Apple HomePod 2nd Generation • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#41

Post by packetlost » Wed, Jan 18, 2023, 2:43 PM UTC

dustedcodes wrote: post #7

In 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 too have noticed a serious decline in the software reliability of my smart-home devices that went away after replacing them with newer models. I don't know if the software support for older models gradually winds down and atrophies or if some component starts to degrade causing things like wireless signal degradation (which would definitely result in poor connections and high latency). Does anyone have some insight here? I'm sure we have people from the IoT space here.

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#42

Post by s3p » Wed, Jan 18, 2023, 2:43 PM UTC

newmac wrote: post #33

I would love to hear the inside story about why the old one was discontinued and it took so long for the v2. The HomePod mini is the "first device" we have given to our children. No screen, I am comfortable with apple privacy, access to music and podcasts, etc. The mini has shockingly good sound for $100 and what it is.

kudos to you! I know they will cherish a device like that. Growing up I had a similar tech item that was my "thing", it was a tiny MP3 player that I used for years. Having a HomePod Mini is a great way to get them access to super helpful tech without the drawbacks (ads, social media, privacy) of screen-based devices.

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#43

Post by alphabetting » Wed, Jan 18, 2023, 2:43 PM UTC

dustedcodes wrote: post #7

In 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 dont have any cameras but have about 7 Google home items for years and have had no issues. I many use them for assistant which runs circles around competition and routines such as turning off/on lights when it senses I'm home or have left. If assistant is a main use for you I wouldn't switch.

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#44

Post by kaypro » Wed, Jan 18, 2023, 2:43 PM UTC

_phred wrote: post #22

t3rabytes wrote: post #4

I love my OG HomePods that I got on close-out at Best Buy, but both of them have given me near constant connection issues over the last few months -- excited to have something to replace them with. I much prefer the appearance of the Big HomePod over the (not-really) equivalent Sonos One.

I’ve got two first gen HomePods here which died slightly out of warranty, and AppleCare wanted $300 a piece just to take a look at them. Makes me quite gunshy about spending yet another $300 on a product which may not last more than 2-3 years.

Exact same experience here. Mine died after a botched firmware update. Woke up one morning after it had auto-updated the night before. 100% Apple's fault because they pulled the update shortly after but the damage was done. Took it in thinking they would just reset it and shocked they wanted $300 to repair. Unless this one has a UCB-C port like the mini that allows user resetting I'll skip this one.

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#45

Post by chairmanwow1 » Wed, Jan 18, 2023, 2:44 PM UTC

yunwal wrote: post #12

The 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).

If it's been a while since you've tried the assistants, I suggest that you watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2MGqmuEdtU

Google has snuck a pretty large lead for a large category of queries over Siri and Alexa has fallen behind considerably.

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#46

Post by perardi » Wed, Jan 18, 2023, 2:44 PM UTC

Is it time to complain about Siri again? Sure is!

I am an old-school Apple fanboy. I learned HyperCard on a Macintosh SE/30—I am that old.

I still appreciate the Apple ecosystem, and I do like certain aspects of my HomePod mini…but Siri. C’mon. Get it together. It just fails at the absolute basics.

https://imgur.com/q0H788Y

The basics being: please add stuff to my shopping list when I yell it into the aether while in the kitchen. It either completely mangles the speech-to-text (starches, Siri, not starships), or just…fails. It times out, or sits there, blankly pulsing a light at me.

I would really appreciate a higher-quality speaker with easy integration with my iOS/Mac devices. But $299 or something that has artificial stupidity like Siri? Nah.

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#47

Post by s3p » Wed, Jan 18, 2023, 2:44 PM UTC

binkHN wrote: post #11

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.

Par for the course! We still have the one and only iMessage and Google is still making new chat apps.

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#48

Post by s3p » Wed, Jan 18, 2023, 2:44 PM UTC

distantsounds wrote: post #32

sneak wrote: post #13

This 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…

you're aware Apple _reduced_ the number of internal speakers, right? what makes you think it will be better, aside from flashy marketing materials?

They also reduced the price by $50. In the era of inflation, I respect it.

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#49

Post by highwaylights » Wed, Jan 18, 2023, 2:44 PM UTC

selykg wrote: post #18

ZeroCool2u wrote: post #14

Seems 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.

Yeah, I'm a little confused as to what's actually new here from the video?

I assume a newer chipset but it's not really clear what else has changed?

Re: Apple HomePod 2nd Generation

#50

Post by gpmcadam » Wed, Jan 18, 2023, 2:45 PM UTC

fassssst wrote: post #2

Temperature 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.

fyi HomePod Mini also has those sensors