Apple has joined the competition for controlling smart devices in our homes with HomePod launched at the WWDC 2017. With the Apple HomePod, the company seems to be going the smart speaker route just like Google and Amazon.
The Design
The Apple HomePod is essentially a smart speaker that can deliver great audio quality for your entertainment. The speaker has Siri built-in, which means you can query it using natural language for information on sports, news, flight, and weather, among other fancy skills. You just to say “Hey, Siri” before your command.
Apple HomePod is available in white or black and comes in a beautiful cylindrical body that is curved on the top and bottom. The smart speaker is 172mm tall and about 142 mm in diameter.
Inside, the Apple HomePod features an array of seven horn-loaded tweeter speakers, each with a custom amplifier. This sort of assembly allows the smart speaker to direct sound according to the acoustics of the room.
Apple HomePod also has a high-excursion woofer to add some bass to the sound. The smart speaker sports a six microphone array to pick-up commands for Siri. The microphone array also helps the smart speaker sense the acoustics of the room so that it can steer sound for the best audio output.
Apple HomePod is powered by Apple’s A8 chipset and supports Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac and AirPlay 2.
For your Home Entertainment
Apple HomePod is powered by Apple Music. The smart speaker gives you easy access to the vast music catalog. Apple Music boasts of up to 40 million songs and with Siri baked into the smart speaker you can easily request songs using natural language.
Unlike Amazon Echo and Google Home, you are tied to the Apple kingdom. Third party music services like Spotify and Spotify are not supported.
You can place two of the smart speakers in the same room and they can sync with each other to deliver great sound quality. You can even place the speakers in multiple rooms and thanks to AirPlay 2 they can all sync to play your music all across your house.
Control your Smart Home
Like popular smart speakers like Amazon Echo and Google Home, the Apple HomePod can enable you control compatible (Homekit) smart devices with natural voice.
You can control lights and temperature of a room with voice command. Virtually any Homekit compatible smart device like light bulbs, security cameras, cooling systems can be controlled by the Apple HomePod.
Apple HomePod comes with the brains and the reach of Siri. This means you can have natural conversation with the smart speaker. You get information about weather, sports scores, traffic, etc.
Apple HomePod will go on sale in December starting in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. It is expected at a price of $349.
