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First HomePod Orders Start Shipping Out in U.S., U.K., and Australia [Updated]

Man if Apple had launched HomePod with a new Siri domain for music and podcasts there would be far fewer “buts” in the reviews. Is the only way to play music natively on HomePod by asking Siri? I have a lot of music in iCloud Music Library that isn’t on iTunes or Apple Music. I wonder how easily Siri would know that music and be able to play it. Especially if, say, the track is a bootleg of a live show from some city where Siri might not get the name right. Is pulling that up on your phone and sending it to HomePod then using AirPlay and not native? Will there be a difference in sound quality?
 
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I just got my UPS tracking number (US East Coast). It has already left a hub 80 miles away and could easily be delivered today if Apple would allow it.
 
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I still recommend amazon or google speakers though. Siri is just too limited. Maybe later after Apple gives out more features and prices are slashed. Right now, it's probably worst value of the year award. The difference between this product and other apple products is that Apple isn't defining (or redefining) this market in any kind of way. Amazon and google rule it. It would've been different if Apple was targeting apple tv users with speakers made to work with it.
 
Rogifan said:
Man if Apple had launched HomePod with a new Siri domain for music and podcasts there would be far fewer “buts” in the reviews. Is the only way to play music natively on HomePod by asking Siri? I have a lot of music in iCloud Music Library that isn’t on iTunes or Apple Music. I wonder how easily Siri would know that music and be able to play it. Especially if, say, the track is a bootleg of a live show from some city where Siri might not get the name right. Is pulling that up on your phone and sending it to HomePod then using AirPlay and not native? Will there be a difference in sound quality?
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It seems like a really bad idea to make voice the only user interface for initiating music playback if you didn't want to use AirPlay. Hoping for more info on this once users get their hands on the device.
 
I'm really not excited about this product but I am glad to see that others are.

Once it has been out for awhile and maybe I can get a sense of how it could work for our needs then perhaps I will consider it. Currently we do not have anything like it, but we can use phones, watches or the iPad to tell Siri to do anything we need her to (homekit wise). We have a decent sounding soundbar that we use for music playback with Apple TV.
 
My U.S. order has shipped as well, but from a different state.
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tkermit said:
It seems like a really bad idea to make voice the only user interface for initiating music playback if you didn't want to use AirPlay.
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It isn't voice control only. You have controls on top of the unit + the ability to use Apple Music on an iPhone/iPad/iPod to control it as well.
 
tubular said:
Not shipping in the US yet for next-day delivery. Or at least that's the case for mine.

Seems like the reviews (and comments here) split depending on which end of the telescope the reviewer was looking down. If they recognized it as a speaker first, with Siri and HomeKit thrown in but secondary, they were generally very positive. If they thought it was just Apple's answer to the Echo, something to stick in the kitchen or bathroom, then they didn't much care for it. We saw the same thing with the watch: those who understood what Apple was trying to do, versus those who said "it's just Apple's version of X, and a poor imitation at that."
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THIS exactly... for me it's all about sound quality, I have great HiFi in my living room courtesy of other equipment but I'd like it in my kitchen too, limited space et al. Talking to it for anything other than "Hey Siri play..." is entirely secondary. Other folks switch those two around that that puts a different perspective on it... and that's fine. Ya know, I don't drive a minivan or a Ferrari either and I like my fries crinkle cut.
 
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ordered two of them today and they already went to preparing for shipment. chance of getting them earlier then the 13th?
 
jermwhl said:
Same. I'm on the fence with HomePod vs. Sonos and heavily leaning towards Sonos, but I still have about four months to decide.
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If you are on the fence with those two how can you not go with the one that allows every service and is not exclusive? How?
 
RickInHouston said:
If you are on the fence with those two how can you not go with the one that allows every service and is not exclusive? How?
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Maybe he's like me and couldn't care less about Spotify et al. Been using iTunes, then Match, then Music for eons, don't need anything else and this will work seamlessly with those... as God intended.
[doublepost=1518113436][/doublepost]PS: Folks, watch out for that 'signature required'...
 
Wondering what Belgium did wrong to Apple.
Still waiting on Siri on TV. (The weird thing is that is available in Holland and we almost have the same language)
Apple Pay (my bank said they were ready to implement it).
And now the Homepod.
 
cardfan said:
I still recommend amazon or google speakers though. Siri is just too limited. Maybe later after Apple gives out more features and prices are slashed. Right now, it's probably worst value of the year award. The difference between this product and other apple products is that Apple isn't defining (or redefining) this market in any kind of way. Amazon and google rule it. It would've been different if Apple was targeting apple tv users with speakers made to work with it.
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Really isn't trying to compete with Amazon or Google (maybe the Max) - it's competing with Sonos.
 
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