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HomePod arrives February 9, available to order this Friday

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Re: HomePod arrives February 9, available to order this Friday

#31

Post by eddieroger »

jvolkman wrote: post #15
germinalphrase wrote: post #6

I feel exited about home assistants in the same way I am excited about home automation: the premise seems useful in a general way, but I struggle to think of use cases that have a meaningful effect on my lifestyle. Also - I can't shake the privacy concerns.

Yesterday I said "hey google, turn on the kitchen lights" because my hands were full and the switch was across the room. I wouldn't say it had a meaningful effect on my lifestyle, but it was useful at that moment.

That's my most common use of Alexa as well - turn on the lights, turn off the TV. Sometimes I will ask it to set a timer, but really it's a hub for my home automation. I would miss it if it was gone, but my life would go on.

Re: HomePod arrives February 9, available to order this Friday

#32

Post by eddieroger »

oceanghost wrote: post #7

How can you release a music player when your music ecosystem is completely broken? iTunes is so bad I have to pay for an app (Waltr) to put music on my phone. And Apple music sounds like garbage. I don't need a high-quality speaker to stream garbage.

Sounds like this product sure isn't for you then. Maybe the next one will be.

Re: HomePod arrives February 9, available to order this Friday

#33

Post by slantyyz »

eddieroger wrote: post #31
jvolkman wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yesterday I said "hey google, turn on the kitchen lights" because my hands were full and the switch was across the room. I wouldn't say it had a meaningful effect on my lifestyle, but it was useful at that moment.

That's my most common use of Alexa as well - turn on the lights, turn off the TV. Sometimes I will ask it to set a timer, but really it's a hub for my home automation. I would miss it if it was gone, but my life would go on.

If I were to look at the type of activities we use Alexa for in our household, most of our commands revolve around smart home, weather and lists/reminders. Once in a while we'll ask it to do a unit conversion or some search engine task, but that's few and far between.

Re: HomePod arrives February 9, available to order this Friday

#34

Post by anilshanbhag »

HomePod costs $349. I know Apple products are pricy but 3.5x is insane. I have a (Google) Home mini and its fun - it isn't really that useful but ok for $30-50. While history has proof that Apple is able to extract higher prices, I feel this product will fail at this price point.

Re: HomePod arrives February 9, available to order this Friday

#35

Post by slantyyz »

MBCook wrote: post #17
the_gastropod wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple is rarely first to market for anything. They didn't release the first mp3 player, they released the best one. They didn't come out with the first smart phone, first tablet, or first smart watch, either. They rarely shine in feature-to-feature comparisons, either. The iPhone did less than the blackberries it destroyed. It just did the important things better. It will be interesting to see how the Homepod plays o…

I agree with everything you said about Apple’s MO. But this thing is expensive. Siri almost seems grafted on (they wouldn’t even let people try it at the announcement) to a speaker that was already in development. I wonder if this will be the iPod HiFi 2.0. Sounds great, too expensive, no one cares. I’m curious about it but have no real interest in it as a speaker or assistant. Reviews should prove interesting.

>> But this thing is expensive.

I don't necessarily agree. I was shopping around for multi-room audio solutions, namely Sonos. I don't think the Homepod price is that out of whack compared to Sonos or Google Home Max. And this is coming from someone who generally finds Apple products way overpriced.

Re: HomePod arrives February 9, available to order this Friday

#36

Post by skrowl »

e1ven wrote: post #10
ratsimihah wrote: post #2

What’s innovative about this? I feel like I’m reading an Amazon Alexa or Google Home ad.

I’m interested in one as a new speaker. I don’t expect I’ll enable Siri. I want to use it as an AirPlay target. I was previously considering a Sonos, but the Airplay2 support will be baked into the OS so I don’t need to use a clunky 3rd party app.

Out of curiosity, why not Google Cast ==> Google Home or Chromecast Audio?

Re: HomePod arrives February 9, available to order this Friday

#37

Post by hammock »

anilshanbhag wrote: post #34

HomePod costs $349. I know Apple products are pricy but 3.5x is insane. I have a (Google) Home mini and its fun - it isn't really that useful but ok for $30-50. While history has proof that Apple is able to extract higher prices, I feel this product will fail at this price point.

Google Home Max is $399. The price reflects the speaker quality.

Although the HomePod has only one woofer inside while Google Home Max has two and can create a stereo image.

Re: HomePod arrives February 9, available to order this Friday

#38

Post by semi-extrinsic »

dljsjr wrote: post #18
ratsimihah wrote: post #2

What’s innovative about this? I feel like I’m reading an Amazon Alexa or Google Home ad.

Apple has been pretty up-front from the start that they don't want to make the best possible home assistant, they want to make a really incredible speaker that has home assistant stuff built-in. Whether the "incredible speaker" part is true remains to be seen since the thing hasn't released yet but you can look at a lot of the features and they're very music-focused. It's more competing with a Sonos than it is with a…

> they want to make a really incredible speaker

Incredible by what standards? It's not even stereo. Nowhere does it mention perhaps the most important metric for audio quality, namely RMS audio power output. The tiny size alone pretty much guarantees that the amplifier will suck.

I'm very confident that e.g. a combination of Klipsch R-15M speakers, Yamaha R-S202 amplifier and a Chromecast Audio will knock its socks off. And that's a setup which you can order on Amazon today, it costs exactly the same, and it can do perfect multi-room out of the box.

Re: HomePod arrives February 9, available to order this Friday

#39

Post by saagarjha »

robert_foss wrote: post #22
warent wrote: post #20

Does anyone have the 411 on the API to this thing? How will apps be developed?

By the chosen people, whom have had developmental access bestowed upon them by the grace of Apple. Seriously though; there is little to no chance that this will not be another locked down device with which Apple will try to monetize your home to the fullest possible extent.

Or: people who paid Apple's $99 developer fee? Hardly a group of "chosen people". This would make sense if you were talking about something like CarPlay, but there's no discrimination here other than the one I mentioned.

Re: HomePod arrives February 9, available to order this Friday

#40

Post by saagarjha »

warent wrote: post #20

Does anyone have the 411 on the API to this thing? How will apps be developed?

There's no direct control of the device; i.e. apps are not run directly on the device. Rather, developers leverage SiriKit for a limited set of actions.
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