AI is filled with so many trolls these days. Asking idiotic questions... “Why so expensive? Can’t Apple do better? It won’t sound as good as my $5,000 Klipsch set up! To it’s just a simple BT speaker, totally fail at $350. Should have come out years ago!”
Go go home you losers or at least, keep your specious arguments to yourself. They do nothing to further useful discussion and only force us all to make our point just so we can get back on track. You really suck the fun out of my time here.
Back on track, the DSP technology and the tuned speaker array are what make this speaker unique. I haven’t seen true beam forming except in VERY expensive speakers. So IMO HomePod is a fantastic deal. Very excited to get mine even though I ALSO have a $5,000 Klipsch 7.1 setup. (The secret is they do different things)
At first, I didn't think much of the ads either. But on subsequent viewing, I realized the limitations of a 15-second commercial, and also what the commercials were trying to achieve.
In 15 seconds, it is next to impossible to talk about features or uses, so Apple hasn't wasted those 15 seconds trying to do that. The focus of each of the ads is on expressing the complexity of music by using "HomePod" as a waveform.
This gives a visual representation of something that people don't usually think about when buying inexpensive speakers, and it is not something that you can just overtly state effectively in voice-over. It needs to be demonstrated visually.
Also, the purpose of these 15-second ads is to introduce HomePod as a new product, to those who have heard of it before as well as to those who haven't. The effect is to motivate curious viewers to learn more about the HomePod, and to alert others who have been waiting to order the HomePod, to "Order Now".
These "teaser" ads will likely be followed by 30-second and 1-minute ads that present the features and uses of the HomePod.
Over all, I think these 15-second ads are very effective, and I really can't imagine a better concept for the ads than what has been produced.
Better speakers out there for much less and Siri really isn’t that useful.
If you have been keeping up with what has been publicized about the HomePod, you would be aware that this is NOT just an "expensive" smart speaker. Like other Apple products when they were introduced in the past, the HomePod is in a class of its own.
A quote from the preliminary comments by someone with a HomePod test unit:
"They’re using some form of dynamic modelling, and likely also current sensing that allows them to have a p-p excursion of 20 mm in a 4″ driver. This is completely unheard of in the home market.
The practical upshot is that that 4″ driver can go louder than larger drivers, and with significantly less distortion. It’s also stuff you typically find in speakers with five-figure price tags (The Beolab 90 does this, and I also suspect that the Kii Three does). It’s a quantum leap over what a typical passive speaker does, and you don’t really even find it in higher-end powered speakers.
The speaker uses six integrated beamforming microphones to probe the room dimensions, and alter its output so it sounds its best wherever it is placed in the room. It’ll know how large the room is, and where in the room it is placed.
The room correction applied after probing its own position isn’t simplistic DSP of frequency response, as the speaker has seven drivers that are used to create a beamforming speaker array, so they can direct specific sound in specific directions. The only other speakers that do this is the Beolab 90, and Lexicon SL-1. The Beolab 90 is $85,000/pair, and no price tag is set for the Lexicon, but the expectation in the industry is “astronomical”.
Lots of people online are calling it overpriced because they think Apple just slapped a bunch of speakers in a circular configuration and added Siri, but the engineering behind it is extremely audiophile niche stuff. And it does this all automatically with no acoustical set up or technical know how."
And here are some quotes from PC Magazine’s Lance Ulanoff:
“Recently, though, I heard Apple’s HomePod again in a variety of scenarios and spaces. It sounded even better, especially when compared to larger Google Home Max [which is more expensive at $399] and the aurally excellent Sonos One, the HomePod’s separation of sounds and fidelity to original instrumentation is astonishing.”
“The matrix of audio components is not inconsequential. In my listening party, songs like Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You picked apart the track, letting me hear both Sheeran’s guitar picking and the clarity of his voice. It was like he was playing in a small café for an audience of me. The bass notes on songs like Gregory Porter’s Holding On and Ariana Grande’s Side by Side were deep and resonant.”
“Since Apple doesn’t sell information or let you buy products through the HomePod, it’s not interested in your personal information. They encrypt your queries and anonymize your personal data.”
Quotes from a preliminary review by Jonathan Bray:
“This driver setup produces a sound that’s truly impressive for a speaker this small. In the mids and high notes, there’s a crisp sweetness to audio reproduction that most small speakers struggle to reproduce.”
“What was most impressive about the HomePod, however, was the amount of bass it was capable of kicking out. And not just the power of it (although that was impressive) but the muscularity of the bass and the quality of it. In back-to-back tests, where we were played the same tracks on “volume leveled” Amazon Echo 2, Sonos One, Harman-Kardon Allure and Apple HomePod speakers, the Apple HomePod won hands down.”
“It sounds great, looks like it’s as responsive to voice commands as Amazon’s speakers and has a decent range of smart capabilities, some of which outstrip its rivals’.”
You may not have used Siri recently (or at all), but that opinion that Siri isn't useful, or in the same league as other AI assistants has been proven to be false.
In December 2017 LoopVentures tested the various AI assistants with the same 800 questions divided into five categories.
Test Results:
Understood Query:
Apple Siri: 99.0%
Amazon Echo: 97.9%
Google Home: 99.9%
MS Cortana: 98.9%
Answered Correctly:
Apple Siri: 75.4%
Amazon Echo: 63.8%
Google Home: 81.1%
MS Cortana: 56.4%
Siri is currently only slightly behind Google Home, but well ahead of both Amazon Echo and MS Cortana. And Siri's ratings have been consistently improving.
Better speakers out there for much less and Siri really isn’t that useful.
Please let us know what speaker ( brand ) is better for much less. How much time have you spent with the HomePod listening and comparing to even make that statement
There is no question that consumers will need to make a value judgment as to this product. It is a very personal choice. Perhaps Apple will be successful. The only data point I can rely on for sure is my own: based on what I know right now, this is not worth $350 to me. I won't be buying one. If/when the price changes, a bundle or deal presents itself, or that I find some unfulfilled need to spend surplus cash, I might change my mind. Might.
That there are $5k speakers on the market (much less $50k as was asserted above) astounds me. But then, there are $200k (and more) cars out there too. That I don't value such things doesn't mean others don't, and that there is a viable market for it. I do hope Apple is successful.
Not sure what this thing does that’s worth $350 USD
That's what people said who first heard about High Definition television screens--What could make it worth that price? But, of course, once people saw the difference, they had to have it. The same will be true when people hear the fantastic sound. Sadly, the vast majority of people have never heard the type of sound that will come out of the Homepod. Most people have only heard music played out of the device speakers, or cheap headphones, or an okay blue tooth speaker. Then you throw in all of the things Siri will be able to do since Apple built in so much tech like the powerful A8 processor that no speaker touches, and a whole bunch of other tech like an accelerometer to tell if it has been moved, etc. Heck, audiophile observers have pointed out that the Homepod has tech that is only found speakers costing tens of thousands of dollars. And then throw in the Apple magic that all you have to do is plug and play instead of wiring and set up hassles of a hi-fi system, at a fraction of the price, and you have a blockbuster product.
It should be noted that these (and many others) are all sold through Apple. They even go up to $3000 for a single wireless speaker system. What's important about noting this is, just like Beats was to knowing that Beats was a good buy for Apple, they know exactly who's buying these speakers, at what price points, and what quantities.
So Rene Ritchie wants us to believe $350 HomePod is as good as setups that cost upwards of $25K? I don’t doubt HomePod sounds amazing and I don’t think it’s overpriced but let’s not go overboard.
I wonder if Angie will put sound rooms in Apple Stores? Because having one of these sitting out on a shelf in a crowded store isn't going to help them sell.
I remember stereo stores where all the components could be compared. Select a set of components in a separate room from a huge stack. Guess those days are gone.
Anyone know if these have like a 30-90 days money back promise? Take it home and see if it is worth the $350, and if not, get a refund?
I was initially thinking we'd eventually see bundles or Apple throwing in a free AM subscription. But Apple will never admit a failure, so this seems unlikely.
Why would they create a sound room? The whole point of HomePod is to fill whatever space you have with sound. So the better demo would be to put HomePod anywhere and let people hear it from the other side of the store. But I'm sure they'll have someone standing by the live HomePod to make sure the kids don't turn it up to 11.
I was hoping for a AM bundle too. It would make sense and not cost them a dime. Most people I know interested in HomePod already use Pandora or Spotify so they will be disappointed if/when they bring HomePod home and realize they can't make it play music via Siri right out of the box. But I also understand Apple's point. Why would they admit failure for a product that hasn't even shipped yet? If sales are slower than expected, we can expect a HomePod holiday bundle with AM 3 month trial by end of year.
Nice ads. I know what message is Apple trying to convey but surely can be a lot better with better tracks ;-). Distortion and Bass were the only good ones. As far as animation goes, they are good but again can be a lot better.
And before you fanboi’s start believing that Apple invented audio beamforming (and it only exists in 50k systems), you could buy a $50 microphone 20 years ago that does the exact same thing. So congratulations, Apple caught up to 1998 technology. Woo
Can you point me to this $50 microphone from 1998 that would magically convert a regular speaker system into a beamforming speaker system that would analyze the room and its inhabitants? I don't know of a single system at any price that would be able to process that much data in real time two decades ago, but you claim that this was possible with a $50 microphone; well, that's something I have to see.
Comments
Size doesn't matter. it has great bass and audio!
$5,000 Klipsch set up! To it’s just a simple BT speaker, totally fail at $350. Should have come out years ago!”
Go go home you losers or at least, keep your specious arguments to yourself. They do nothing to further useful discussion and only force us all to make our point just so we can get back on track. You really suck the fun out of my time here.
Back on track, the DSP technology and the tuned speaker array are what make this speaker unique. I haven’t seen true beam forming except in VERY expensive speakers. So IMO HomePod is a fantastic deal. Very excited to get mine even though I ALSO have a $5,000 Klipsch 7.1 setup. (The secret is they do different things)
At first, I didn't think much of the ads either. But on subsequent viewing, I realized the limitations of a 15-second commercial, and also what the commercials were trying to achieve.
In 15 seconds, it is next to impossible to talk about features or uses, so Apple hasn't wasted those 15 seconds trying to do that. The focus of each of the ads is on expressing the complexity of music by using "HomePod" as a waveform.
This gives a visual representation of something that people don't usually think about when buying inexpensive speakers, and it is not something that you can just overtly state effectively in voice-over. It needs to be demonstrated visually.
Also, the purpose of these 15-second ads is to introduce HomePod as a new product, to those who have heard of it before as well as to those who haven't. The effect is to motivate curious viewers to learn more about the HomePod, and to alert others who have been waiting to order the HomePod, to "Order Now".
These "teaser" ads will likely be followed by 30-second and 1-minute ads that present the features and uses of the HomePod.
Over all, I think these 15-second ads are very effective, and I really can't imagine a better concept for the ads than what has been produced.
If you have been keeping up with what has been publicized about the HomePod, you would be aware that this is NOT just an "expensive" smart speaker. Like other Apple products when they were introduced in the past, the HomePod is in a class of its own.
A quote from the preliminary comments by someone with a HomePod test unit:
"They’re using some form of dynamic modelling, and likely also current sensing that allows them to have a p-p excursion of 20 mm in a 4″ driver. This is completely unheard of in the home market.
The practical upshot is that that 4″ driver can go louder than larger drivers, and with significantly less distortion. It’s also stuff you typically find in speakers with five-figure price tags (The Beolab 90 does this, and I also suspect that the Kii Three does). It’s a quantum leap over what a typical passive speaker does, and you don’t really even find it in higher-end powered speakers.
The speaker uses six integrated beamforming microphones to probe the room dimensions, and alter its output so it sounds its best wherever it is placed in the room. It’ll know how large the room is, and where in the room it is placed.
The room correction applied after probing its own position isn’t simplistic DSP of frequency response, as the speaker has seven drivers that are used to create a beamforming speaker array, so they can direct specific sound in specific directions. The only other speakers that do this is the Beolab 90, and Lexicon SL-1. The Beolab 90 is $85,000/pair, and no price tag is set for the Lexicon, but the expectation in the industry is “astronomical”.
Lots of people online are calling it overpriced because they think Apple just slapped a bunch of speakers in a circular configuration and added Siri, but the engineering behind it is extremely audiophile niche stuff. And it does this all automatically with no acoustical set up or technical know how."
And here are some quotes from PC Magazine’s Lance Ulanoff:
“Recently, though, I heard Apple’s HomePod again in a variety of scenarios and spaces. It sounded even better, especially when compared to larger Google Home Max [which is more expensive at $399] and the aurally excellent Sonos One, the HomePod’s separation of sounds and fidelity to original instrumentation is astonishing.”
“The matrix of audio components is not inconsequential. In my listening party, songs like Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You picked apart the track, letting me hear both Sheeran’s guitar picking and the clarity of his voice. It was like he was playing in a small café for an audience of me. The bass notes on songs like Gregory Porter’s Holding On and Ariana Grande’s Side by Side were deep and resonant.”
“Since Apple doesn’t sell information or let you buy products through the HomePod, it’s not interested in your personal information. They encrypt your queries and anonymize your personal data.”
Quotes from a preliminary review by Jonathan Bray:
“This driver setup produces a sound that’s truly impressive for a speaker this small. In the mids and high notes, there’s a crisp sweetness to audio reproduction that most small speakers struggle to reproduce.”
“What was most impressive about the HomePod, however, was the amount of bass it was capable of kicking out. And not just the power of it (although that was impressive) but the muscularity of the bass and the quality of it. In back-to-back tests, where we were played the same tracks on “volume leveled” Amazon Echo 2, Sonos One, Harman-Kardon Allure and Apple HomePod speakers, the Apple HomePod won hands down.”
“It sounds great, looks like it’s as responsive to voice commands as Amazon’s speakers and has a decent range of smart capabilities, some of which outstrip its rivals’.”
You may not have used Siri recently (or at all), but that opinion that Siri isn't useful, or in the same league as other AI assistants has been proven to be false.
In December 2017 LoopVentures tested the various AI assistants with the same 800 questions divided into five categories.
Test Results:
Siri is currently only slightly behind Google Home, but well ahead of both Amazon Echo and MS Cortana. And Siri's ratings have been consistently improving.
Why bother posting silliness like this?
$350, perfect price
That there are $5k speakers on the market (much less $50k as was asserted above) astounds me. But then, there are $200k (and more) cars out there too. That I don't value such things doesn't mean others don't, and that there is a viable market for it. I do hope Apple is successful.
I was hoping for a AM bundle too. It would make sense and not cost them a dime. Most people I know interested in HomePod already use Pandora or Spotify so they will be disappointed if/when they bring HomePod home and realize they can't make it play music via Siri right out of the box. But I also understand Apple's point. Why would they admit failure for a product that hasn't even shipped yet? If sales are slower than expected, we can expect a HomePod holiday bundle with AM 3 month trial by end of year.