Apple supplier hints at next-gen HomePod with Face ID

AppleInsider · November 13, 2017 9:05PM

Before the first-generation HomePod can even make its way into the wild, rumors are already cropping up about a future update to the premium speaker, as the president of supplier Inventec made comments about future smart speakers with facial recognition capabilities.

While the comments by Inventec President David Ho were not specifically about Apple, they did fuel speculation that his comments could be regarding a future update to the HomePod with Face ID technology. The speculation was highlighted by Nikkei.

"We see trends that engineers are designing smart speakers that will not only come with voice recognition but also incorporate features such as facial and image recognition," Ho said. "Such AI-related features are set to make people's lives more convenient and to make the product easier to use."

If a HomePod with Face ID is in fact in the works, it's unlikely to arrive anytime soon. Apple hasn't even released the first hardware yet -- it's scheduled to arrive in December.

The HomePod hardware was unveiled at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June. It will be priced at $349.

cali · November 13, 2017 9:16PM

I was one of the people who criticized HomePod for not being innovative enough.

Something I wanted to see was light projection for DJing, parties etc. I wanted to see Live photo effects (Think HomePod projecting a masquerade/masks on people’s faces) With FaceID this is possible.

or maybe that’s too futuristic at this point.

mattinoz · November 13, 2017 9:32PM

It's like patent spam. method for adding some new thing to old thing for reasons.

supadav03 · November 13, 2017 9:40PM

Hopefully by the time they add this Face ID will work for multiple users. As a shared device this would be really important.

jmgregory1 · November 13, 2017 9:41PM

Just not seeing the need for facial recognition on a device that will likely sit on a shelf and not be meant for regular and close-proximity interaction with users. That's what the iPhone and iPad are for and the HomePod will connect to these devices already, so what's the need or use-case for FaceID on a home speaker?

williamh · November 13, 2017 10:06PM

jmgregory1 said:

Just not seeing the need for facial recognition on a device that will likely sit on a shelf and not be meant for regular and close-proximity interaction with users. That's what the iPhone and iPad are for and the HomePod will connect to these devices already, so what's the need or use-case for FaceID on a home speaker?

The use case is ApplePay. It’s so funny how Family Guy made those Google Or Amazon devices (whichever) order stuff.

Edit: Or was it South Park?

edited November 2017

strangedays · November 13, 2017 10:08PM

cali said:

I was one of the people who criticized HomePod for not being innovative enough.

Something I wanted to see was light projection for DJing, parties etc. I wanted to see Live photo effects (Think HomePod projecting a masquerade/masks on people’s faces) With FaceID this is possible.

or maybe that’s too futuristic at this point.

Well, that's one word for it... Personally I think light shows and, uh, mask-projection, is too niche of a use case for the mass market.

cali · November 13, 2017 10:37PM

StrangeDays said:

cali said:

I was one of the people who criticized HomePod for not being innovative enough.

Something I wanted to see was light projection for DJing, parties etc. I wanted to see Live photo effects (Think HomePod projecting a masquerade/masks on people’s faces) With FaceID this is possible.

or maybe that’s too futuristic at this point.

Well, that's one word for it... Personally I think light shows and, uh, mask-projection, is too niche of a use case for the mass market.

It’s one of those things that if you don’t like it you don’t use it. I don’t see what’s wrong with having apps that ADD to your personal experience as an option.

i can see people getting creative with it though. Besides parties imagine the stars being projected onto your roof as HomePod narrarates the constellations to you. If the API is thrown out there developers will figure it out.

I know surround lighting for interactive gaming is amazing but no one has fully figured it out yet.

williamh said:

jmgregory1 said:

Just not seeing the need for facial recognition on a device that will likely sit on a shelf and not be meant for regular and close-proximity interaction with users. That's what the iPhone and iPad are for and the HomePod will connect to these devices already, so what's the need or use-case for FaceID on a home speaker?

The use case is ApplePay. It’s so funny how Family Guy made those Google Or Amazon devices (whichever) order stuff.

Edit: Or was it South Park?

South Park I believe.

maestro64 · November 13, 2017 10:56PM

So you have to walk up to the device so it can see you to activate is, This does not make a whole lot of sense. I am trying to understand the use case here.

supadav03 · November 13, 2017 10:57PM

I’m eagerly awaiting the HomePod but still hope Apple makes a Dot-like device too. Need more ways to add Siri around the home. Using a few Dots now, but honestly, I don’t like them. Home automation with HomeKit is just so much easier. Would love to replace them with an Apple offering.

k2kw · November 13, 2017 11:12PM

StrangeDays said:

cali said:

I was one of the people who criticized HomePod for not being innovative enough.

Something I wanted to see was light projection for DJing, parties etc. I wanted to see Live photo effects (Think HomePod projecting a masquerade/masks on people’s faces) With FaceID this is possible.

or maybe that’s too futuristic at this point.

Well, that's one word for it... Personally I think light shows and, uh, mask-projection, is too niche of a use case for the mass market.

The homepod should control smart lights and speakers via HomeKit to do this, but not directly.

wood1208 · November 13, 2017 11:15PM

If Home Pod gets it than it means multiple user profile Face ID coming to iPhone, Ipad like Touch ID.

edited November 2017

k2kw · November 13, 2017 11:45PM

supadav03 said:

Hopefully by the time they add this Face ID will work for multiple users. As a shared device this would be really important.

I would hope Siri can do voice recognition on the HomePods like Alexa and Google.

strangedays · November 14, 2017 1:24AM

cali said:

StrangeDays said:

cali said:

I was one of the people who criticized HomePod for not being innovative enough.

Something I wanted to see was light projection for DJing, parties etc. I wanted to see Live photo effects (Think HomePod projecting a masquerade/masks on people’s faces) With FaceID this is possible.

or maybe that’s too futuristic at this point.

Well, that's one word for it... Personally I think light shows and, uh, mask-projection, is too niche of a use case for the mass market.

It’s one of those things that if you don’t like it you don’t use it. I don’t see what’s wrong with having apps that ADD to your personal experience as an option.

To be clear, you’re suggesting the HomePod should be able to project a multi-colored-light mask onto the faces of people using it? That’s honestly what you’re saying here?

I’m sorry but that’s such a bizarre niche use. Remember one of Apple’s mottos: “a thousand no’s to every yes”. That’s a no. Implementing such a feature would, by nature, incur costs and tradeoffs. Nothing is free. The value add from such a feature doesn’t outweigh its costs.

rayz2016 · November 14, 2017 5:48AM

StrangeDays said:

cali said:

StrangeDays said:

cali said:

I was one of the people who criticized HomePod for not being innovative enough.

Something I wanted to see was light projection for DJing, parties etc. I wanted to see Live photo effects (Think HomePod projecting a masquerade/masks on people’s faces) With FaceID this is possible.

or maybe that’s too futuristic at this point.

Well, that's one word for it... Personally I think light shows and, uh, mask-projection, is too niche of a use case for the mass market.

It’s one of those things that if you don’t like it you don’t use it. I don’t see what’s wrong with having apps that ADD to your personal experience as an option.

To be clear, you’re suggesting the HomePod should be able to project a multi-colored-light mask onto the faces of people using it? That’s honestly what you’re saying here?

I’m sorry but that’s such a bizarre niche use. Remember one of Apple’s mottos: “a thousand no’s to every yes”. That’s a no. Implementing such a feature would, by nature, incur costs and tradeoffs. Nothing is free. The value add from such a feature doesn’t outweigh its costs.

Yes, this is the kind of thing that should be left to third parties. And that is assuming someone could get this to work.

edited November 2017

macky the macky · November 14, 2017 7:32AM

maestro64 said:

So you have to walk up to the device so it can see you to activate is, This does not make a whole lot of sense. I am trying to understand the use case here.

The purpose of this rumor is to be able to scream about Apple not being able to ship the new HomePods in time for Christmas 2018 due to shortages of the faceID parts... jeez,...

jmgregory1 · November 14, 2017 11:56AM

williamh said:

jmgregory1 said:

Just not seeing the need for facial recognition on a device that will likely sit on a shelf and not be meant for regular and close-proximity interaction with users. That's what the iPhone and iPad are for and the HomePod will connect to these devices already, so what's the need or use-case for FaceID on a home speaker?

The use case is ApplePay. It’s so funny how Family Guy made those Google Or Amazon devices (whichever) order stuff.

Edit: Or was it South Park?

So, you’re going to walk over to your bookcase, where your Home Pod sits on a shelf, just so you can authenticate a purchase of something with FaceID?

Apple certainly isn’t pitching this as a countertop competitor to Amazon or Google IoT devices. And why would it need to be? Apple is smart enough to recognize that not every product has to be or do everything that other products do - think iPad vs Surface.

Taking this his line of thinking about FaceID, why not make every Beats headphones have it so you can buy stuff and authenticate just by looking at your headphones while wearing them?

rayz2016 · November 14, 2017 3:52PM

jmgregory1 said:

williamh said:

jmgregory1 said:

Just not seeing the need for facial recognition on a device that will likely sit on a shelf and not be meant for regular and close-proximity interaction with users. That's what the iPhone and iPad are for and the HomePod will connect to these devices already, so what's the need or use-case for FaceID on a home speaker?

The use case is ApplePay. It’s so funny how Family Guy made those Google Or Amazon devices (whichever) order stuff.

Edit: Or was it South Park?

So, you’re going to walk over to your bookcase, where your Home Pod sits on a shelf, just so you can authenticate a purchase of something with FaceID?

Apple certainly isn’t pitching this as a countertop competitor to Amazon or Google IoT devices. And why would it need to be? Apple is smart enough to recognize that not every product has to be or do everything that other products do - think iPad vs Surface.

Taking this his line of thinking about FaceID, why not make every Beats headphones have it so you can buy stuff and authenticate just by looking at your headphones while wearing them?

Good point.

gatorguy · November 14, 2017 4:38PM

Rayz2016 said:

jmgregory1 said:

williamh said:

jmgregory1 said:

Just not seeing the need for facial recognition on a device that will likely sit on a shelf and not be meant for regular and close-proximity interaction with users. That's what the iPhone and iPad are for and the HomePod will connect to these devices already, so what's the need or use-case for FaceID on a home speaker?

The use case is ApplePay. It’s so funny how Family Guy made those Google Or Amazon devices (whichever) order stuff.

Edit: Or was it South Park?

So, you’re going to walk over to your bookcase, where your Home Pod sits on a shelf, just so you can authenticate a purchase of something with FaceID?

Apple certainly isn’t pitching this as a countertop competitor to Amazon or Google IoT devices. And why would it need to be? Apple is smart enough to recognize that not every product has to be or do everything that other products do - think iPad vs Surface.

Taking this his line of thinking about FaceID, why not make every Beats headphones have it so you can buy stuff and authenticate just by looking at your headphones while wearing them?

Good point.

edited November 2017

randominternetperson · November 14, 2017 9:35PM

wood1208 said:

If Home Pod gets it than it means multiple user profile Face ID coming to iPhone, Ipad like Touch ID.

Unfortunately, I don't think it would mean that at all. If Apple intended to support multiple user profiles for iOS devices, they would have done it years ago.

patchythepirate · November 14, 2017 11:17PM

I'm pretty sure I just figured out what the next-gen Apple TV is going to look like.

Apple supplier hints at next-gen HomePod with Face ID

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