HomePod Should Launch 'Soon' as Inventec Begins Shipments to Apple

[MistrSynistr]

If the audio beam forming works as advertised, then Apple's competitors for speakers in that price range are going to be the ones that are behind.

The problem with this is, competitors don't take years to develop their catch up game. So Apple could release this in a month and all the other places would revamp theirs the month after, not 2020.

 

[ersan191]

I am scratching my head as to how this will work.
Perhaps I am being dumb but if I am sat in my living room with my iPhone and Homepod near by and I ask siri to play an album from apple music then I assume that the Homepod will be the primary respondent to respond to the "Hey Siri" command and play whatever I ask for.
But if my iPhone pings a notification that someone is walking up my driveway and I issue the command "Hey Siri, show me the driveway camera" then that command will need to be acknowledged and activated by my phone as the HomePod does not have a screen so in that instance, my phone will need to be the lead respondent.

My understanding is that commands it can't handle will be forwarded to your iPhone anyway.

 

[Unami]

Is this a case of "too much too late"? $350 for an inferior assistant.

it‘s a friggin‘ speaker, the siri functionality is just the icing on the cake. $ 350 might be o.k. it might be to expensive or it miht actually be cheap, depending on how it sounds. people pay much more for proper speakers which are not connected... it‘s not like they are trying to sell a €1200 phone here...

 

[ArneK]

I'll get one. I already own a "serious" stereo Hi-Fi. I'm curious to try the HomePod for casual listening and Siri. It isn't cheap. I'm confident that the sound quality will be good, though. Hope I'm not wrong.

You do realize you won’t be able to connect it to anything else other than Apple Music? Why would you not want to use your Hi-Fi system?

 

[TheShadowKnows!]

Thank you very much it’s always nice to win

On a more serious note it is true! They are rarely first to do anything but they do often come along and make the best, examples include:

iPhone
iPad
Apple Watch
AirPods

Just a tongue-in-cheek comment. I agree, only partially though, as I am not an absolutist.

Yes, there are several Apple innovations on prior art -- no question. Even some new art (FaceID). But Apple has dropped some fubar attempts as well which begs off the "second but best" meme: e.g. Maps and Siri (need say more?).

So let me summarize my view: The present strength of Apple lies entirely on its purposely-built silicon, as no-one can match the capabilities derived by that silicon:

"People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware" -- Alan Kay​

And, only time will tell, if the present leadership is up to the task to marry software to that hardware, and not drop the ball, in the absence of SJ's dogmatic guidance.

 

[zipster]

That sentence says it all. Amazon has to rely on Echo etc. because their phone was a complete flop.

And what's your excuse for Google Assistant, which is gaining traction every day?

The speaker itself may be nice, but the Siri integration was *supposed* to make this competitive with other home assistants, and Siri is abysmal.
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Siri.

Siri is trash compared to Alexa and Google Assistant.

 

[albebaubles]

The design looks nice, the speaker technology is probably the best out on the market but what's stopping me is the price. What I mean, is that I can get a more capable voice assistant, in a decent speaker setup for 80 dollars from Amazon, or spend 350 dollars be locked into Apple Music and deal with Siri's short comings.

I'll require proof that this thing is worth $350

 

[Icaras]

HomePod
AirPower
iMessages in iCloud

Any day now...

Also: AirPods 2 case

 

[Applebot1]

It will be ‘magical’

 

[robbyx]

Although I don't think HomePod will attract serious audio listener, it will be a competition to Sonos and Bose.
I have been contemplating to buy Sonos, but the price point is still high for me. I don't think it's worth that much. I do have home theater setup with floor standing speaker. For me the only disadvantage of small speakers that at high volume , they distort a lot and sound harsh. I would rather have Echo dot connected to my receiver and let it play songs on my big speakers which would sound Fuller and richer.

Why don’t you just get a Sonos Connect:Amp that connects to your existing home audio system? None of these “smart” speakers can compare to a proper home audio system. Furthermore, when it comes to speakers, only the Play:5 is more expensive than HomePod. The Sonos One, Play:1 and Play:3 are all significantly less.

I honestly don’t understand what Apple is doing with HomePod. It costs more than most Sonos devices, yet is far more limited in functionality. When it comes to computers or phones or watches, I think there’s a clear case to be made for Apple offering superior products. The same cannot be said for HomePod. While it might sound good, so do plenty of other options, all of which offer more in terms of supported services, better assistant technology, and cost less.

 

[gnipgnop]

The problem with this is, competitors don't take years to develop their catch up game. So Apple could release this in a month and all the other places would revamp theirs the month after, not 2020.

No, major competitors are not going to revamp their systems in a month. Audio beam forming isn't something you just tack on to an existing product design. I'm sure there will be some quick Chinese knock-offs, but Sonos and Google etc. have already committed to a specific type of product for 2018.

 

[44267547]

More nonsense in a speaker that isn't needed.

So, is The Google Max needed? Or Sonos needed? Why does somebody have to need the HomePod? Why can't they purchase it simply for the advantages of enjoying it for their own uses and how it might mesh with their other Apple products? However, I will say competition is needed.

 

[robbyx]

But they sound like crap!
Apples point here is audio quality and they nailed it.

Really? You’ve heard it?
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I don't want to use Siri on my Mac or on my iPhone - why on earth would I want a ($350!?) device where I'm forced to interact with her if I want to use it at all?

Agreed. The first thing I do on a new Apple device is disable Siri. It’s just not reliable, so why bother? I have no interest in HomePod because I already have a Sonos system and HomePod offers no advantages over what I already own. If anything, HomePod is a major downgrade. Of course I’m curious to hear one and have no doubt that it will sound great, but I don’t want to be forced to use Siri, nor do I want my audio source limited to just Apple Music.

 

[gnipgnop]

Of course I’m curious to hear one and have no doubt that it will sound great, but I don’t want to be forced to use Siri, nor do I want my audio source limited to just Apple Music.

Neither one of those two things are actual limitations. You can use control methods other than Siri (like an iPhone, iPad, or iPod), and audio is not limited to Apple Music (Airplay 2).

 

[Dave245]

Just a tongue-in-cheek comment. I agree, only partially though, as I am not an absolutist.

Yes, there are several Apple innovations on prior art -- no question. Even some new art (FaceID). But Apple has dropped some fubar attempts as well which begs off the "second but best" meme: e.g. Maps and Siri (need say more?).

So let me summarize my view: The present strength of Apple lies entirely on its purposely-built silicon, as no-one can match the capabilities derived by that silicon:

"People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware" -- Alan Kay​

And, only time will tell, if the present leadership is up to the task to marry software to that hardware, and not drop the ball, in the absence of SJ's dogmatic guidance.

I completely agree that Apple have made and will make mistakes, missteps whatever you want to call them but for the most part they do make great products and are rarely first to do something. My point in this thread is that some people seem to be writing off Apple and the HomePod before it’s even been released, yes Amazon has the Echo and yes Google have their home devices but that doesn’t mean Apple can’t and won’t compete and possibly even interrupt that market, they have done it so many times before, the last one being with the Apple Watch.

I’m not saying that HomePod’s 100% guaranteed to be a huge success, maybe it will take time, maybe it won’t be as popular as Apple hope BUT we won’t know until it’s released, reviewed and some time has passed allowing people to try it out. I’m one of those people that want to get one but what I may do is wait and see what reviews say about the sound.

 

[MistrSynistr]

Surround sound?? It's one speaker that radiates sounds in 360 degree. Unless Apple has Dolby/DTS processor inside, you won't get anything. Plus I don't know why people buy sound bar to experience surround sound. How is it even possible? I understand the ginmic of using sound reflection. But really?? A sound bar replaces 5 speakers??

You're getting a bit to techie now. A surround sound as in, I have a soundbar let's say, and I put the apple HomePod at the back of my living room to created the effect of surround sound. You can do this with the Libratone Zipp.

 

[Winni]

Inferior? Its competitors sound better? We all have our priorities and having heard Amazon's version, I don’t think they are in the same ballpark

They don't have to. The Echo Dot can be connected to literally any other speaker on the market -- including models that will blow the HomePod out of the water. Or you buy the Sonos speaker with Alexa built in (or some other third party product with Alexa integration).

That's what Amazon has done right since day one: Alexa is an OPEN platform. Siri and the HomePod... not so much. The HomePod is nothing but a front-end to Apple Music; it's of little to no use if that's not the service that you want to use. Alexa works with third party services like Spotify. And it also supports a lot of third party skills if you're only interested in Alexa as an assistant. Siri...? I don't even know anybody in Germany who uses Siri. (Or Cortana for that matter.) And I know only one person who uses the Google assistant. Amazon owns that market, at least over here. And at an entry point of 350 Euros for a Homepod -- compared to 55 Euros for an Echo Dot -- there's no way that's going to change.

 

[MistrSynistr]

That’s the one thing I’d really love to know too. It’ll be pretty pointless if not. I wonder whether that was the delay, actually, as it’s odd it wasn’t mentioned at all when they announced it.

Without this feature, it has no use. With it, I could talk myself into replacing my Echo for Siri/Homekit functions. I want nothing to do with Amazon/Google in my home after all we know about their practices.

 

[robbyx]

Neither one of those two things are actual limitations. You can use control methods other than Siri (like an iPhone, iPad, or iPod), and audio is not limited to Apple Music (Airplay 2).

Ok, well that’s good! I still fail to see the advantage over Sonos.

 

[ArneK]

But this isn’t Just a voice assistant. This to marketed as a powerful booming sound speaker.

You said this will flop which it won’t. It’s expensive like all apple products. That doesn’t bother people who like the products Apple produce

I get your point but I still disagree. So Apple is trying to market a speaker - basically they are competing with a lot, a lot of really high quality brands out there that have been around for decades.
With the current price tag the HomePod only addresses two groups of people:
- Apple fans who would buy anything as long as its apple (probably impossible to upset these)
- Music lovers, who for some reason don't have an awesome audio system, have no CDs/Vinyls/..., no Spotify/Google Music/Deezer subscription,...

In reality, most audiophiles will want a nice stereo system but still want to be able to connect their vinyl player for example (not possible with the HomePod), continue listening to their own music (CD or downloads; not possible without another Apple device on the HomePod),... I love listening to Music but I would never buy such a limiting system but rather invest a bit more and be able to customise my sound system later still or be able to change to a different music streaming service, etc...

I get Apples gamble though, they really really hard try to get you to give up any other music service and change to AM. Well in my opinion its a risky gamble that might as well backfire...

And to all the people saying Apple now dominates fields that they didn't enter as the first: Imagine Apple would have only sold the Apple Watch if at the same time you would change all your contracts over to Verizon - I think the watch wouldn't have been nearly as successful then because lots of people wouldn't give up a good service/deal they had...

 

[glindon]

I agree about it not being about who's first, but there's truth about Apple being late in the game in the smart speaker market. Amazon and Google have flooded the market with their speakers and have already captured much of the market. It's not a device that people are likely to upgrade a lot once they've got one.

Apple's primary chance of getting those customers to switch to the HomePod is by touting its best feature - hardware - specifically, audio quality. Even then, there's competition from the Google Home Max, albeit for slightly more money and you can even hook up your cheap Amazon Echo Dot to a decent existing sound system via the 3.5mm jack if you really needed.

Software side, the HomePod is poor. The primary advantage I can see on that side is user privacy. Other than that, Siri is near trash against Alexa and Google Assistant. Also if you want to take advantage of that audio quality, the HomePod only supports Apple Music as far as we know for streaming music.

Truth is, customers who want a voice assistant in each room will want something cheap, and the Echo Dot or Home Mini does the job. You won't be interested in spending $349 on a smart speaker.

Captured *much* of the market? How many households are in the US? 100 million? If 30 million were sold (and a majority of them being cheap dots) I'd be surprised if they have 10% market penetration. This leaves 90% of the US market open and then you still have the rest of the world to sell them to.

 

[mattyj2001]

The design looks nice, the speaker technology is probably the best out on the market but what's stopping me is the price. What I mean, is that I can get a more capable voice assistant, in a decent speaker setup for 80 dollars from Amazon, or spend 350 dollars be locked into Apple Music and deal with Siri's short comings.

... and have a marketing spy in your house. I'll take Apple's security/privacy protocols any day.

 

[MarkB786]

In all seriousness, does anyone actually think the Echo or Google Home are amazing products and APPLE has no chance of disrupting this market?

The Echo Dot is literally a piece of trash. Have you seen it in person?

I like our Google Home device. We'll see what Apple is able to pull off. But that version the article's picture is UGLY (IMHO).

 

[AngstyKylo]

But it has an Apple logo on it! lol

Personally I would pass. But if they had like an echo dot version. I’d pick that up.

I think it’s an audio device first, and assistant 2nd. The tech in it sounds really clever and will be interesting to see what reviewers say and whether it can actually replace a dedicated sound system in the living room. If they give a 1 year subscription to Apple Music with it they will sell loads.

 

[zipster]

Cool story Bro.

LOL you guys are real hurt that people don't like/use Siri.