yellowjackets

Only for Apple to eventually emulate Microsoft - and Samsung - to add the stylus to the iPad anyway ...

For goodness sakes it is like the negative nellies on here have never left for a promotion or something. There is a limit to how high "the head of Apple Music" can rise at Apple, especially in a relatively short time if she is one of those "never stay in one place more than 5 years" types. But at Uber this is a significant promotion and if she succeeds she could jump into the top executive ranks. If she fails ... well hey let's face it she is already rich so who cares, she'll be fine and it isn't as if she won't be able to get another job. If nothing else she could go to Google and do something with the mess that is Play Music (almost as much a lost cause as Uber). So this is no big deal. Just climbing the corporate ladder, which is what a lot of folks did when they joined Apple in the first place.

In North America and Japan, smartphone=iPhone and everyone else is an inferior imitator, making paying the extra cost for an iPhone worthwhile. In other markets i.e. China, India and to a degree Europe - where Nokia's Windows Phones actually had decent market share - Android made inroads, and did so with quality and often locally branded and manufactured devices, before Apple was able to establish themselves as the market leader and best option. That's the thing: in the early days of the Android/Apple race, it was Apple devices versus Android ones that had suspect hardware, buggy software and terrible apps. Android was able to improve the hardware, OS and app store situation before Apple was able to establish a real presence in most markets. So unless you are relatively affluent AND highly influenced by western consumer culture there is no reason to reject a $200 Android device that works fine in favor of a $600 iPhone that works better. (Or a $400 iPhone SE that works better but has a 4 inch screen.) If Android was still the mess that it was with the early Qualcomm and Samsung SOCs and Gingerbread/Honeycomb/Ice Cream Sandwich operating systems, then Apple would have an opening. But since Jellybean and the Qualcomm Scorpion, Apple being better has not meant Android being bad, so it is debatable how many would switch even if Android and iOS products cost the same. You can console yourself with the realization that Samsung and the rest aren't making much profit by selling the $250 smartphones in China and India, and that Apple will make as much or more by selling a few than Samsung and the rest will by selling a lot, but that is about all there is. That may be bad for the hardware manufacturers, but Google has invested a ton on the prospect of future revenue from Android services in India. It is a long game, because while India is #1 in app downloads for Google Play by a huge margin (6 billion apps downloaded in 2016, up from 3.5 billion in 2015) India is not in the top 10 for revenue: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/companies/india-number-one-in-google-play-app-downloads-usage/articleshow/56680067.cms However, as Netflix is making a good amount of revenue in India from Android devices, India will be in the top 10 for Android revenue pretty soon.

Eric_WVGG said:

If no line-in, that's a pity. A lot of folks will be weighing a Sonos vs this; Sonos will do their TV audio without latency. I'm sure this'll work with AppleTV, but that's useless for other boxes, Playstations and Xboxen, etc.

Regardless, I'm one of the rare fans of the Apple HiFi, nice to see it live on in some kind of form.

I disagree here. This is not something intended for home theatre audio systems. Apple is partnering with Bose and other third party manufacturers to provide HomeKit compatibility for home theatre systems and other large speakers. Allow me to say that anyone who pays $350 for home theatre speakers that do not have A) subwoofers or surround sound/stereo did not make a very wise purchase. This device is meant to be another entry in the small bluetooth speaker space, similar to the Beats Pill, which was ONCE a very popular product and stuff before Beats went under new management with new marketing ...