Leaker: HomePod 'Mini' Close to Launch, But No Second-Generation HomePod This Year

[soanis]

a list that someone compiles means nothing to me. There are many,many “lists” for everything. And most of those are bookshelf. HomePod can be set anywhere. Nondirectional.
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Move to somewhere that sells them 😁

If you had the nerve to look into each product on that list, you'd find how good these were and what positive reviews they got. You mentioned sound quality, sorry but homepod simply does not cut it. It usually woes only the people who were used to crappy bluetooth mini jbl speakers before having a listen to it.

Nondirectional? lol wut, ok. 🙃

 

[fhall1]

My HomePod pair is used as my ('13 Trashcan) MacPro speakers. They are connected via AirPlay. Once in a blue moon they drop out but are always back up and sort themselves out within a minute or two. Sound great!

Does Airplay allow them to work for ALL system sounds, or just for playing media files with certain apps? When playing videos, does the sound get out of sync with the video (lip sync issues with TV shows for example)?

 

[haganah]

Never said the price point or the number I have make it more powerful. I have many because I want to be able to perform voice commands in every room including the garage.

In terms of hubs, very few of my smart devices require hubs. None of my smart light switches, outlets or lights do. Same for my garage door opener, fireplace or TV setup.

My comments with regard to Siri vs Alexa or HomeKit vs Alexa is purely from experience. I use both Siri and Alexa and Siri still leaves a lot to be desired. This is widely acknowledged by even the most diehard Apple zealots. In terms of HomeKit, just a guess here but maybe a 10x ratio of products supported by Alexa vs HomeKit. From my experience, when I wanted to automate something, the product choices were limited for HomeKit and they usually were more expensive.

Finally, money was never the issue for me. I definitely don’t want to throw it away, but investment in my smart home wasn’t an issue. In terms of the “speaker” called HomePod, I call it a speaker because that’s pretty much it’s only useful function and it doesn’t even sound like $300.

Hope you don't mind me asking more:
1. You can't just say Siri leaves a lot to be desired and don't say what that is.
2. HomeKit and Siri are different. You do have a point that HomeKit is not as popular as Amazon or Google's systems. I would come back and tell you a few things though: all my life and Philips bulbs are, my thermostat is, my lock is, my window sensors and camera are. My microwave and faucet aren't but that's fine with me since that's nonsense. Regardless, there is an initiative that the big manufacturers and apple, google, amazon are working on to standardize the way to control these devices. That's actually why I have held off on buying any more bulbs until that's done (I think I saw 2021). Ultimately, despite wasting money on this "hobby" it's easier to just use a switch and not voice to turn lights on so that's a hobby for me.

Anyway just my 2 cents.

 

[voodoofish]

I said "Hey Siri play BBC" and it responded "Now playing BBC world service UK provided by TuneIn". Maybe I missed a part of the earlier discussion but why are you guys using AirPlay to do it?

There are more BBC stations than just the world service - none of the big ones (i.e. those broadcast nationally in the UK over FM radio) are available on TuneIn

 

[LarryJoe33]

Hope you don't mind me asking more:
1. You can't just say Siri leaves a lot to be desired and don't say what that is.
2. HomeKit and Siri are different. You do have a point that HomeKit is not as popular as Amazon or Google's systems. I would come back and tell you a few things though: all my life and Philips bulbs are, my thermostat is, my lock is, my window sensors and camera are. My microwave and faucet aren't but that's fine with me since that's nonsense. Regardless, there is an initiative that the big manufacturers and apple, google, amazon are working on to standardize the way to control these devices. That's actually why I have held off on buying any more bulbs until that's done (I think I saw 2021). Ultimately, despite wasting money on this "hobby" it's easier to just use a switch and not voice to turn lights on so that's a hobby for me.

Anyway just my 2 cents.

To each his own. I’m not going to try to talk anyone into having a smart home that can be 80% controlled with an app or voice if you wish. I had my first echo for three years and didn’t know what to do with it except use it as a speaker. Then I started installing smart switches on my new home and I kind of got obsessed with smart home technology. I still didn’t use Alexa voice commands much, I used the apps to set schedules for lighting the most in the beginning. Then I discovered groups and how convenient it was to, for example, turn on all my backyard lights when I let my dog out. From there I started messing with voice commands to “turn on backyard lights”. It was just easier as a got off the couch to say it was my dog would stare at me to go out.

I come home from work and as I walk up stairs to change my clothes, I say Alexa turn on bedroom light. It’s just convenient and become a way of life.

I’m not a fan of smart lightbulbs. They are a pain in the ass. If you turn off the switch they are tied to, they are useless and off the network. I prefer making the switch itself smart. When there is no switch on a wall like a lamp, I use a smart plug on the lamp and leave the rotary dial switch on the lamp on all the time. Christmas lights on timer, piece of cake.

For my TV, soundbar and other components, it’s a lot easier to say “Alexa turn on TV than to hold the remote pointed just right so everything turns on and the soundbar isn’t out of sync with the TV. It just all works for me.

Now on Alexa and Siri, in terms of a lot to be desired. It’s all from my personal experience. I use both. I use Siri in my car to read and write texts and to play music I want to hear. Siri just gets it wrong way too much and far more than Alexa. In addition Siri can’t answer anything remotely complex, she just gives you links to read. I could google it myself. That’s pretty much my context on Siri bs Alexa. Alexa gets it right more often and thus, Siri leaves a lot to be desired. HomePod mini for $99, no thank you.

 

[haganah]

To each his own. I’m not going to try to talk anyone into having a smart home that can be 80% controlled with an app or voice if you wish. I had my first echo for three years and didn’t know what to do with it except use it as a speaker. Then I started installing smart switches on my new home and I kind of got obsessed with smart home technology. I still didn’t use Alexa voice commands much, I used the apps to set schedules for lighting the most in the beginning. Then I discovered groups and how convenient it was to, for example, turn on all my backyard lights when I let my dog out. From there I started messing with voice commands to “turn on backyard lights”. It was just easier as a got off the couch to say it was my dog would stare at me to go out.

I come home from work and as I walk up stairs to change my clothes, I say Alexa turn on bedroom light. It’s just convenient and become a way of life.

I’m not a fan of smart lightbulbs. They are a pain in the ass. If you turn off the switch they are tied to, they are useless and off the network. I prefer making the switch itself smart. When there is no switch on a wall like a lamp, I use a smart plug on the lamp and leave the rotary dial switch on the lamp on all the time. Christmas lights on timer, piece of cake.

For my TV, soundbar and other components, it’s a lot easier to say “Alexa turn on TV than to hold the remote pointed just right so everything turns on and the soundbar isn’t out of sync with the TV. It just all works for me.

Now on Alexa and Siri, in terms of a lot to be desired. It’s all from my personal experience. I use both. I use Siri in my car to read and write texts and to play music I want to hear. Siri just gets it wrong way too much and far more than Alexa. In addition Siri can’t answer anything remotely complex, she just gives you links to read. I could google it myself. That’s pretty much my context on Siri bs Alexa. Alexa gets it right more often and thus, Siri leaves a lot to be desired. HomePod mini for $99, no thank you.

The tv part is actually hard for me to do and I tried it. I turn it on with my voice and want to lay or just lean back and not talk. So it doesn't feel "right" to use voice once I've turned it on. Then if I am going to use a remote anyway I may as well turn it on with a remote too.

I think the car is a different environment and use cases from a house. I imagine you're not sending messages on your Alexa. I've found the voice recognition to be similar across both. On getting me answers though, I've found that siri and Alexa are both lacking actually...it's google here that takes the cake. I don't do that as frequently as asking for songs though so for me, it works the same. And even with turning on lights, etc. they all worked the same...I just don't use it as often. So IMO, if you spend a lot of time asking questions about random facts, then google is the best in terms of abilities but for everything else they perform similarly and once this project comes to fruition then all the devices will be compatible hopefully so you should be choosing on price or privacy or integration with all your other apple apps, etc.

 

[haganah]

There are more BBC stations than just the world service - none of the big ones (i.e. those broadcast nationally in the UK over FM radio) are available on TuneIn

I just went into Apple Music and typed in BBC and saw a bunch of options like "BBC Radio 5 Live". When I asked Siri to play it, it worked. I'm not sure if these are the stations you're referring to because I don't use BBC too often though. I have a feeling you'll tell me there are tons more.

 

[LarryJoe33]

The tv part is actually hard for me to do and I tried it. I turn it on with my voice and want to lay or just lean back and not talk. So it doesn't feel "right" to use voice once I've turned it on. Then if I am going to use a remote anyway I may as well turn it on with a remote too.

I think the car is a different environment and use cases from a house. I imagine you're not sending messages on your Alexa. I've found the voice recognition to be similar across both. On getting me answers though, I've found that siri and Alexa are both lacking actually...it's google here that takes the cake. I don't do that as frequently as asking for songs though so for me, it works the same. And even with turning on lights, etc. they all worked the same...I just don't use it as often. So IMO, if you spend a lot of time asking questions about random facts, then google is the best in terms of abilities but for everything else they perform similarly and once this project comes to fruition then all the devices will be compatible hopefully so you should be choosing on price or privacy or integration with all your other apple apps, etc.

Fair enough. On your TV comments, I don't use voice for anything other than turning it all on or off. So I too use the remote to change channels or navigate apple TV. I do find it convenient to "turn on the TV" while I am making my coffee in the kitchen in the morning or walking into the room The system does take a few seconds to boot up all components and detect the signals. In addition, my univeral remote struggles to power everything on and off in synchronicity. My smart IR blaster does not. Changing TV inputs is also a voice command such as "Watch Apple TV to Watch Cable TV" both controlled by the blaster as my universal remote is a pain in the ass to change inputs. It can't go directly to an input without cycling through them which means repeated presses on the input button (which has bad lag).