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Bose Introduces HomePod Competitor With Display for $400, AirPlay 2 Support Coming in 2019
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Not sure the screen was necessary at all. It's at odds with the usual Bose clean look.
Um, HomePod hasn’t sold 3 million either. Kuo is predicting 3 million sold this year. Predicting. I’ve read a number of reports that peg actual units SOLD to date (not shipped and collecting dust on store shelves) at around 700K.
I remember hardcore fanboys telling me Apple would sell 40M Watches in the first year. They still haven’t sold that many. Those of us who are Apple fans all want Apple products to do well, but HomePod isn’t there yet. Perhaps in time, but right now it looks like a pretty big disappointment.
Sonos already makes better sounding speakers (that cost a bit more). This Bose unit has more microphones and claims to have a wider soundstage. There’s really nothing special about HomePod from an audio hardware perspective. It’s a very nice little piece of hardware. I’m not knocking it. But it’s not special or innovative in the same way as other Apple products.
It does disconnect after a while, especially if you use HomePod to play music directly, it will lose its AirPlay connection from the last device.
I dont get annoyed though, a simple tap will reconnect to HomePod, but it does disconnect even when your iPad never leaves the WiFi network.
Only the newly initiated would dismiss what Bose does for the money. It's a mid-level brand that requires very little configuration for the casual listener to find a good sound. There's plenty to criticize if you're comparing it to other brands for audiophiles but nobody should ever be doing that. It's like a world renowned chef whining about McDonald's all day, pointless.
Had nothing to do with Kuo.
700k in one country during its second quarter of sales. Yup read that one too.
Home pod launched in only three countries, with estimated sale of between 2.5 and 3 million units. Before launching in other markets.
Sorry don’t think Bose is going to sell even a half a million of these.
I have a lot of friends that are Bose fanatics, I’m more into bang and olufsen.
But these won’t sell.
That 3 million you're quoting is CIRP data is extrapolated from Apple's estimated US sales. <corrected> Suspect at best. Certainly not accurate enough to use as evidence of future sales estimates either for Apple or against Bose. We recently had an article on it.
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...e-the-speaker-launched.2132438/#post-26349583
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That's Ed Sheeran album's artwork.
If it's sitting on a shelf, then it's sold as far as Apple is concerned. Apple primarily counts sold when their items ship to their customer. Their retail partners are their customers. Consumers only count in Apple stores and Apple's online portal.
The CIRP data is an extrapolation of Us sales not world wide. Doesn’t make much of a difference, but you should be more accurate.
Since it has launched in a grand total of 6 markets not really world wide.
I have to disagree with all you folks who disparage the value of Bluetooth with the HomePod. The worst problem with the HP is its limited usefulness. Without BT I can't even consider the possibility of picking up a pair to run with my t. v. or my sound system. The number and variety of programming sources one can access with the HP is painfully limited. Compared to what I can access on my t. v., for example, the amount and variety of programming available via Apple TV, even taking into account its TV app., is very small.
Apple could fix this, it seems. I have read that the HP does contain BT circuitry but that it is only used for the initial setup. If this is true, maybe a firmware update could change this, but for some reason that seems impossible to understand Apple appears to have no interest in helping us climb out of its notorious Walled Garden. Sometimes the mentality of its corporate culture seems downright psychotic. Maybe the advent of the Bose product will goose it into changing its mind. Certainly this issue of limited usefulness must be having a hugely negative impact on the HP's sales figures. You reap what you sow.
The HP, in short, is a niche product: at least as currently configured it is useless as a general-purpose speaker. Whereas BT will allow the forthcoming Bose competitor to function as such. So, if you can bring yourself to forget about its clunky appearance, it seems to me that it is a much smarter investment, the price differential seems very worthwhile, and my guess is that it is destined to blow the HP out of the water (as I suspect Sonos is already doing).
Apple could fix this, it seems. I have read that the HP does contain BT circuitry but that it is only used for the initial setup. If this is true, maybe a firmware update could change this, but for some reason that seems impossible to understand Apple appears to have no interest in helping us climb out of its notorious Walled Garden. Sometimes the mentality of its corporate culture seems downright psychotic. Maybe the advent of the Bose product will goose it into changing its mind. Certainly this issue of limited usefulness must be having a hugely negative impact on the HP's sales figures. You reap what you sow.
The HP, in short, is a niche product: at least as currently configured it is useless as a general-purpose speaker. Whereas BT will allow the forthcoming Bose competitor to function as such. So, if you can bring yourself to forget about its clunky appearance, it seems to me that it is a much smarter investment, the price differential seems very worthwhile, and my guess is that it is destined to blow the HP out of the water (as I suspect Sonos is already doing).
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Being an amateur pedant myself, I can appreciate your desire for accuracy. Also for the sake of accuracy, you should probably stop quoting it as if it's relevant.
It’s relavant to give a range
.
I have a Sonos system, and I don't wish it had bluetooth. The biggest problem with bluetooth is latency (makes it terrible for TV), and lossy sound codecs (low quality audio is poorly compensated with bass-heavy DSP usually).
For simple home set-it-and-forget-it audio, I don't think anyone even comes close to Sonos. For out-and-about audio, a battery-powered bluetooth speaker is the way to go. But the two products shouldn't be merged into one.