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Kuo: New HomePod With Smart Home Display Arriving in Late 2025

SoldOnApple said:
Should have had a proper display from the start imo.
Click to expand...
I disagree.

I don't see what they add really. The Amazon Echos have been a bit of a let down in that Amazon have latterly forced non-switchoffable ads which ruins the whole experience.

Whereas Apple will certainly NOT be using the screen to advertise... the strength of a smart speaker is to be an inconspicuous object in the room listening out for, and responding to, commands.
Having to walk up to it to interact immediately takes something away from its convenience.

Sure, Siri needs to be better at listening and understanding but thats where they should focus and not on a dust-gathering screen which has very limited use.
 
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Kuo waited until 27 days out from year end to update his 2024 claim? LOL.

Least he gave himself some breathing room with the updated date... ;)
 
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shenfrey said:
I hear you, but who stands over their HomePods? Over here we just shout at it to play whatever and it does its thing. I can’t imagine there’s huge demand for a display.
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I remind you that most tech press also didnt see much demand for the iPad when released and derived the name...

I was playing with some Smart Lights yesterday. Again.
Geez, someone seriously needs to fix the setup. They are fine once they work (well until the power fails and they turn on forgetting their pre power off state) but setup is like sorting a parallel printer out!

These were LIFX String lights.
I had them working but put them away.
I should have been able to plug them in again and just work.
But no... have to go through Home app and wait and wait and wait and they never showed up in the Lifx app to add.

So there is a need for a much simpler way to automate stuff than what we currently have.
Is the new HomePod it? Time will tell...
 
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Sheepish-Lord said:
I don't know anyone that "loves" their smart devices. They'll say they do but often when they talk about them it sounds exhausting to deal with or setup and any video of various products always seems to take longer than manually doing the function. Additionally, the lack of standardization on what supports what or the various protocols is annoying.
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Home lets you see a smart device and then limits what you can do with them...
My lights can play awesome animation effects in the native app but just choose a solid colour and brightness in Home app. :(

Lose power and they suddenly arent so smart after all.

This is still very early days and lots of wrinkles still need smoothing out.
 
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Nickjames said:
And here I was just about to order HomePods after giving up on new information about new HomePods.
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So what do you want/expect from a new version that the current ones cant do?

All the "info" so far is just speculation...
 
wbeasley said:
So what do you want/expect from a new version that the current ones cant do?

All the "info" so far is just speculation...
Click to expand...
Well first of all not to buy a 2 year(?) old device and secondly be able to use Apple intelligence. The second one being what I primarily am looking for. If it’s even half as good as the ChatGPT voice chat I’ll be more satisfied than Siri that always asks me to ask on my iPhone instead.
 
I’m still unsure as to the purpose of this potential device.

A speaker has a defined place in a room based on producing audio - perhaps a pair spaced to give audio separation.

A screen for using with FaceTime would be where my TV is - so use that, I’m not using FaceTime hunched over my side table.

A screen for controlling home automation would be fixed to a wall or somewhere central. Alternatively it would be my phone in my pocket or simply Siri.

I think overall what I still want is an Apple Soundbar with built in Apple TV and a FaceTime camera. It does not need a screen at all.
 
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A display on top like that is just stupid. The current one on the mini is bad enough, especially if it's in a place that’s tricky to reach.

How the hell can you read that at a glance, especially if it's on a shelf? What does Apple want me to do? Grab a stool to see the screen.

Terrible design.
 
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wbeasley said:
I remind you that most tech press also didnt see much demand for the iPad when released and derived the name...

I was playing with some Smart Lights yesterday. Again.
Geez, someone seriously needs to fix the setup. They are fine once they work (well until the power fails and they turn on forgetting their pre power off state) but setup is like sorting a parallel printer out!

These were LIFX String lights.
I had them working but put them away.
I should have been able to plug them in again and just work.
But no... have to go through Home app and wait and wait and wait and they never showed up in the Lifx app to add.

So there is a need for a much simpler way to automate stuff than what we currently have.
Is the new HomePod it? Time will tell...
Click to expand...
I feel for you. My only experience with LIFX goes back to their earliest smart bulbs. Will never again consider any of their products after that experience.

The bulbs were expensive, would take forever to show up on the app during setup, if they showed up at all, as you experienced.

Worst of all, I found their marketing to be shady at best. At the time, they widely advertised “HomeKit support coming soon” with no details or disclaimers, and I’m sure I was not the only one who thought that meant some sort of firmware upgrade to the newly released bulbs we had just bought. In the end, subsequent bulbs had HomeKit and if you bought their first gen ones, you were out of luck.
 
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This should free up some A18 chips for an Apple TV update, by spring at the latest.
 
alchemistmuffin said:
A18?!?!?!?!

I think new HomePod with display should at least have M2 or M3 chip, in order to do Apple Intelligence and more complex computational tasks, in order to set it apart from other smart speakers.
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The M1 and M2 and even the M3 significantly less powerful NPUs than the A18.
On top of that, they all have the exact same amount of RAM, 8 GB.
The extra encoders, decoders, cores, I/O that come with an M chip would be completely wasted on a HomePod.
 
Sheepish-Lord said:
I don't know anyone that "loves" their smart devices. They'll say they do but often when they talk about them it sounds exhausting to deal with or setup and any video of various products always seems to take longer than manually doing the function. Additionally, the lack of standardization on what supports what or the various protocols is annoying.
Click to expand...
I love all my smart home devices especially my HomePods. The ones I got have all been straightforward to set up and use—so far Ikea, Eve, and Apple devices. The HomePods of course were by far the easiest, taking less than a minute to set up. I use them many times a day for Siri requests, including controlling smart home devices like lights, to playing music or TV audio. It’s incredibly convenient to be able to control lights, TV, and other devices with my voice when I’m home but also when I’m out of town to simulate someone being home. I also monitor my energy usage. I’m planning on getting cameras, motion sensors, and a smart lock as well. Maybe a robot vacuum.
 
This sounds like an answer in search for a problem, it just doesn’t make much sense. The HomePods are made to focus on sound first and foremost, behind a hub had always felt like a secondary feature. The temperature feature on the minis are a helpful feature for sure.
 
Mr_Ed said:
I feel for you. My only experience with LIFX goes back to their earliest smart bulbs. Will never again consider any of their products after that experience.

The bulbs were expensive, would take forever to show up on the app during setup, if they showed up at all, as you experienced.

Worst of all, I found their marketing to be shady at best. At the time, they widely advertised “HomeKit support coming soon” with no details or disclaimers, and I’m sure I was not the only one who thought that meant some sort of firmware upgrade to the newly released bulbs we had just bought. In the end, subsequent bulbs had HomeKit and if you bought their first gen ones, you were out of luck.
Click to expand...
when they work they are awesome.
some seem to setup easily. others not so. :(
 
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The Electric Fork of HomePods. Mine is on the top of a dining room hutch. I can reach it to change the volume but that's about it. What is the point of this?
 
Radeon85 said:
A display on top like that is just stupid. The current one on the mini is bad enough, especially if it's in a place that’s tricky to reach.

How the hell can you read that at a glance, especially if it's on a shelf? What does Apple want me to do? Grab a stool to see the screen.

Terrible design.
Click to expand...
I don’t think this is meant to replace the HomePods. They will still have their place in the home. I think it’s meant more for spaces like a bedside nightstand, home office and/or kitchen.
 
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