tallest skil said:

Local processing will be needed before I accept such a thing in my life. You’re not going to record what few words I say and use them for your own purposes.

that would be great and would explain the use of the A8 Chip.   

StrangeDays said:

k2kw said:

I was going to get a Pair of HomePods originally but not now because of ThrottleGate.
I'm pissed I got an iPhone 8 too. 

Yeah right. Cool story bro. When should we let you in on a secret? HomePods aren’t even out nor is there a release date. 

Why dont you just sell your iphone, pick up a knockoff, load it up with removable batteries and external storage, yet still replace it more often due to the shorter useful lifespan of its hardware and software, and stop whining about Apple on an Apple site? Sounds reasonable, right?

But you won’t. 

While HomePods aren’t out they were announced at WWDC to arrive by the end of this year.   And whether you like it or not Apple pulled “used car salesman” move with the Throttling.   Now if I could get a full refund for my iPhone7 or iPhone8 I would get a Pixel 2 (Not the XL).

I don’t expect that we will know the full truth about these lemon phones’ batteries considering Apple impressive secrecy -
Such is the state tech journalism even with some of the extremely knowledgeable guys that write for AI.

I’ve learned to ignore the koolaide drinkers.

At thanksgiving I got two SONOS ONEs for $175 a piece.   The music sounds great in stereo.  I wish I Could listen to podcasts through them but that's ok.  Looking for AirPlay 2 to enable that.

I was going to get a Pair of HomePods originally but not now because of ThrottleGate.
I'm pissed I got an iPhone 8 too. 

imando said:

Why would I buy this over the surface desktop?  Unless I'm using final cut pro, there is nothing holding 
Me back at this point. 
Creative cloud will run the same on both platforms. Drawing is clearly better on the surface. 
The sup and full touch screen is more functional frlor drawing and manipulating art. 
I dint even know why apple released this. 

Power.   -   Go over to windows central and read their review of the Surface Desktop.   They really like the tilting and the dial, but even a year ago thought the machine was underpowered to begin with.   Its basically a mac mini attached to a display on a hinge.   If it had been a really big seller, Microsoft would have atleast increased the CPU speed a bit  this year.   But no - no love from Panos.   who knows if they updated next year.

Soli said:

flashfan207 said:

Seems like an awesome speaker, but I’m pretty set for speakers right now. Have them hooked up to my Apple TV to play Apple Music when I’d like to, so really I’d like to see how Apple markets HomePod in relation to HomeKit and as a Siri assistant before I decide to grab one. But we’ll see. Need a little more confirmed info before I make a decision. 

I just bought my 3rd Echo (this time for the bathroom so I can have voice control and audio without blasting it from two rooms away). I've been using the original for 3 years now, use them every day, and can't imagine not having them.

That said, I was very interested in what HomePod could offer me for the living room if I purchased two units. Since I almost always watch my TV via the Apple TV I'm hoping that I'll be able to use them as speakers for the TV as well as Siri voice activation without having to pick up the remote, hold down its Siri button, and speak into it.

I'd like Spotify to come to HomePod with a simple voice command, but if not I have Echos with great speakers connected. The rumors that Amazon is coming to the Apple TV App Store was another minor bonus, but I already have that option on my TV and dislike Amazon's set up where all the free Amazon Video for Prime members is mixed in with rentable and purchasable streaming content.

It's very disappointing that DED is now trying to lower exceptions for the delayed HomePods with respect to SIRI capabilities (hopefully these low expectations will be shown or heard as unfounded when the HomePods finally arrives).

I think that most people are expecting that when the $350.00 HomePod arrives it will out Alexa the Echo.   There have probably been at least a dozen articles on AppleInsider this year describing the expected HomePods as Siri Speakers (not Apple Music Speakers).

As DED wrote in his May 28, 2017, editorial  (bolding is mine):

A week away from WWDC17, there's much anticipation about what Apple might show: new Macs, iPads, a Siri Speaker, future insights on the company's vision for iPhones, Apple TV, Health, Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence. 

Going back almost a year, DED wrote in his January 7, 2017 , Editorial : 

Is Apple getting Siri-ous in the face of Amazon's Alexa Echo?

Apple's 2014 establishment of a corporate office and R&D center in Cambridge (below) and its 2015 acquisition of VocalIQ--a startup that originated with the University of Cambridge Dialogue Systems Group and focused upon automotive projects with carmakers including General Motors--show a clear investment in voice-first interfaces beyond simply following others.

A report from last November detailed job listings stating, "Apple is entering an exciting phase in Siri development, and we are aiming high both in terms of what Siri can do and the software engineering practices we follow in developing it. You will be working in a team of highly talented software engineers and speech scientists to expand the capabilities of Siri."

That makes it a bit premature to assume that the barely profitable experiments in voice-first assistants conducted by Apple's rivals are winning or leading in any meaningful way, although it does allow lazy journalists to generate sensational-sounding reports.

In 2017, Siri looks to be a key area of advancement at Apple.

2017 is coming to a close and I don't yet see how Siri has been a "key area of advancement at Apple"  - at least what I've seen pre HomePod release.
Apple made phenomenal advancements with the X/OLED Screen and the FaceID sensor array - Siri's improvements don't come close to even approaching this or the LTE Watch.


I am looking for the HomePods to :
1. Provide great integration with Apple products for music, podcasts, etc. 
2. Provide great multi-room audio like SONOS (that why they compared it to the SONOS Play 3)
3. Provide improved TV audio connected to Apple TV. Hopefully Apple or Beats would produce a whole home theater system with a wireless subwoofer using HomePod technology.
4. Provide an Alexa like experience that can be used for Smart home control and integration with Calendars, shopping lists, and other APPS. The fact that the A9 chip is included leads me to hope that Apple is really aiming to make this a new platform. I expect that WWDC 2018 will have sessions for building siriOS Apps.

Six years after Siri was released I feel that it has not fulfilled the potential that Steve Jobs saw in it. (Apple has shown with the watch that when they put the effort and resources into development they make great improvements year over year.)

 Apple's products and services should be either the best or second best in every category, Siri included.   There will be no excuses when the HomePod ships.   The comparison to Google Home, Echo and Alexa products like the Sonos One will be both natural and valid.  Unfortunately this editorial seems to be lowering the bar for SIRI in the HomePod very much different from what he was expressing a year ago. It seems very much like Soviet writers in Pravda re-writing history.