Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Google Announces $100 Home Speaker With HomePod Mini-Like Design and Gemini AI
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Few months back, I was talking with Gemini about my cat. I asked Gemini if it has any. The answer was āI have one and itās name is Siriā! Later that day, I asked the same question again but Gemini answered differently.
Siri was the first āAssistant ā and was better than Alexa or Google assistant a decade ago. Now itās worse than the first version.
Agreed. As long as I don't listen to the content of the responses, Siri sounds very intelligent.
All speakers have to look like each other, so the coping apple claims are laughable. I have a HomePod mini and a nest mini speaker. The nest is much better as a smart speaker. Gemini/google assistant trounces Siri.
I tend to wonder what the functions of these devices it supposed to be. If they are intended to be music reproduction systems they are an abject failure as they all sound pretty awful, especially the Google and Amazon devices, along with the Apple Mini HomePod (note I did not include the HomePod as that is a very good speaker to use for listening to music).
However if they are a way of sending data to a company that wants to profile your behavior and desires so they can push advertising and product sales to you then they are probably quite successful. Apple made a decision to not collect personal data and not push advertising to you for the purpose of getting you to buy more stuff but to use the interaction to get access to your music and anything you kept on your systems and not to use your data in any way that would make available anything about you to the world in general. This ended up keeping Siri relatively dumb, which I am happy to live with for the sake of privacy. So we may criticize Siri but it is not sprinkling my input around the web and using it to push adverting to me and for that I am thankful. Remember Google and Amazon live off your data and depend on selling your behavior and date to third parties, and I am not going to allow a device in my home whose entire purpose is to feed that monster.
However if they are a way of sending data to a company that wants to profile your behavior and desires so they can push advertising and product sales to you then they are probably quite successful. Apple made a decision to not collect personal data and not push advertising to you for the purpose of getting you to buy more stuff but to use the interaction to get access to your music and anything you kept on your systems and not to use your data in any way that would make available anything about you to the world in general. This ended up keeping Siri relatively dumb, which I am happy to live with for the sake of privacy. So we may criticize Siri but it is not sprinkling my input around the web and using it to push adverting to me and for that I am thankful. Remember Google and Amazon live off your data and depend on selling your behavior and date to third parties, and I am not going to allow a device in my home whose entire purpose is to feed that monster.
Last edited:
Great if you donāt mind your privacy being compromised. Itās hard to not be suspicious of Google, Meta and AI business models and data security.
That's their business model. This is why it makes so much sense for Apple to focus on privacy. The competition can't respond without undermining their money printing machine. Whether that holds up whilst Apple moves into services remains to be seen.
Hot take. Smart speakers are a overhyped gimmick of the 2010s. I know companies want them in your home at all cost but donāt fall for it. I had HomePods and Google smart speaker, not because I needed them, but because Iām a tech nerd who wanted to see what the fuss was about. Years later, theyāve proven to be little more than overpriced, glorified light switches. They sound good in theory, but are just another dust collecting gadget in the corner of your home. Apples HomePods are frustrating. Siri is borderline unusable. Googles smart speakers are slightly more functional, but theyāre basically a home surveillance devices designed to harvest your data by listening at you all the time. For all the marketing hype, thereās barely a compelling use case for them that isnāt already better served by your phone or using the damn light switches.
They don't need to beg. Their products are far superior. Did you watch the video? My HomePods on the other hand are still in the Stone Age! They don't know the simplest things. They can set alarms though. LOL!
The rumours have been flying for longer than that. I wouldn't be surprised if other companies had everything ready to go, and just wait until nearer the time Apple will release something to steal some of their thunder
Whatever one thinks of Gemini, it's clearly better than the current state of Siri.
Trouble is, after the Nest to Google Home mess and Google completely dropping support for older products like Nest Guard/Security and such, I simply do not trust them to support a product more than a couple years (if I'm lucky).
I do not want to be upgrading my home's appliances and light bulbs every two years like I would a phone or a laptop. Just isn't happening. Meanwhile, Homekit hardware from the early days still works.
Trouble is, after the Nest to Google Home mess and Google completely dropping support for older products like Nest Guard/Security and such, I simply do not trust them to support a product more than a couple years (if I'm lucky).
I do not want to be upgrading my home's appliances and light bulbs every two years like I would a phone or a laptop. Just isn't happening. Meanwhile, Homekit hardware from the early days still works.
Unfortunately, I will buy this, or the Amazon one. Probably both of those to compare. It would be better if it was in the Apple eco. , but wtf. The Amazon one is similar, with the subscription model.
Apple reminds me of Intel at this point, when it comes to this product segment.
Apple reminds me of Intel at this point, when it comes to this product segment.
Yes, and they know what was on the camera too. You will accept your AI overlords. Imagine a completely dictatorial government got in charge of everything and could switch off every part of your entire life for sharing a meme. Imagine the MR mods were in charge. 'You made a joke, goodbye.'
I canāt wait for you to discover that Samsung has had a foldable phone for years.
Love the way someone voted you down for proving them wrong. The "Dislike" button is the worst part about this websiteāit should be removed. If someone disagrees they should need to comment to explain themselves. Dislike button kills the vibes. Google Home mini was released in 2017. HomePod mini was released in 2020 and was Apple's response to Echo Dot from 2017 and Google Home mini.
Last edited: