HomePod Mini • Hacker News Board

Re: HomePod Mini

#161

Post by thebean11 » Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 9:17 PM UTC

myrandomcomment wrote: post #146

So here is the thing I struggle with. I have a NAS. On it is my media (music, videos, photos) collection. I do not have a subscription to Apple Music, or the reset of the streaming services and I not want one. So how do I play my own music collection with this? Right now to do this I have an AppleTV on every TV. I have an app on the AppleTV called MrMC which is basically a paid for port of Kodi for the AppleTV. The M…

I'd be sort of surprised if you couldn't "cast" arbitrary audio from a phone or laptop to the homepod.

Re: HomePod Mini

#162

Post by mensetmanusman » Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 9:18 PM UTC

I laughed out loud when they mentioned the intelligibility of Siri.

Every 6 months or so I try Siri and am shocked it still can’t understand basic things my kids are using Alexa for.

Re: HomePod Mini

#163

Post by hinkley » Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 9:19 PM UTC

jagger27 wrote: post #23

The coolest part to me is that they're using the S5 watch SoC to power it. Pretty cool that Apple's various hardware teams can just grab a part off the shelf to use in a completely different class of device. I'd love to see them reintroduce AirPort routers powered by an A-series chip.

It seems like with Apple, any piece of tech with exactly one use tends to wither away and die. Now that the processor for the Apple Watch is on another device, it may show up somewhere else. Since this is wall powered, I don't think that bodes well for my hope that they release an Apple Watch that is smaller or has longer battery life (smaller often means smaller battery).

It seems like they always bring a new SoC in under their last commoditized SoC. What's the next smallest thing for them to stuff a new SoC into? Airpods?

Re: HomePod Mini

#164

Post by ndaiger » Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 9:20 PM UTC

myrandomcomment wrote: post #146

So here is the thing I struggle with. I have a NAS. On it is my media (music, videos, photos) collection. I do not have a subscription to Apple Music, or the reset of the streaming services and I not want one. So how do I play my own music collection with this? Right now to do this I have an AppleTV on every TV. I have an app on the AppleTV called MrMC which is basically a paid for port of Kodi for the AppleTV. The M…

You can make it work with iTunes Match. It will upload all your music (it's not just filename or metadata matching, apparently it uses audio fingerprints).

Then you can play your own stuff without needing an Apple Music subscription.

It's $25/year.

I moved to Apple music a while ago, but iTunes Match worked great for me before that.

Re: HomePod Mini

#165

Post by rcarmo » Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 9:21 PM UTC

theshrike79 wrote: post #92

gnicholas wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My initial reaction was the same — maybe we'd get one for our kid's room. But then I saw that Intercom supports all iOS devices, so probably we'd just put an old iPhone or iPad in there instead. But it's not 100% clear if when they say Intercom supports all iOS/WatchOS/MacOS devices, they mean you can communicate from one of those devices to a HomePod, or whether you can communicate amongst any of those devices (no H…

Most likely if the iOS device is new enough to have iOS14 and Intercom support, you can sell it for more than $99 and get the Homepod =)

I just asked Siri on my iPad to “tell everyone to go to bed” and it told me you can only intercom from one HomePod to another.

Re: HomePod Mini

#166

Post by gnicholas » Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 9:21 PM UTC

ssully wrote: post #114

Oddly enough this was the most exciting thing for me today. I use a Google Home in my kitchen almost exclusively for hands-free timers and music control when cooking/cleaning. My Home got bricked by an update last month and was going to just forgo replacing it because I am getting tired of Google's diminishing support of their products and the privacy concerns. My only concern is Siri is easily the worst assistant wh…

I agree that this is one of the more interesting things today (especially for folks with an iPhone 11 Pro, who aren't looking to upgrade).

There's already a way to use Siri skills to access OK, Google through your iPhone [1] without letting Google listen in on everything you say. It would be awesome if there were a way to do this from HomePods...

1: https://www.computerworld.com/article/3393159/how-to-use-hey...

Re: HomePod Mini

#167

Post by hinkley » Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 9:21 PM UTC

AceJohnny2 wrote: post #18

AceJohnny2 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't used Alexa, but Siri on HomePod is way behind Google Assistant in capabilities and recognition reliability. I use it moderately for setting timers, reminders, shopping list, controlling my HomeKit lights, and getting weather. I'd judge it to be 80% reliable in picking up commands (but the way human memory works, it's likely much higher than that but the times it fails are more memorable) But HomePod is a ph…

I just tried to tell it to play music, but my closer iPhone picked up the order instead -_-;

If we keep making these, you're going to need to name each device.

Hey HomePod, play something sinister.

Re: HomePod Mini

#168

Post by m3kw9 » Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 9:22 PM UTC

Get 2 of them if you are gonna do it, it sounds amazing for original HomePod and for 200 for a pair that’s the setup you want

Re: HomePod Mini

#169

Post by danloughney » Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 9:22 PM UTC

From the video intro, it looks like the power cord is hardwired into the device. I would have thought it was going to be USB-C.

I'd prefer to swap out the cable in case it comes with a standard 6' and I want to tuck the speaker next to an outlet on a shelf.

Re: HomePod Mini

#170

Post by rcarmo » Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 9:23 PM UTC

It’s nice, but I wish it had a line out jack for an external amp. I would love to replace my Echo Input with one, and keep the nice speakers I have...

Oh wait, it’s not available in my country...