Glad they are back on schedule. Sadly though, I don't see this product being successful. I think they priced themselves out the market.
I don't get apple sometimes. Airpods are GREAT. What made them even greater is they priced them extremely compettitve. Same with the iPad. Apple watch was slightly overpriced. But this...it's a crippled device at premium price.
I'm torn. I want the HomePod but don't want to give up my Alexa (and don't want both).
OTOH, what do you guys think about getting two of these and using them as a relatively cheap home theater setup? Only would consider it if the quality was very very good. Do they have audio in ports? How would that even work to use it for home theater?
Glad they are back on schedule. Sadly though, I don't see this product being successful. I think they priced themselves out the market.
I don't get apple sometimes. Airpods are GREAT. What made them even greater is they priced them extremely compettitve. Same with the iPad. Apple watch was slightly overpriced. But this...it's a crippled device at premium price.
Fix the price and allow third party music
Price is fine. $350 is not expensive for good audio. It should be a premium product with better sound. They don't have to compete with Amazon's dreck. If there's any significant functionality missing, that's a different story. Not a rush, but I am looking forward to picking one up at some point.
This toy speaker is not good audio unless you are used to listening to MP3 files on a crappy set of Beats headphones. Got a great set of Focals in my Living Room that would give you a point of reference.
So you decided to post so that you could name drop and expensive pair of speakers that are not even a comparable to the product we are discussing? I remember my first beer...Jeez..
I don't know for the life of me, why people are rushing to install devices that listen to your every word.....Having Siri on almost Apple devices is already enough for me....Plus like "Focal" guy above...when I listen to music it's not on a single speaker device...
This is simply an Apple Music vehicle and so will appeal to those subscribers. I would expect most will also buy/own either an Echo or Google Home if they want other voice services, since it's widely accepted that Siri and Bixby are flops. It will seem weird to me a lot of people to buy a speaker tied to one music service, but Apple know they have enough customer loyalty to get away with this sort of stuff.
This toy speaker is not good audio unless you are used to listening to MP3 files on a crappy set of Beats headphones. Got a great set of Focals in my Living Room that would give you a point of reference.
How do you know? Have you heard one?
It's unlikely that they will sound better than a dedicated audio rig costing ten times more, but it's almost a sure thing that they sound better than anything amazon or sonos or google has come out with in the smart speaker category.
Still not going to be as good as my home theater system that I have. It’ll be interesting to see what this does though.
Wont likely beat out my home theatre, but i'm looking for a pair to put in the bedroom. Stereo pair and Airplay 2 will work great with the Apple TV (my only input source).
An example, to turn up the heating she just says "Alexa, turn up the heating to 19 Degrees" and its done. None of this "Hey Siri", wait 3 seconds and then give an instruction bullshit.
I don’t understand the “wait 3 seconds...” part of your comment. When I adjust my heat I say, “Hey Siri, set my basement heat to 70 degrees.” and Siri replies fairly quickly with “I set the heat in the basement to 70. Stay warm!” or something along those lines. No waiting 3 seconds, I just say what I want done.
I’ve noticed several times that my devices react to a command almost instantly and all I’m waiting for is Siri’s reply, which is by far the less important part.
An example, to turn up the heating she just says "Alexa, turn up the heating to 19 Degrees" and its done. None of this "Hey Siri", wait 3 seconds and then give an instruction bullshit.
I don’t understand the “wait 3 seconds...” part of your comment. When I adjust my heat I say, “Hey Siri, set my basement heat to 70 degrees.” and Siri replies fairly quickly with “I set the heat in the basement to 70. Stay warm!” or something along those lines. No waiting 3 seconds, I just say what I want done.
I’ve noticed several times that my devices react to a command almost instantly and all I’m waiting for is Siri’s reply, which is by far the less important part.
You know what, I've always waited for it to do that annoying Beep Beep sound, assumed it was not ready before then. So I'd go Hey Siri, wait for the Beep Beep and then give the command.
An example, to turn up the heating she just says "Alexa, turn up the heating to 19 Degrees" and its done. None of this "Hey Siri", wait 3 seconds and then give an instruction bullshit.
I don’t understand the “wait 3 seconds...” part of your comment. When I adjust my heat I say, “Hey Siri, set my basement heat to 70 degrees.” and Siri replies fairly quickly with “I set the heat in the basement to 70. Stay warm!” or something along those lines. No waiting 3 seconds, I just say what I want done.
I’ve noticed several times that my devices react to a command almost instantly and all I’m waiting for is Siri’s reply, which is by far the less important part.
A little observation here - the problem is that Siri often doesn't audibly/visibly acknowledge that it's heard you for a few seconds. Yes, you can just speak the entire command and be understood, much of the time.
Glad they are back on schedule. Sadly though, I don't see this product being successful. I think they priced themselves out the market.
I don't get apple sometimes. Airpods are GREAT. What made them even greater is they priced them extremely compettitve. Same with the iPad. Apple watch was slightly overpriced. But this...it's a crippled device at premium price.
Fix the price and allow third party music
Price is fine. $350 is not expensive for good audio. It should be a premium product with better sound. They don't have to compete with Amazon's dreck. If there's any significant functionality missing, that's a different story. Not a rush, but I am looking forward to picking one up at some point.
This toy speaker is not good audio unless you are used to listening to MP3 files on a crappy set of Beats headphones. Got a great set of Focals in my Living Room that would give you a point of reference.
The reviewers who listened to it consistently said it was noticeably better than Sonos. As usual, Apple decided not compete in the no profit, low end of a market. People who appreciate excellent sound, privacy and better design will jump at this speaker.
Having missed an original December launch date, the HomePod is finally rolling off the production lines of one of two assembly partners, Inventec, a report said this week.
The Taiwanese firm is working on a relatively small initial shipment of 1 million speakers, according to Taipei Times sources. It's not clear how many units the other assembly partner, Foxconn, is currently rolling out if any.
Together however the two firms are expected to ship between 10 to 12 million units in 2018, splitting orders equally.
Apple postponed the HomePod launch in November, offering only an "early 2018" date with the explanation that the product needed "a little more time before it's ready for our customers."
A subsequent report claimed that Apple had "dithered" during development, going through many iterations and only making the HomePod a full-fledged project in 2014. That year engineers were allegedly "blindsided" by the Amazon Echo, though they considered it to have inferior sound.
The $349 HomePod will be Apple's first voice-controlled smartspeaker, nominally a challenge to the Echo and Google Home. Apple is placing more emphasis on high-quality sound though, and in fact third-party Siri functions will initially be limited to messaging, to-dos, and notes, moreover requiring a paired iPhone or iPad, and compatible iOS apps.
Missing the xmas season was horrific. They will struggle with this one for awhile as more and more competition surfaces. I’ll likely buy one but when the price goes to $299.
On what basis did you determined that the HomePod consists of toy speakers? What we have read in AI and other Apple news outlets indicates otherwise. On top of that, the ability of the HomePod to project sound off walls based on the dimensions and acoustic properties of each room is an attribute limited to very high end systems.
The HomePod may not be for you, especially since you already have a good sound system. But to dismiss it out of hand seems specious.
An example, to turn up the heating she just says "Alexa, turn up the heating to 19 Degrees" and its done. None of this "Hey Siri", wait 3 seconds and then give an instruction bullshit.
I don’t understand the “wait 3 seconds...” part of your comment. When I adjust my heat I say, “Hey Siri, set my basement heat to 70 degrees.” and Siri replies fairly quickly with “I set the heat in the basement to 70. Stay warm!” or something along those lines. No waiting 3 seconds, I just say what I want done.
I’ve noticed several times that my devices react to a command almost instantly and all I’m waiting for is Siri’s reply, which is by far the less important part.
You know what, I've always waited for it to do that annoying Beep Beep sound, assumed it was not ready before then. So I'd go Hey Siri, wait for the Beep Beep and then give the command.
Yup, that how I do it. Basically the same as with Alexa. It’s been that way since “Hey, Siri” was introduced, but back then your device needed to be connected to power for it to work so it was less convenient.
An example, to turn up the heating she just says "Alexa, turn up the heating to 19 Degrees" and its done. None of this "Hey Siri", wait 3 seconds and then give an instruction bullshit.
I don’t understand the “wait 3 seconds...” part of your comment. When I adjust my heat I say, “Hey Siri, set my basement heat to 70 degrees.” and Siri replies fairly quickly with “I set the heat in the basement to 70. Stay warm!” or something along those lines. No waiting 3 seconds, I just say what I want done.
I’ve noticed several times that my devices react to a command almost instantly and all I’m waiting for is Siri’s reply, which is by far the less important part.
A little observation here - the problem is that Siri often doesn't audibly/visibly acknowledge that it's heard you for a few seconds. Yes, you can just speak the entire command and be understood, much of the time.
And there is a lot of confusion around that as well. I think, in part, because if you invoke Siri by pressing a button then you DO need to wait for the tones. But when using “Hey, Siri” you DO NOT.
Interestingly/confusingly, I have a friend how has an Echo, an Apple Watch and an iPhone. She has no difficulty using Alexa on the Echo and no issue using Siri on her Watch. But when she’s using her iPhone it’s a big mess. First, she’ll press a button and start talking without waiting for the tones. When that doesn’t work she’ll press the button but wait too long so Siri times out. Then she’ll “Hey, Siri” and hear the tones but not say anything. It’s bizarre. She texts from her Watch all the time using Siri but when she attempts to from her iPhone she can’t even though the “Hey, Siri” process is the same. It’s like she has a mental blocker when it comes to using the iPhone.
Glad they are back on schedule. Sadly though, I don't see this product being successful. I think they priced themselves out the market.
I don't get apple sometimes. Airpods are GREAT. What made them even greater is they priced them extremely compettitve. Same with the iPad. Apple watch was slightly overpriced. But this...it's a crippled device at premium price.
Fix the price and allow third party music
Yup, I've seen people attribute the delay either to the limitations of Siri compared to Alexa and Google or to the price point. Either way, Apple's usual MO of entering a maturing but fragmented market with something nicely packaged and usable looks out of step here and I think we're looking at a re-run of 2006's Apple Hi-Fi which was a nice enough product but wildly overpriced. Apple seems to be stumbling these days, they missed the boat on streaming music and video and they bet the farm on wearable technology when all the heat seems to be on ambient computing so I think they might be in for a bumpy few years while all these big bet investments play out.
Glad they are back on schedule. Sadly though, I don't see this product being successful. I think they priced themselves out the market.
I don't get apple sometimes. Airpods are GREAT. What made them even greater is they priced them extremely compettitve. Same with the iPad. Apple watch was slightly overpriced. But this...it's a crippled device at premium price.
Fix the price and allow third party music
This assumes Homepod strictly does what they showed back in June. I have a funny feeling ALL details related to Homepod functionality has not been shown or discussed. Only the parts they wanted the competition to know.
Comments
But I always have to change to ‘Fox News’
Siri should remember this.
It's unlikely that they will sound better than a dedicated audio rig costing ten times more, but it's almost a sure thing that they sound better than anything amazon or sonos or google has come out with in the smart speaker category.
Wont likely beat out my home theatre, but i'm looking for a pair to put in the bedroom. Stereo pair and Airplay 2 will work great with the Apple TV (my only input source).
I’ve noticed several times that my devices react to a command almost instantly and all I’m waiting for is Siri’s reply, which is by far the less important part.
The HomePod may not be for you, especially since you already have a good sound system. But to dismiss it out of hand seems specious.
And there is a lot of confusion around that as well. I think, in part, because if you invoke Siri by pressing a button then you DO need to wait for the tones. But when using “Hey, Siri” you DO NOT.
Interestingly/confusingly, I have a friend how has an Echo, an Apple Watch and an iPhone. She has no difficulty using Alexa on the Echo and no issue using Siri on her Watch. But when she’s using her iPhone it’s a big mess. First, she’ll press a button and start talking without waiting for the tones. When that doesn’t work she’ll press the button but wait too long so Siri times out. Then she’ll “Hey, Siri” and hear the tones but not say anything. It’s bizarre. She texts from her Watch all the time using Siri but when she attempts to from her iPhone she can’t even though the “Hey, Siri” process is the same. It’s like she has a mental blocker when it comes to using the iPhone.
Sorry, this was way too easy of a lazy softball to smack. I tried...