Re: Apple's $349 HomePod speaker is now available to preorder - The Verge

[Andy Baracco]

Wow! The A8! Why not the A11?

Andy

- Original Message - 
From: "M. Taylor" <mk...@ucla.edu>

To: <viphone@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2018 7:27 AM
Subject: Apple's $349 HomePod speaker is now available to preorder - The 
Verge




Apple's $349 HomePod speaker is now available to preorder
Stereo pairing and multiroom audio won't arrive until later, though
By Thuy Ong, Jan 26, 2018, 8:38am EST

Apple's $349 HomePod smart speaker is now available to preorder through 
the
Apple Store app, with shipping slated to start on February 9th. Despite 
the

delay in the speaker's launch, the HomePod will ship without features like
AirPlay 2, which allows pairing and multiroom audio. Apple says those
features are "coming this year in a free software update." HomePod is
powered by Apple's A8 chip (that first appeared in the iPhone 6) and
features built-in Siri, six microphones, HomeKit support to control your
compatible smart home devices, and the ability to automatically optimize
sound for a given room.
We briefly played with the speaker last year. My colleague Dieter called 
it

"a cute little ovoid thing" that "sounds really good in the demos" with
"more bass than you expect from such a small speaker." But we'll need to
spend some real time with it before we can say it's worth $349.
Apple's smart speaker offering is the most expensive of its rivals at this
size. The much larger and more powerful Google Home Max costs $399, while
the standard Google Home is $129, and Amazon Echo is $99.99. HomePod is 
also
rivaled by the Sonos One smart speaker. To ruffle Apple's feathers, Sonos 
is

offering two Sonos One speakers for $349, the price of a single HomePod.
Sonos One supports Amazon Alexa integration, and it's promising Google
Assistant integration sometime later this year.
The HomePod is available for preorder now in the US, UK, and Australia in
black or white. The smart speaker will be available in France and Germany
this spring.

Original Article at:
https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/26/16935664/apple-homepod-spe
aker-pre-order-price-release-date

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Re: Apple's $349 HomePod speaker is now available to preorder - The Verge

[Harry Bell]

My wife’s just ordered me a HomePod as a late Christmas present! I also use 
Apple Music and would love not to have to dig out my iPhone for having Siri 
deal with music, messages, emails, calendar. I’m wary, though, that they may 
not have improved Siri enough (certainly Siri struggles to recognise 
foreign-sounding names or classical music titles. Also, nothing has been said 
about whether the HomePod will only recognise one persons voice or whether 
every passing stranger can evoke Hey Siri, as happens in our family living room 
at the moment!
Harry

> On 26 Jan 2018, at 16:03, christopher hallsworth  
> wrote:
> 
> Thanks for sharing this. I'm personally excited for this, which doesn't seem 
> to be the case for everyone at this moment in time, understandably because of 
> rivalries like the Echo or Sonos One. While I have an Echo dot, I am really 
> looking forward to the somewhat major upgrade to my set up. I might be unique 
> also because I'm a massive Apple Music fan compared to the likes of Amazon 
> Music Unlimited and Spotify which are good options but Apple Music is 
> something I'm more willing to commit to than the others. It is however cool 
> to be able to talk to Siri in your home right from Homepod without digging 
> out your iOS device just to talk to Siri. Just my £0.02 worth, and sorry if I 
> appear to be waffling on a bit.
> 
> 
>> On 26 Jan 2018, at 15:27, M. Taylor  wrote:
>> 
>> Apple's $349 HomePod speaker is now available to preorder
>> Stereo pairing and multiroom audio won't arrive until later, though
>> By Thuy Ong, Jan 26, 2018, 8:38am EST
>> 
>> Apple's $349 HomePod smart speaker is now available to preorder through the
>> Apple Store app, with shipping slated to start on February 9th. Despite the
>> delay in the speaker's launch, the HomePod will ship without features like
>> AirPlay 2, which allows pairing and multiroom audio. Apple says those
>> features are "coming this year in a free software update." HomePod is
>> powered by Apple's A8 chip (that first appeared in the iPhone 6) and
>> features built-in Siri, six microphones, HomeKit support to control your
>> compatible smart home devices, and the ability to automatically optimize
>> sound for a given room.
>> We briefly played with the speaker last year. My colleague Dieter called it
>> "a cute little ovoid thing" that "sounds really good in the demos" with
>> "more bass than you expect from such a small speaker." But we'll need to
>> spend some real time with it before we can say it's worth $349.
>> Apple's smart speaker offering is the most expensive of its rivals at this
>> size. The much larger and more powerful Google Home Max costs $399, while
>> the standard Google Home is $129, and Amazon Echo is $99.99. HomePod is also
>> rivaled by the Sonos One smart speaker. To ruffle Apple's feathers, Sonos is
>> offering two Sonos One speakers for $349, the price of a single HomePod.
>> Sonos One supports Amazon Alexa integration, and it's promising Google
>> Assistant integration sometime later this year.
>> The HomePod is available for preorder now in the US, UK, and Australia in
>> black or white. The smart speaker will be available in France and Germany
>> this spring.
>> 
>> Original Article at:
>> https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/26/16935664/apple-homepod-spe
>> aker-pre-order-price-release-date
>> 
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>> 
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>> you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or 
>> moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself.
>> 
>> Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor.  Mark can be reached at:  
>> mk...@ucla.edu.  Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at 
>> caraqu...@caraquinn.com
>> 
>> The archives for this list can be searched at:
>> http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/
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> 
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> moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself.
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> Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor.  Mark can be reached at:  
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> 
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Re: Apple's $349 HomePod speaker is now available to preorder - The Verge

[christopher hallsworth]

Thanks for sharing this. I'm personally excited for this, which doesn't seem to 
be the case for everyone at this moment in time, understandably because of 
rivalries like the Echo or Sonos One. While I have an Echo dot, I am really 
looking forward to the somewhat major upgrade to my set up. I might be unique 
also because I'm a massive Apple Music fan compared to the likes of Amazon 
Music Unlimited and Spotify which are good options but Apple Music is something 
I'm more willing to commit to than the others. It is however cool to be able to 
talk to Siri in your home right from Homepod without digging out your iOS 
device just to talk to Siri. Just my £0.02 worth, and sorry if I appear to be 
waffling on a bit.


> On 26 Jan 2018, at 15:27, M. Taylor  wrote:
> 
> Apple's $349 HomePod speaker is now available to preorder
> Stereo pairing and multiroom audio won't arrive until later, though
> By Thuy Ong, Jan 26, 2018, 8:38am EST
> 
> Apple's $349 HomePod smart speaker is now available to preorder through the
> Apple Store app, with shipping slated to start on February 9th. Despite the
> delay in the speaker's launch, the HomePod will ship without features like
> AirPlay 2, which allows pairing and multiroom audio. Apple says those
> features are "coming this year in a free software update." HomePod is
> powered by Apple's A8 chip (that first appeared in the iPhone 6) and
> features built-in Siri, six microphones, HomeKit support to control your
> compatible smart home devices, and the ability to automatically optimize
> sound for a given room.
> We briefly played with the speaker last year. My colleague Dieter called it
> "a cute little ovoid thing" that "sounds really good in the demos" with
> "more bass than you expect from such a small speaker." But we'll need to
> spend some real time with it before we can say it's worth $349.
> Apple's smart speaker offering is the most expensive of its rivals at this
> size. The much larger and more powerful Google Home Max costs $399, while
> the standard Google Home is $129, and Amazon Echo is $99.99. HomePod is also
> rivaled by the Sonos One smart speaker. To ruffle Apple's feathers, Sonos is
> offering two Sonos One speakers for $349, the price of a single HomePod.
> Sonos One supports Amazon Alexa integration, and it's promising Google
> Assistant integration sometime later this year.
> The HomePod is available for preorder now in the US, UK, and Australia in
> black or white. The smart speaker will be available in France and Germany
> this spring.
> 
> Original Article at:
> https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/26/16935664/apple-homepod-spe
> aker-pre-order-price-release-date
> 
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> you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or 
> moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself.
> 
> Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor.  Mark can be reached at:  
> mk...@ucla.edu.  Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at 
> caraqu...@caraquinn.com
> 
> The archives for this list can be searched at:
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Apple's $349 HomePod speaker is now available to preorder - The Verge

[M. Taylor]

Apple's $349 HomePod speaker is now available to preorder
Stereo pairing and multiroom audio won't arrive until later, though
By Thuy Ong, Jan 26, 2018, 8:38am EST
 
Apple's $349 HomePod smart speaker is now available to preorder through the
Apple Store app, with shipping slated to start on February 9th. Despite the
delay in the speaker's launch, the HomePod will ship without features like
AirPlay 2, which allows pairing and multiroom audio. Apple says those
features are "coming this year in a free software update." HomePod is
powered by Apple's A8 chip (that first appeared in the iPhone 6) and
features built-in Siri, six microphones, HomeKit support to control your
compatible smart home devices, and the ability to automatically optimize
sound for a given room.
We briefly played with the speaker last year. My colleague Dieter called it
"a cute little ovoid thing" that "sounds really good in the demos" with
"more bass than you expect from such a small speaker." But we'll need to
spend some real time with it before we can say it's worth $349.
Apple's smart speaker offering is the most expensive of its rivals at this
size. The much larger and more powerful Google Home Max costs $399, while
the standard Google Home is $129, and Amazon Echo is $99.99. HomePod is also
rivaled by the Sonos One smart speaker. To ruffle Apple's feathers, Sonos is
offering two Sonos One speakers for $349, the price of a single HomePod.
Sonos One supports Amazon Alexa integration, and it's promising Google
Assistant integration sometime later this year.
The HomePod is available for preorder now in the US, UK, and Australia in
black or white. The smart speaker will be available in France and Germany
this spring.

Original Article at:
https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/26/16935664/apple-homepod-spe
aker-pre-order-price-release-date

-- 
The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list.

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feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or 
moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself.

Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor.  Mark can be reached at:  
mk...@ucla.edu.  Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at 
caraqu...@caraquinn.com

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