It's nice to see Apple continuing to iterate here whereas Google, in comparison and as they often do, killed off their related Google Home Max product.
Apple HomePod 2nd Generation
11–20 of 302 posts
Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation
#12The last HomePods sounded great, but it’s hard for me to imagine them taking off without fixing Siri. Siri is still remarkably dumb compared to Alexa and certainly when compared to GPT3.5 tools. If you ask Siri “What is 220°C in F” it will correctly hear the words you’re saying, then convert 220F to C.
Because of this, I never use Siri outside of contexts I’m sure Apple has tested thoroughly (e.g. read my last text).
Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation
#13This is extremely exciting, given the audio quality of the HomePod 1. I had been buying new old stock of HomePod 1s off eBay to make sure I have 6 working ones (I use 3 different stereo pairs) for the foreseeable future.
The only real downside of HomePods is that they don't function as bluetooth audio receivers (Apple proprietary AirPlay2 only) and that you need an Apple ID (as well as iCloud enabled on that Apple ID) to set them up - the creation of which these days requires a working phone number, so it's a little expensive (burner SIM) if you want to buy and use them anonymously.
People commenting about how Siri sucks I think are missing the point of these. These (presuming the sound quality is similar to the HP1) are the best consumer self-powered speakers for under $2000, full stop. The fact that they do anything else (mics, voice assistant, wifi streaming, whatever) is mostly unimportant if you understand what these things are. I'd use them even if they didn't have Wi-Fi. As far as I can tell, they (and airpods) were the latest "insanely great" product Apple made until the M1 macs dropped.
Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation
#14Seems like Apple executed the way Google should have with their Google Home Max. They've added stereo pairing, so you can have two of them sync up together and then connect them to an Apple TV 4k and you basically get a pretty nice wireless sound bar with Dolby Atmos enabled.
Still, at $300 per pod, I really need Siri to do better than the "dumber than a bag of rocks" vibe she currently gives off for this to be at all tempting.
As someone that does applied DL for work, especially NLP, I just don't understand what Apple is doing with Siri. It's like they see low user engagement metrics with Siri and assume it's because people don't want it. Instead, everyone I know that's an Apple fan uses Google Assistant, because it just works most of the time.
Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation
#15tbh find the full size a bit expensive for my personal needs - more interested in the mini (still overpriced). Certainly makes the mini a more compelling option however if they add more functionality. "Apple's HomePod mini includes a dormant hidden sensor that can measure temperature and humidity, potentially providing the means to power upcoming features that could arrive in a future software update, according to Bl…
Apple website now lists the temperature and humidity sensors even on the mini, I guess the next software update will enable them.
Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation
#16tbh find the full size a bit expensive for my personal needs - more interested in the mini (still overpriced). Certainly makes the mini a more compelling option however if they add more functionality. "Apple's HomePod mini includes a dormant hidden sensor that can measure temperature and humidity, potentially providing the means to power upcoming features that could arrive in a future software update, according to Bl…
according to this page the mini (current model) will have it activated I suspect when the Homepod 2 comes out.
Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation
#17In our house we have Google's home speakers and the original Nest cameras and also some new cameras which only work with the Google home app and over the years I could see a gradual decline in reliability, functionality and just in general a decline in the usefulness of those things. The camera feed is so slow since Google took over Nest, it barely works with the Google home app and keeps cutting out, doesn't load at…
I played with a cheap wifi camera vs an actual wired (network) cctv camera. The difference is night and day, even just viewing the stream in VLC. Speed, stability etc. "Consumer" stuff just feels underpowered and little more than a toy.
I hope matter brings a better landscape for all this stuff - but then I have been sitting on my hands waiting for years as the next version of everything is just 12 months away.
Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation
#18Seems like Apple executed the way Google should have with their Google Home Max. They've added stereo pairing, so you can have two of them sync up together and then connect them to an Apple TV 4k and you basically get a pretty nice wireless sound bar with Dolby Atmos enabled. Still, at $300 per pod, I really need Siri to do better than the "dumber than a bag of rocks" vibe she currently gives off for this to be at al…
The stereo pairing was available on the 1st generation.
I have three of the 1st gen models, they're fantastic. I think I paid $200 for each. At that price they're a steal.
Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation
#19Just me, or was that a very low-energy video?
Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation
#20Temperature and humidity sensor is a nice perk for those of us with acoustic guitars and orchids. Presumably it can be used with Apple Shortcuts to trigger notifications. Might upgrade my first gen HomePod eventually, but it still sounds great.
"With its built-in sensor, HomePod can detect and tell you the temperature and humidity of the room.8 And you can set it in automations so the blinds close if the temperature hits 80 degrees."