Fair enough. I've been in lots of discussions about a slightly different setup where the TV-out is piped into a stereo and misread your post.
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HomePod May Support Multiple User Accounts and HomeKit Scenes That Mute Siri
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Fair enough. I've been in lots of discussions about a slightly different setup where the TV-out is piped into a stereo and misread your post.
Hmm. Pretty sure I didn't mention Sonos. And light years. Ha. Ha. Get over it. HomePod is certain to be a great speaker. Earth shattering, redefine small speakers, rewriting physics, having audiophiles drooling, probably not. I think you are putting HomePod (still unreleased, unreviewed) on too high a pedestal.
OMG... that is too funny! I'm imagining the tag line "responsibly sourced, organic air... available only from Apple!"
*yes... I know... "organic" = carbon-based. I was at Kroger yesterday and saw a product proclaiming "organic water". SMH.
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Probably true, but it's not a given. Apple certainly has the financial and personnel resource to not only catch up but blow away the competition. Will they? I'm not going to count on it.
According to Apple, the HomePod will control Airplay 2 devices:
"You can also control any other AirPlay 2‑compatible speakers"
This means I can use it with my main system that has an AppleTV 4k and my other systems that have Apple TV 4s. That will allow me to use the HomePod to control what is playing on any of my three main speaker setups. I am hoping that my Denon and Onkyo receivers eventually get updated for Airplay 2 for more convenience (since they already support Airplay). However, the AppleTV is a great workaround.
Siri vs Alexa - Alexa doesn't work with Apple Music. That is its main downfall for the 30 million plus Apple Music subscribers. For me, that is a big deal. The HomeKit functions that I use work as well with Siri or better. For example, Alexa doesn't know what it means to set a Hue light "white" without some third party skill. Siri does. Since it is very common to want to turn a Hue bulb back to white, it is an inconvenience....unless you want to also memorize a command from a third party.
I have Echos and love the Dots because of the aux and bluetooth (in and out). However, for my main systems, I prefer Airplay because it sounds better in my setups. That is probably because of my receiver's DAC.
I will most likely keep my Echo Dots because of their different third party skills, but I can see a HomePod being very nice to have for when I don't have time to sit down and listen to my main system, while still getting great sound quality. When I do have time to sit down, I prefer Airplay/AppleTV digital input into my receiver versus the analog out of the Dot and as I said, the HomePod should control them by voice.
I should mention that a Google Home Max + Chromecast/Chromecast Audio does something very similar to what I am describing above. However, it also lacks Apple Music.
Plus, a traditional setup will support the myriad of inputs real people actually use. AirPlay is fine for streaming FROM an TV. It's great that the HomePod will play music directly. But what about... disc players (BluRay), cable boxes, etc.? What about the cord-cutters who are using antenna to get OTA signals? I currently send that from my TV to receiver so it all comes out the same set of great-sounding speakers.
Is Apple seriously expecting customers to pony up $350/$700 for speakers that don't play all audio sources? Do we need to maintain a traditional setup for those other sources?
There are just too many gaps for this to be anything more than a first release curiosity.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
OMG. Organic water. WOW! Marketers believe we'll buy anything.
But worse, enough probably WILL buy to make those marketer's right.
Get Apple to put their logo on it and we'll pay about 40% more for that organic water... and rationalize it to each other in forum threads... and shout down those who would dare question the superiority of the Apple water vs. any other source of water.
Then, about 30 days later, Samsung will roll out Organic Watre to great "such copycat" outrage... and pledges to never buy from Samsung but only Apple for all future water needs. This should run to the point of someone showing comparison images of an Apple Water molecule (H2O) vs. a Samsung Watre molecule being configured the exact same way and crying patent infringement over the identical (molecular) design. Patent lawyers might get something going on a legal front.
Later, see posts offering "...but who makes the most profitable organic water."
A year later, Apple rolls out the new "doubly organic water" in a "thinner & lighter" container (because there's less of it) "at the same great price." Doubly organic. "That's 2X organic for the 1X organic price. WOW! Shut up and take my money." Setting alarms on launch day to get up at 3am to try to be among the first to get our orders filled.
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I would argue that Apple does not have the talent to make Siri better at the moment. Financial/personnel resources are one thing, but talent and experience is another. I bet those people are probably working at Google/Amazon/other instead.
I think you got it the wrong way. Pretty sure riverfreak was referring to Apple's data privacy standards and the fact that apple is not in the business of monetizing the data collected by using it for targeted advertising like google.
That's debatable. I too have a 5.1 system and I can choose to make my system sound like a night club, or a church or a large stadium etc... which is great, but sometimes listening in pure stereo through a pair of decent speakers properly located for stereo music is the absolutely best way to hear the music. Of course this depends on what sort of music you listen to, but if the song was properly mastered in stereo (try David Bowie's Space Oddity) then 2 is definitely more than 5!
And I’m sure you don’t understand the underlying technology. There isn’t an AV receiver anywhere close to this.
That sounds like a seri{Hello! How can I help?}ously bad idea {OK, playing 'Jessie Mueller and Drew Gehling Sing "Bad Idea" from Sara Bareilles' WAITRESS'} to me.
Also, there are, like, two million dogs called "Sirius"... {I'm sorry, I can't find any results for 'leave that freaking table leg alone you stupid mutt'}
I saw that too. But you're right on target with your observation of apple not being in the business of monetizing the data collected for targeted ad revenue.
With the upgrade to AirPlay 2 will come the ability of Siri to recognise speakers/receivers. Then you will likely be able to pickup a sub $100 device that will connect to your HiFi and allows you use your phone/watch to say "Hey Siri, play XXX by YYY on the stereo".
Nope. Just tried it on watch and phone simultaneously. They both responded with their own replies at the same time without a clue of each other's existence.
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I think they're talking about the fact that HomePod isn't used to record queries and create a profile of each user that same way that Google and Amazon advertise and sell products back to you with their smart speakers.
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Oh brother. You are right, that Apple logo does make it innovative and top of the heap. Silly me. Enjoy your mono speaker. BTW I've read it's even more satisfying if you listen to it with Apple iPod socks worn as calf warmers. I'll wait until it's more mature and with a wider range of product. I already have a home full of actual stereo and 7.1 speaker systems -- not that I understand the underlying technology... or impressed with Apple's web site with sound bubbles robing the cartoon listeners.
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If they are connected via Homekit it does.
Not really. It isn't meant to be a switching receiver. There are tons of speakers sold that don't have multiple inputs for connecting devices directly. This one will at least be able to receive an audio stream from Apple TVs and iOS devices via Airplay, though. That puts it in a better position than a lot of "stand alone" speakers already out on the market.
Don't you wake the baby saying "hey siri, goodnight?" For the relatively short period of time that this is an issue why not just activate your goodnight scene via your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, etc...
First world problems!
Oh brother. You are right, that Apple logo does make it innovative and top of the heap. Silly me. Enjoy your mono speaker. BTW I've read it's even more satisfying if you listen to it with Apple iPod socks worn as calf warmers. I'll wait until it's more mature and with a wider range of product. I already have a home full of actual stereo and 7.1 speaker systems -- not that I understand the underlying technology... or impressed with Apple's web site with sound bubbles robing the cartoon listeners.
Figures. When one doesn't understand technology or want to discuss facts resort to stupid attempts at humour.
Is everyone forgetting the fact that this thing has an iPhone processor in it? It will only be a year or so until this thing has an app store and the developer support will blow any other device out of the water.
Exactly! If it does end up having multiuser support and already can offload SiriKit tasks via a users phone, there's a lot of potential at launch to do more than we might think, especially as they build out support for this platform more.
Not to mention people seem to forget all of the various acquisitions Apple has been making for a few years now related to technologies that Siri could benefit from. There's a lot of potential for them to end up transforming this as a platform into something entirely different than how the competition does it.
I guess there's the potential for HomePod to but a web search result etc... straight on your device, bypassing the need for a screen on the HomePod itself...
I haven't heard the HomePod they were quotes in my post from reporters and people who were at last years WWDC and had time with the HomePod. According to those early listening tho the HomePod was much better than the Echo and the Sonos Play 3. It's now months later so the only way to listen to one will be to buy one when it becomes available OR go to an Apple store when they have them in stock and IF they are on display. I will be getting a couple for the house when they come out.
Can't tell if this is a joke about Siri always returning web results or...
But seriously, yeah, not just web results but "Hand Off" type actions in general. There are plenty of scenarios I can picture where a user may need a screen, or Touch/Face ID to authenticate etc, and this would make it that much easier anyway. Voice as a platform is only just starting, and it won't end with just timers and trivia.