Apple Debuts HomePod with Siri

Just a year ago, Apple caught grief for talking about differential privacy and the ability to do machine learning on an iPhone because the general thinking then was that you could only do that kind of work by collecting massive amounts of data and performing that work in large data centers. The HomePod is powered by Siri, but Apple didn’t mention until it was half way into the segment about the speaker. According to market research firm eMarketer, Amazon will capture 70.6 percent of all voice-enabled speaker users in the U.S. this year.

The way Apple is positioning Homepod is simple. It says the HomePod uses an Apple Music subscription for “deep knowledge of personal music preferences”.

The HomePod will offer strong audio with an array of seven tweeters, each with its own amplifier, and an upward-facing woofer.

The device uses a technique known as beam forming to personalise the sound for each room and listener.

“At the start of the event, not knowing yet that this speaker was coming, there was a song by Foals playing”, Goode said.

In addition, Samsung Electronics is also rumored to be preparing a home audio device likely to be equipped with its own voice assistant Bixby. The brain behind this smart device is a powerful Apple-designed A8 chip with advanced echo cancellation technology.

Automatic room-sensing technology allows HomePod to learn its position in a room. The smart speaker automatically studies a room’s acoustics, adjusts the sound according to its location, then drives the music in the optimal direction.

It’s a courageous new world and these devices are really great if you’re used to tuning and tapping to get your favorite music. Google is still in the process of rolling it out to Android and adding extra capabilities, but it benefits from all the data its maker can collect on you, which means a more personalised experience (as well as more privacy worries).

However, tell what you may to Apple fanatics, the HomePod is not without its obvious limits.

Can’t decide what music to play?

Citing “former executives, close observers, and even devoted customers”, the report suggests Apple has fallen behind other voice assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant due to a continued lack of innovation. This will be flawless for those of you who photo edit, render 3D images or maybe just play games when you probably have something more important to do.

Smart home features are another big focus for other smart speakers, and this will be the first such speaker to support Apple HomeKit. The upgrade puts Apple’s streaming music framework on par with Google’s Chromecast for audio, which already supports multiroom audio. Siri doesn’t record anything until after you say “Hey Siri”. Some useful voice commands like “Hey Siri, play something different”, will fire up the AI device to browse through millions of music options.

At the end of the day, however, it’s all about the music and the additional features.

The one caveat is that all those competing companies have to want to work with Essential Home.

HomePod, it turns out, is both.

The Apple smart speaker is also equipped to perform functions such as setting kitchen timers, reminders, and even calendar integration. While you can use it to get news, weather and sports scores, for instance, you’re not going to ask it for a recipe, play a game, or order a pizza – all things you can do with Alexa.