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HomePod Can Be Used as Speakerphone, Will Support Commands From Multiple Users
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Missed the point. Too little, too late. I see relatively limited success and would be happy to be wrong. It's easy to overcome the price difference with an enhanced set of features...which Apple certainly could provide and yet this device apparently lacks at first blush.
As far as "platform", the Hi-Fi had about all there was at the time. The Home Pod has an...A8? A four year-old chip (probably five or more with dev time). Not impressed, sorry. I'm sure Gen 2 will be much better, for whatever that's worth.
As far as the design, it's...uh...sort of OK, except for when you're sitting on the couch and the Pod is over by the TV, why are there no indicator lights (Siri, power, etc.) visible from where you're sitting?
Question: Why does Jony hate humans so much? Do our various needs get in the way of his concepts?
As far as "platform", the Hi-Fi had about all there was at the time. The Home Pod has an...A8? A four year-old chip (probably five or more with dev time). Not impressed, sorry. I'm sure Gen 2 will be much better, for whatever that's worth.
As far as the design, it's...uh...sort of OK, except for when you're sitting on the couch and the Pod is over by the TV, why are there no indicator lights (Siri, power, etc.) visible from where you're sitting?
Question: Why does Jony hate humans so much? Do our various needs get in the way of his concepts?
Amazon has currently defined the smart speaker space with Alexa. Google followed their cues and improved by leveraging their AI/cloud tech. So right now as soon as you add smarts to a speaker people expect it to function by Alexa's playbook. Apple built a speaker first and as a speaker (even if it had no voice assist at all) it would be a good price for the technological advances they've packed into this thing. If you aren't in the market for a great home speaker ($200+) then this isn't for you. Is that the right/best strategy? I don't know. Time will tell.
Since it DOES have Siri, I think the HomePod may be what really turns Siri around. Siri has previously been something that supplements a screen. Heck, the HomePod still has a pretty functional screen, but for Apple this is a first big foray into screenless UI. I'm hoping HomePod is at least successful enough to convince Apple to leverage their UIX skills with screenless/audio interfaces in a more serious way. I like Apple's privacy stance. Improving Siri without compromising that can't be impossible but it must be difficult.
Since it DOES have Siri, I think the HomePod may be what really turns Siri around. Siri has previously been something that supplements a screen. Heck, the HomePod still has a pretty functional screen, but for Apple this is a first big foray into screenless UI. I'm hoping HomePod is at least successful enough to convince Apple to leverage their UIX skills with screenless/audio interfaces in a more serious way. I like Apple's privacy stance. Improving Siri without compromising that can't be impossible but it must be difficult.
I was going to say the same thing only the HomePod actually is much more cutting edge speaker than most people here seem to realize. If Apple's beamforming works as described it could kick adoption into high gear and we still won't see wide-spread penetration of the tech at this price point for 2-3 years.
The HiFi in a strange way was too successful. Apple wanted to sell the idea of your iPod being not just your portable music player of choice but the center piece of your home stereo as well. Since the HiFi was just a good implementation of existing tech, the market saw where Apple was going and caught up quickly. As a speaker the HomePod offers a lot more, even as just a speaker, than the HiFi ever did.
I think Apple was caught off guard by the success of AirPods and now they want to provide a similar experience in home audio (of course centered around THEIR music service) which they see as lacking. Sonos comes close but they are still making traditional, directional speakers. I don't think most people see the problem with that—but then how many blackberry users said they couldn't give up physical keyboards and trackballs?
I can certainly see why this project had a rocky development. With HomePod Apple solves problems most people don't know they have—and the solution isn't as tangible, or as "wow", as say multi-touch. Even if users experience and love the room-filling (assuming it works as advertised) audio of the HomePod, all they'll be able to say about it is, "it sounds really good!" Which, unless you hear the difference for yourself, will be exactly what Sonos, echo, and Google Max owners say about their speakers.
Not to mention bluetooth has limited range and this kind of defeats the purpose of a whole home solution. It's great that the HomePod will be able to utilize iOS API's to handle calls and messages the proper way but it's not really something to fault Amazon for. I use my Echos to make calls every once in awhile, not once have I been disappointed that I couldn't use it as a bluetooth speakerphone.
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https://www.amazon.com/Echo-Connect-requires-service-smartphone/dp/B076ZRFP6Y
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I was originally planning on buying a HomePod at Launch but I'm going to take a "wait and see" approach.
I don't subscribe to Apple Music, preferring my own "curated" library of music.
I want to see if they've made improvements to Siri and whether it's capabilities have expanded. Not all of Siri's limitations can be credited to it protecting privacy. Some of it is just lack of basic functionality although it has worked reasonably well for me thus far. I just want it to do more.
It's one thing to let others beat you to punch and lay back to see how you can improve it but Apple delayed this long enough to add some real "innovation". I doubt they deliver but we'll see.
I don't subscribe to Apple Music, preferring my own "curated" library of music.
I want to see if they've made improvements to Siri and whether it's capabilities have expanded. Not all of Siri's limitations can be credited to it protecting privacy. Some of it is just lack of basic functionality although it has worked reasonably well for me thus far. I just want it to do more.
It's one thing to let others beat you to punch and lay back to see how you can improve it but Apple delayed this long enough to add some real "innovation". I doubt they deliver but we'll see.
If it's purchased from itunes it will
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Or maybe people like great products and are happy to pay for them...
Yes I like great products and buy them just like millions and millions other people.
You do realise £319 for a very good sound speaker isn't alot, right?
Not only an English but more rather a northern thing I also find talking at inanimate objects a little disturbing and would rather a tactile button !
I have that exact same setup. It's very limited. You can't use the native Siri commands that you can with the remote. You can only do basic play and pause.
For $329 I can buy another iPad and use it for Siri, handling calls, playing music, control my home lighting, etc. The HomePod does nothing else new other than play music loudly. Just another Apple Hi Fi speaker, good concept but not enough to make it a seller.
Why stop there? A Chromebook will do all those things too and its only $150!!! All an iPod does is play Mp3's and all an iPhone does is make calls. Apple is betting that it's device will "play music loudly" in a way that creates enough value for other people who appreciate it.