time soon really but if you're happy to wait good luck to you. The AirPods and Beats X are barely available and you think gen 2 are imminent.

I'm not convinced I think Apple thinks they've offered enough benefits with the W1 chip, I don't think they will be rushing a bluetooth 5 version out.

You might see it on the new phone and maybe this speaker but only if it makes sense to them commercially if it makes it less likely to buy the subsequent add on products (which Ming Chi Kuos article suggests)you can expect a more proprietary solution in my opinion.

C'mon, every year they release new versions of stuff. Of course, there will be new versions of their wireless headphones this year to go with the new iPhones.
You sound like you're being a contrarian just to be a contrarian. If that gets you off then cool.
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They are late to YOUR party. Most homes are not yet automated and still rock dumb toasters.

When the iPod came out there were those who were totally wed to their Diamond Rio MP3 players. Apple to their eternal dismay, didn't sell early iPods to those folks.

I had a Beta VCR, so I didn't have any use for VHS. My Sega Dreamcast kept me from buying an Xbox or a PS2.

I've been holding off on automation until:

1. I build my own home (hopefully in a year or two).
2. I can have something that plays seamlessly with my various other Apple devices.

I probably won't be in the market yet when Apple's smart speaker gets released, but I'm excited to see what it can do.

Exactly!
The Party has not even started.
There is such a thing as "early adopters" though.

 

[farmboy]

I find Alexa to be 90+% accurate
Siri (probably hardware to be fair) less that 50% accurate.

If you're talking about transcription of voice to text, for me Siri is almost 100% accurate, and has been for a couple of years now. As to her ability to provide information from the web, in a timely manner, depressingly poor. Apple Maps voice directions are pretty good within the framework of a what is a mediocre app.

 

[Dydegu]

That means we probably won't see it, lol.

I look forward to what Apple has to offer at WWDC. It'll be good to see some hardware there again.

 

[Rob_2811]

C'mon, every year they release new versions of stuff. Of course, there will be new versions of their wireless headphones this year to go with the new iPhones.
You sound like you're being a contrarian just to be a contrarian. If that gets you off then cool.

So you think they are going to release a new version every year with the phone? I doubt that somehow. You aren't going to see a yearly release cycle for something like that.

There would be practically no improvement year on year, even this year with BT5 what are the benefits? Better range? Bluetooth 4.2 supports up to 200ft if I remember correctly. Who uses their wireless earbuds more that 200ft from their phone? Increased data transfer? Doesn't really amount to much when you're streaming low quality audio either.

As I say if you think they are imminent thats up to you, there hasn't been a so much as a murmur about them so far though.

 

[lincolntran]

I am not trying to troll but this seems kind of silly to me because I can just say "hey Siri" and my phone will come to life and answer what I need. I don't know why this would make any sense at all. If someone could explain why this would be different from "hey Siri" on an iPhone, I might change my mind.

I think the only different is that it's a plugged in device so it won't have a battery problem. Maybe they can expand it to connect automatically to your phone so you can control your house even when you're away? Maybe they can also include a 360 camera and this can put those security companies out of business for charging you an arm and leg for "monitoring"?

Personally, I don't see this, Echo, Google Home and the like are being that much useful yet, not until those "smart home" devices get abundantly cheaper. Right now, it's too expansive for the mass.

For the future, I would love to just say "It's bed time" and these "home devices" will just know to arm the built-in alarm, check and lock all doors, turn off light, turn on security monitoring, check stove to make sure it's off, etc. In the morning, once the alarm rings, it'll turn on the coffee machine, open garage, start the car and turn on air conditioning, water the yard, etc. Again, the keyword thing is those smart home devices must be very very affordable for the mass. Otherwise, it'll just be a novelty item.

 

[nwcs]

Well, it's not like Echo is any better... at least based on my experience and the people I know. They all say the same thing: it's a good party trick for kids and/or it's the most expensive alarm clock they've ever owned.

That's why I think promoting the premium speakers aspect of it would be a good strategy. When people realize the assistant is pretty dumb, they'll use it for some basic commands, but the high quality audio will always sound great. I can see Apple giving a free one year sub to Apple Music with each purchase.

Echo is better. I've had 2 in my house for about 8 months now. It's definitely more useful than Hey Siri, especially if your hands are full with other things (think children). The music part of the echo is nice but we don't use it very much. We mostly use the echo for automation tasks, lists, and checking on random things. It's better than a party trick which is an unfair characterization.

Most likely the people you met who feel that way just don't have the same needs/expectations. If the echo (or future Siri unit) has voice print recognition to switch between accounts automatically it can be even more useful with integration into the ecosystem.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Never said everyone is me, or has the same needs. However, I am a long-time Apple Fanboi. We who happily reside in the Walled Garden are the target audience for anything written in MacRumors. So no, I don't take the needs of people who would be better served by an Echo into consideration when questioning the need for this device.

That's fine- feel as you wish. But if Apple's business aspirations depended upon the self-proclaimed "long-time Apple Fanbois" here at just the site, Apple would long since be dead & buried.

It's fine that you see no "use case" of this product for you. But the world is full of plenty of consumers that are not you. Perhaps some of them will buy enough of these to help it make a buck or three for Apple? Apparently, Apple thinks they'll make more than a buck or three by developing such a product.

And I said nothing about "better served"- just that some may be served... particularly those that are not people like you who already own a watch and iPhone. There are plenty of such people that might buy this instead of a watch (or even phone). For example, note the many people in threads about this that are probably Apple people who are commenting about their Alexa or Google devices like this. Certainly some of them would probably own an equivalent product from Apple... if Apple sold one. If their watches and/or phones were enough, why do THEY own Amazon or Google devices of this type?

 

[Mockenrue]

I went back and looked at the MacRumors Amazon Echo announcement thread from 2014. Laughter, disdain, and mocking as expected. Now it's a category-defining product that everyone is copying. I don't own an Echo, but it seems like one of the reasons for its success is the openness and clever frivolity of many skills. I have my doubts that a Siri speaker will be fun.

 

[Naraxus]

That "asinine" policy is the reason I'll buy this over an echo.

Then you're naive. Apple harvests your data as much as Google does or did you think the "For You" section of Apple Music/iTunes recommendations just came from thin air?

They just lie about privacy all the while having their "partners" do the dirty work for them.

"She and her team are succeeding with innovative, big-data algorithms that aim both to improve the efficiency of Didi's service and to ease the congestion on roadways."

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ic-jams-go-the-way-of-the-flip-phone.2042582/

 

[Val-kyrie]

Please Apple, don't release any Siri hardware without fixing the software first.

Siri is utterly useless--can't even dial MY MOM using Siri.

If only Apple and IBM would let Siri and Watson get married... lol

First you have to convince Watson....

Siri is no longer sexy, sassy, or smart. What's left (for an AI)?

 

[nuckinfutz]

Siri is utterly useless--can't even dial MY MOM using Siri.

Some would say that that's a feature

 

[MrX8503]

Hopefully, they can be used as a mesh and have a nice surround system throughout the house.

My wishlist would be a smart router mesh system with whole house surround sound.

1. Whole house wifi check
2. Whole house sound system check
3. Whole house smart assistant check

 

[robbyx]

You know what Siri really is a disappointment. The other day I was driving to pick up a friend, and asked Siri to "share my location with X friend," she had no clue what I was talking about. I tried other variations to no avail. Honestly, the only thing Siri is good at is to create calendar events.

Agreed. I don't understand why I can't ask Siri to call back the last person who called me, for example. I've tried using Siri many times and most of the time it either doesn't know how to do what I'm asking or it defaults to a web search. On my new iPhone 7+, I have the added annoyance of it not activating properly. There's a lag, it activates, and then it immediately tells me it didn't understand what I said...before I've even said anything. In my mind, and I say this as a 35+ year customer, it is the worst Apple product ever created. At this point I have it disabled on all of my devices.