Sorry if the aesthetics aren’t something you are bothered with. It appears Apple aren’t overly enamoured with it either, as there camera angles do everything to keep it hidden.
Probably as contentious as the iPhone ‘notch’.
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HomePod Mini Supports Low-Power Thread Networking Technology
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Probably as contentious as the iPhone ‘notch’.
Well I agree what I like about my BT speakers ( eg my Minirigs or Kef Muo) is that they are portable with a battery so you can take them in the garden or to a barbie - I suppose the google hone or Alexa aren’t portable but Apple missed a trick here
HomePods already work with Apple TV. Like any wireless technology video start is delayed to compensate for lag. What isn't is game sounds and UI sounds. On HomePod the menu sounds are simply dropped.
Not the way you think, but two regular homepods will use spatial audio to emulate surround, even ATMOS:
I just PRAY that this also means the HomePods will stay connected to the Apple TV even if I use them for other sound when not watching tv (i.e. Autoswitching).
You already have a watch, phone, iPad and HomePoop that could do this if they could be arsed to work on things propery. Instead the release yet another device, when it should't be needed.
A smart home should have things built in, not devices scattered everywhere.
I’m not interested in cordless. I had a couple cordless speakers (UE Booms) and you always have to turn them on before using, so no “Hey Siri” and the battery always dies at inconvenient times. I’d much rather have it powered.
No, there are no other hubs (Apple TV, existing Home Pod) that supports Thread, which is the glue between HomeKit and non-HomeKit devices.
you Said something sometimes, now it’s even not reality and you think you are super clever, which you thought then though. Where’s the noteworthy news?
I had hoped for an audio in jack so they could be used as "computer speakers" in Stereo with reliable connection (and auto-reconnect)
That is the only thing missing from original HomePod to make them "perfect"
And just noticed on spec sheet... EXTERNAL 20w power adaptor...
That is the only thing missing from original HomePod to make them "perfect"
And just noticed on spec sheet... EXTERNAL 20w power adaptor...
That is too idealistic, unless Carriers allows unlimited 5G Data ( with decent 5G speed ) usage within reasonable price, that wont be happening anytime soon. Not in the next 5 years.
The only place where 4G ( and 5G ) rivals broadband in both price and speed is Finland. [1] But their average Data usage is still 10-20x below the average of broadband.
Not to mention the cost of putting 5G in everyone of those devices is expensive. It makes more sense if there was a 5G WiFi Router.
[1]
That's the whole point, building things in. They are building thread into their devices so that you wont need to purchase a seperate hub to bridge the gap between your home network and thread.
I used the zigbee example elsewhere in this thread. Right now, if you buy devices based on the zigbee protocol (like any Hue lights, or Ikea tradfri, or Aqara, etc.) you need to by a hub as well. This is because your existing router can't talk directly to zigbee, so you need a device sitting between your router and the zigbee light bulbs to communicate with them. Amazon recently started bundling zigbee into some echo devices. So if you were to buy one of these echo devices - then you can buy Ikea lights and don't need to purchase the ikea hub.
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And just noticed on spec sheet... EXTERNAL 20w power adaptor...
I hope this is the same USB-C power adapter as they sell for the iPhones!
Yeah if they don’t use power much I could see it. My Bose can last a few days (with my listening habit) from a single charge and I think that’s great. If I have to charge speakers daily I won’t bother.
They added support for 802.15.4 so that they can bridge Thread-based HomeKit devices to WiFi, not for any other purpose. Its maximum bandwidth is 250Kbps. Barely enough bandwidth at maximum to handle a single stream of mono-audio.
Speakers in the Bluetooth portable market start at around $10. Do you think that $99 is too low a price, that it would make sense to make it more expensive so that they could add a battery powered option?
It's not unless they silently included the radio in the device. And I don't think that would be possible to hide as I think they need to get FCC approval even for radios that are not active at the time but could be made active at some point in the future.
Eero, for example, has included zigbee for a while but they make no use of it (yet). Regardless, we all know it's in there because they had to list in in FCC filings despite it being completely dormant.