No I wouldn’t get a HomePod if what you’re looking for is a smart assistant you can talk to to get information or do things for you. Of course Apple never billed HomePod as that.
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First Impressions From New HomePod Owners: Siri's Voice Detection is 'Phenomenal,' Audio Quality is 'Immediately Evident'
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Overpaid?
How much should a speaker that sounds as good as the HomePod reportedly sounds actually cost?
Happy to see it sounds great, this would be the main reason for me to buy. However I will wait a bit and see what WWDC is about this year. I am expecting Siri improvements and possibly an SDK for the HomePod. I'll likely hold out until next year although I wouldn't mind a new toy.
Its not really like that at all.
Because how a speaker sounds is kind of the main thing most people would consider important with a speaker.
Whereas I think we can all agree that the unique rubber composite that lines a glovebox is nowhere near being the main thing that anyone would consider with a car.
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WWDC will be interesting! I feel they will announce updates to HomePod software which improve spatial awareness now Apple have loads of these things passing on data ( if you let Apple collect ofc) and Siri
There must be a reason Apple chose not to support BT. Apparently Sonos doesn’t either. The biggest complaint about HomePod so far seems to be no native options for other services like Spotify. I’ll bet come WWDC Apple will announce a new music/podcast domain for Siri. At some point not doing it just to advantage Apple Music becomes counter productive. I don’t think there’s many Spotify customers left to convert. Christina Warren (who used to work for Mashable and now works at a Microsoft) owns pretty much every Apple product but says she’s not getting a HomePod because it doesn’t natively support Spotify. I doubt she’s the only one. At some point Apple will want $350 from those people if they can get it.
I agree completely. I’m not really fussed about Siri on the Homepod, and can imagine using Airplay just as much. I just seee it as a really convenient way of playing stuff from AM withiut having to go over to it.
And yes, Siri will be convenient a lot of the time, but I cant use Siri to scroll through mu library looking for something I feel in the mood to listen to.
And going back to your point, there probably are sone people really into the voice assistant thing, but I bet a lot of people wont use Alexa for anything much that Siri cant do.
Real world scenarios though - the HP wont recognise distinct voices. So if other members of a household use it, it could pollute the curated recommendations for the account holder.
And Siri can only do one timer at a time. Although in the scheme if things, doing multiple timers seems much more analogous to the glovebox lining example above than sound quality.
When was it ever billed as a smart speaker? WWDC mostly focused on sound. HomePod press repease mostly focused on sound quality.
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2017/06/homepod-reinvents-music-in-the-home/
I have zero interest in a smart speaker, but a high quality audio device that is compact and fits nicely in each room for playing audio... well HomePod i am interested....
For those of us that actually are invested in a smart home the differences are massive.
Ask Siri to control your thermostat
Ask Siri to turn on your home theater
Ask Siri to arm/disarm your alarm
Ask Siri to show you your front door, rear door
Those are a few things I use on a daily basis. I very much agree with you that most people who own Alexa/google home are using that basic functionality, but if you have smart home integration the HomePod is a big step down. Can you even add stuff to a shopping list with the HomePod?
For clarity, its only direct Siri support for Spotify.
You can still stream from your phone. And, as I understand it, you can use Siri on your phone while AirPlaying to a HP.
I suspect there are a lot of people under the impression you literally cant play Spotify at all on a HP.
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Superb news!! So look forward to have four of these today in my house!!
We've seen quite a few HomePod reviews from media sites that Apple invited to test the speaker, but now that the HomePod has officially launched in Australia, HomePod first impressions from regular Apple customers are now available.
New HomePod owners on reddit, Twitter, and the MacRumors forums have been sharing their opinions on the device, and for those awaiting a HomePod of their own or considering purchasing, these comments from average consumers provide interesting insight.
MacRumors reader ApeBot was one of the first to receive a new HomePod in Australia, and he said setting it up was "incredibly fast and easy with an iPhone." As for sound quality, it's "impressive" and "fills the room beautifully."
When using "Hey Siri" with other compatible iOS devices around, the HomePod is the device that responds first, something that future owners HomePod have been wondering about. Since iOS 10, with multiple devices around, when you say "Hey Siri" your devices intelligently decide which one should respond, and it's no different with HomePod.
Reddit user ghostinthelatrine offered to answer questions about the new HomePod, leading to some insightful discussion. He says the HomePod's sound "blows the [Sonos] Play 3 out of the water," and that Siri's voice detection is "phenomenal."
Using the HomePod as a speaker for the Apple TV was "surprisingly quiet," even at a high volume level, though the sound itself was described as "crystal clear." You can also use the HomePod with a Mac as an AirPlay destination from iTunes and it appears as an output device in the Sound settings.
Image via reddit user ghostinthelatrine
Another redditor shared a detailed list of initial impressions, and he too praised the HomePod's sound quality and the ease of activating Siri on the device.
AirPlay also worked well from both iOS devices and the Mac, with the exception being AirPlaying content from the Overcast app. His other comments focused on the HomePod's design. The "size and heft" of the device were surprising, and the outer fabric is "soft, but firm."
Image via Reddit user eats_midgets
The top of the HomePod, where the touch controls are located, is glossy and smooth, and in a separate tweet, another new HomePod owner said this area is something of a fingerprint magnet.
Multiple Twitter users also had thoughts to share on the HomePod, weighing in on everything from the device's sound to Siri to its power cable.
On the MacRumors forums, upcoming HomePod owners have also listed some songs they'll be using to test out the HomePod's capabilities when it arrives, including "Hotel California" from The Eagles, "Prelude and Kiara" from Bonobo, "Hits and Exit Wounds" from Alabama 3, "Core" from Stone Temple Pilots, "Your Latest Trick" by Dire Straits, and "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen.
Once the HomePod launches in the UK and the United States, our forums will be filled with HomePod users sharing their opinions and tips and tricks for using the new speaker. Make sure to check out our HomePod forum to share your thoughts on the new speaker, or post them here in this thread, and stay tuned to MacRumors because we'll have plenty of HomePod coverage both tomorrow and next week.
Article Link: First Impressions From New HomePod Owners: Siri's Voice Detection is 'Phenomenal,' Audio Quality is 'Immediately Evident'
Siri can control all of those though?
At least if they are HomeKit compatible.
And you can create Scenes - so for example “Hey Siri! Good morning!” could put your lights on, open your blinds and switch on your coffee machine.
(Sorry, I might have had my wires crossed. In the context of the post you replied to I thought maybe you were saying Siri couldn’t do those things.)
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By which you mean *your* main motive. Hell yes, let's focus on sound quality. If I wanted a little tin can that talked, I'd have gotten an Echo. Sound quality is why this product exists.
from their current website:
HOME TO AN INTELLIGENT ASSISTANT
HomePod is great at playing your music. But it can also tell you the latest news, traffic, sports, and weather. Set reminders and tasks. Send messages. Hand off phone calls. And HomePod is a hub for controlling your smart home accessories — from a single light bulb to the whole house — with just your voice
If that doesn't mislead people into thing it is a "hub for controlling your smart home accessories" I don't know what is. I think everyone would agree apple wants this to complete with alexa and google home.
Generation 2 in this case will be a software update for Airplay2 and multi-speaker.
That is the problem. Nothing is HomeKit compatible except smart switches and lights. I more than anyone want Siri to be able to do those things. I have mentioned elsewhere that I find Siri to be much more responsive than Alexa and google home. I just want the "smart" side of things to catch up.
I dunno. I love my Airpods not so much for its absolute sound quality but for the other conveniences that it brings. As I like to say - the best sounding headphones are useless if they are so uncomfortable that nobody will wear them.
Who knows - maybe this will be the case with the HomePod as well. “Good enough” in all the right areas that any shortcomings don’t really matter in the greater scheme of things.
In my opinion, it has always been billed as both. Not sure what use a single speaker would be when everyone wants a great speaker and a smart speaker. Otherwise, if not a smart speaker, but some other high end speaker.
Sound Check has been around for quite a while. You’ll also find it in the iOS Music app and iTunes. Yeah, it’s not a well-publicized feature, and it doesn’t have descriptive text in Settings, but it does show up in the Help and product manuals, including the recently released HomePod manual.
Mine has arrived, throughly disappointed in it. Sound is as I feared from a consumer speaker, veiled, muddy, boomy, no top end, smeary - there's no detail. It's the same horrible sound signature that Bose, B&W (Some fella from B&W designed Homepod's sound), H&K, Sonos and all those crap sound bars and blue tooth speakers have.
I feel it has the potential to be EQ'ed better, but there's no EQ option!
I'm sure it's fine for your average home listener who'll think it's good "good bass" and goes loud for it's size. But I was hoping for a lot more - no way would I buy two of these for stereo sound when you can get a pair of Elac book shelves for that price.
I feel it has the potential to be EQ'ed better, but there's no EQ option!
I'm sure it's fine for your average home listener who'll think it's good "good bass" and goes loud for it's size. But I was hoping for a lot more - no way would I buy two of these for stereo sound when you can get a pair of Elac book shelves for that price.
Yea I actually don't think Siri is all that bad, they just needed the microphone set up like the Echo's have. All of the assistants are pretty useless to me aside from turning on lights, adjusting the temp, weather, news, and playing music. Siri handles all of this well, but I think Apple needs to open this up like other platforms to truly make an impact. In time, I am sure it will.