That seems to be the consensus from review sites. It is a great sounding speaker compared to the current offerings in the price range, Siri responds fantastic, it just needs to have more "skills".
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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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That seems to be the consensus from review sites. It is a great sounding speaker compared to the current offerings in the price range, Siri responds fantastic, it just needs to have more "skills".
Happy to see a reviewer on the other side, although a bit surprising considering everyone says how good it sounds. I'd like to see how it compares to my current set up.
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That's fine by me then. Get the basics of it working right first, then add "skills" as you say. I think the potential here is great. Slowly, it will get better, as the Apple Watch and Apple TV has.
None of that counters it being billed as a good speaker first, which is what Apple has done - at the keynote intro and since then.
The HomePod website has the following sections (these are my names) - 1) sound quality, 2) speaker quality and design, 3) setup ease and sound quality, 4) access to music/Apple Music, and 5) the section you quoted about Siri. Even within that section Apple starts with sound rather than "intelligence": "HomePod is great at playing your music".
FWIW, I have no issues with Siri telling me the latest news, traffic, sports, and weather. I use Siri to set reminders. I use Siri to send text messages (which it does very well for me). I use Siri to control smart home accessories (HomeKit-enabled).
They are competing with Amazon and Google but in a different way. They focus on sound quality first. We have to remember that Google is mainly an advertising company and Amazon is mainly a warehouse. Apple sells you things too but Google Assistant and Alexa both exist to collect data about you so Google or Amazon or some other company can target you better with ads and products. Siri exists primarily as a feature for interacting with Apple products. People don't buy iPhones because of Siri - it's a perk (some would argue not a great perk). If you want Siri to be better you have to give up considerable privacy (like you go with Google Assistant and Alexa).
I prefer Google Assistant but have no problems with Siri. I own a Home Mini and two Echo Dots so I use those more than Siri at home but Siri works well for me when I use it.
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Are your thermostat, home theater, alarm, and cameras all HomeKit compatible?
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Thanks Erik. We might have different music tastes but I will try this to give the HomePod a good go...
Except here: https://www.apple.com/homepod/
"It’s also an intelligent home assistant, capable of handling everyday tasks — and controlling your smart home."
You mean its not like the band is in the room with you?
I know what you mean - I've managed my expectations and its fine for what it is going to be used for - occasional use in my conservatory, where having a proper Amp and speakers just isn't practical. The voice control is quite neat as well although it had real problems when I asked for the Wombles. Kept playing The Bluebells!
I've tried it to control the Hue lights in my conservatory - very hit and miss - easier to use the Hue remote control frankly.
Ahh, I see what you are saying....
You mean, like iPhones. Where each year, the software get's improved, making the hardware you purchased just gets better and better all the time.
I see.........
My guess is that the HomePod is intended to be an iOS accessory first and foremost. Apple wants you to use (and keep using) an iPhone and Apple Music and to them, it’s far more profitable to keep this group of users locked within their ecosystem and continue to monetise them over the long term than it is to simply sell a $350 speaker.
Hence the lack of Bluetooth and an audio jack, leaving airplay as the sole means of streaming music.
It’s also possible that because Apple owns Apple Music, they are able to optimise it on their end in ways that they can’t with a third party service like Spotify. But I feel this is still more an ecosystem play.
Of course it didn't because Siri has been getting laughed at for years for being just merely average (if not mediocre) - the spin on audio quality is intended to circumvent those critiques, otherwise why have Siri on it at all?
Let's be honest, Apple wants in on the smart speaker trend after Google Home and Amazon Echo opened hostilities, and that's fine by me, but Siri is definitely not the edge Apple is going to use to launch the HomePod into battle.
I understood this. Just would suck not to be able to tell the HomePod to play a specific song
Absolutely incorrect, for anyone into serious home automation they've had to use advanced implementation on all voice assistants and Homekit with Homebridge kills everything. Google assistant is the worst smart home one as it has no scenes (except through IFTTT) You can't have groups within rooms. Alexa was terrible until recently you coudn't even say "open" as that was reserved for skills, no do colour lights - at least those are fixed now and it has copied Siri's scenes and regions but Alexa still gets stuff wrong for the most time - even though I've disabled a ton of stuff it still refuses to do even simple stuff like turn lights on and off as it gets confused by them. Alexa also has to be asked a very specific way to do things where as Siri and Google understand asking the same thing multiple ways.
There's basically nothing I can do Smarthome wise with Siri but there are limitations to both Alexa and especially Google Assistant at the moment which means I can't.
Does it? How many skills does the average user actually use on a daily basis?
Of you have the "Smartest" device on the market TODAY for a fraction of the cost, and connect it TODAY, either wirelessly or wired to any speaker on the planet (from $10 to $100,000) you would care to use as the sound output, AND have stereo also in 2018.
You can’t use Siri to control your HomeKit automation? I use it daily for my thermostat, light and shades. Works great.
If I could i'd probably start with an EQ curve a bit like this on Homepod to get it sounding remotely detailed - remove the boxy boomy nature and give it some actual brightness.
I like how everyone is audiophile these days.
I agree Siri responds the best, but the integration is not there. The commands you quoted me on do not work with Siri, plain and simple . That is an issue for a smart home device.
Isn’t it great to have choice as a consumer.Of you have the "Smartest" device on the market TODAY for a fraction of the cost, and connect it TODAY, either wirelessly or wired to any speaker on the planet (from $10 to $100,000) you would care to use as the sound output, AND have stereo also in 2018.
A choice to buy what you want.
Without anyone else criticising your choice.... oh wait..
I don't think a lot of people use much outside their lights, but for the users that have other products it will be a downgrade switching to a HomePod for a smart home hub.
Just had a play with one in my local store. Wow the audio is amazing, really did shock me how such a small device can produce that sound. Smaller than I was expecting and has a really nice hefty weight to it.
I have Sonos setup at home I will have issues swapping them for HomePods (Soon as AirPlay2 is out).
I have Sonos setup at home I will have issues swapping them for HomePods (Soon as AirPlay2 is out).
I’m having the same issue with iCloud music library (match) playlists, it doesn’t find any of them...
Workaround would be great!!
If Apple allowed Amazon?! You mean like Apple kept telling Amazon to not sell Apple TV or not to make a amazon prime AP? In the Apple amazon war Amazon has been holding things back from Apple customers plenty. Apple is no angel, but Amazon is playing the same game, trying to make us customers pick. So I did.