HomePod has a relatively flat acoustic curve so you can hear how the studio engineer EQ'ed the recording.
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HomePod is Ninth Most Popular Smart Speaker in United States According to Recent Survey
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The new Google Home Hub is going to be a BIG seller I'm sure.
The price is a nice sweet spot, and will add a lot of functionality, the lack of camera means more will be happy just to have by the side of the bed, or stick one in the kitchen.
https://store.google.com/gb/product/google_home_hub
I'd have preferred the screen to be a little larger, but they'd nailed the price and I can see this being a BIG seller over the next 12 months.
The price is a nice sweet spot, and will add a lot of functionality, the lack of camera means more will be happy just to have by the side of the bed, or stick one in the kitchen.
https://store.google.com/gb/product/google_home_hub
I'd have preferred the screen to be a little larger, but they'd nailed the price and I can see this being a BIG seller over the next 12 months.
I wonder how many people use the Echo speakers as actual speakers for music and not just as Amazons listening-devices inside their homes.
How anybody would want such a thing, straight out of 1984 is beyond my comprehension.
Sooner or later, these things will get a lawful-interception interface, so the authorities can listen to your home, if they suspect a terrorist threat, an amber alert in the region is active, somebody robbed a convenience store two towns over or the IRS suspects you owe them money.
I bet you'll feel safer then.
How anybody would want such a thing, straight out of 1984 is beyond my comprehension.
Sooner or later, these things will get a lawful-interception interface, so the authorities can listen to your home, if they suspect a terrorist threat, an amber alert in the region is active, somebody robbed a convenience store two towns over or the IRS suspects you owe them money.
I bet you'll feel safer then.
[doublepost=1540248130][/doublepost]Saying people buy a $30 echo and a $350 HomePod for the same purpose is a ludicrous comparison and unfair to both. It is like saying people buy a Porche and a Minivan using the same criteria.
Apple's HomePod is the ninth most popular smart speaker model in the United States, according to an online survey of 1,011 smart speaker users conducted by research firm Strategy Analytics in July and August.
The top eight positions are held by various Amazon Echo and Google Home models in the Strategy Analytics rankings. The standard Amazon Echo tops the list with an estimated 23 percent share of the U.S. installed base of smart speakers, while the HomePod is estimated to have just four percent market share.Amazon Echo: 23%
Amazon Echo Dot: 21%
Google Home: 8%
Google Home Mini: 7%
Amazon Echo Plus: 5%
Amazon Echo Spot: 4%
Amazon Echo Show: 4%
Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition: 4%
Apple HomePod: 4%
Google Home Max: 2%Apple does not disclose HomePod sales in its quarterly earnings results. In August, Strategy Analytics estimated that HomePod shipments totaled 700,000 units in the second quarter of 2018, giving Apple a roughly six percent share of the worldwide smart speaker market at the time.
While the HomePod may have only a single-digit share of the overall market, Strategy Analytics shared data last month indicating that Apple accounts for 70 percent of the small but growing $200-plus smart speaker market, topping competing products such as the Google Home Max and a variety of Sonos speakers.
That data shouldn't come as much of a surprise, as Amazon Echo and Google Home models are regularly priced as low as $49, whereas the HomePod retails for $349. Apple has marketed the HomePod as a premium speaker that also has Siri, as opposed to a personal assistant that also plays music.
It's also worth noting that the HomePod only launched this past February, two to three years after its biggest competitors. Today, the HomePod is available in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, and Germany, with sales set to begin in Mexico and Spain on Friday.
Back in April, well-connected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple was "mulling" a "low-cost version" of the HomePod, possibly in the form of a Siri-enabled Beats speaker. The status of those plans is unclear.
Article Link: HomePod is Ninth Most Popular Smart Speaker in United States According to Recent Survey
A flat acoustic curve is great in a studio.
A flat acoustic curve doesn't account for the shape of my living room.
A flat acoustic curve doesn't account for carpeting.
A flat acoustic curve doesn't account for the absorbances of the couch, for the reflectivity of the ceiling, for the volume of the space.
A flat acoustic curve doesn't make allowances for road and engine noise.
A flat acoustic curve is a drag at a party.
A flat acoustic curve makes no allowances for different speaker configurations, for different bypass filters, for differences in amplifiers.
A flat acoustic curve is STUPID in the real world.
Not surprising. It's the "dumbest" smart speaker (Siri) and really expensive. It also doesn't let people use it the way they want.
But the HomePod creates a flat acoustic curve in your room, so the music sounds like it was intended in your room.
Good point!
However I'll counter one more time with the following observation:
A flat acoustic curve does not account for differences in people's hearing and damage due to noise exposure and aging.
The HomePod does't fit your need at all. Get yourself two or three Bose SoundLink Micros for cheaper.
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AirPlay is a proprietary protocol.
Until Siri is better than Alexa...
Until the Homepod can compete (in terms of pricing) with Echo (& Echo Dot)... Amazon will keep on gaining market share. Sonos already has Alexa built-in, what's taking them to adopt Siri as well?
Until the Homepod can compete (in terms of pricing) with Echo (& Echo Dot)... Amazon will keep on gaining market share. Sonos already has Alexa built-in, what's taking them to adopt Siri as well?
It’s a loss leader. Amazon is salvaging the ruins of their failed phone, but irs not a money maker for them.
Don't worry your iOS apps are already constantly broadcasting your location to data farms and your Apple Watch is alerting your insurance company of when to raise your premium.
Someone remind me again how the whole android vs iOS market share worked out for Apple and the respect android OEMs, especially with regards to profit?
I think you just want to be told what you want to hear. The world clearly revolves around profit. That's why Uber and Tesla exist.
I’m not super interested in any smart speakers, but The only one I’d ever guy is the HomePod, or another sold by Apple. I would never get a smart speaker run by Amazon or Google. My privacy is not a high enough concern for either company, so I wouldn’t ever knowingly bring into my home a piece of tech made by them to always listen.
Yes, it works out well for Apple. Apple has the lion share of profits when it comes to smartphones and tablets. They have, and will continue to get plenty of my money for the foreseeable future. It is the superior OS in my humble opinion, with regard to security and usability. However, for consumers, Android allows those with very little resources from all over the world to get access to services and capabilities that they would not get if only iOS existed. Android helps bridge the gap between the haves and the have-nots.
The same goes here. I have no issues with Apple making mad profits on their kit. But, I also feel good that for a $120 annual subscription to Amazon Prime, $40 for an Amazon Dot, and $30 for a Fire Stick, even a family with a modest income can have an AI companion that helps their kids with homework, access to tons of music, books, and video programming, and have a device with an audio out port they can use it with their existing or cheaply purchased speakers, even if those speakers aren't up to HomePod standards.
I want Apple to succeed, but I feel it's just as, if not more, important that Google and Amazon also succeed.
Still a worthless investment for most. I sell Apple gear on the side and I can't even setup a demo unit to show case the HomePod because there is no wireless in the building. No bluetooth means I can't even pair it with ANY Apple made product. We don't live in a wireless world yet so why would Apple remove any Bluetooth or lighting/USB C connectivity is beyond me! I hope HomePod 2 will address these shortcomings but I'd wager it still will sell for the same expensive price.
This requires a device with an Apple ID setup. Keep in mind that my store Demo units have no wifi and no Apple ID is associated with them. Again, nice speaker but worst connectivity options.
It’s always about the money. You think google and amazon are offloading cheap speakers out of the kindness of their own hearts?
You don’t really get any books with the prime subscription you have to pay again for kindle unlimited and the prime subscription only gives you access to 2 million songs. But hey got £7.99 a month when I only buy it for the free next day shipping I can’t complain.
I still subscribe to Apple Music and Netflix though and purchase tv shows and movies from iTunes.
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I think they made it predominately for developed countries where WiFi is standard.
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You can use it without an internet connection but it needs to have been set up first by connecting it to a wireless network.
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I presume some of the devices in your shop are connected to a cellular network.
Why not use a phone as a WiFi hotspot and demo the HomePod that way.