Apple homePod will revolutionize home music as much as iPod did so for portable music. These are the words of Tim Cook who introduced homePod at WWDC 2017. While we want to believe that’s the case, we stay neutral to observe how events actually evolve. Based on Apple’s proven track record with AirPods, the chances of high adoption are very realistic.
HomePod Video
HomePod Price
According to the latest Apple announcement, homePod will cost $349. As compared to combining smart speakers such as Amazon Echo or Google Assistant with quality sound speaker such as Sonos or Bose, the price point seems competitive. We’ll have to wait to validate that Siri 2.0 is as good as her competition. The same will be said about the quality of sound as soon as we can get our hands on the product.
HomePod Commands
Apple gave an idea how intelligent HomePod will be. For instance, WWDC screen presented the following questions.
Simple Commands
- When do the Red Sox play next?
- What time is it in Panama?
- When is Father’s day?
- Flip a coin
- Tune to NPR instead
- Remind me to move my car
- What books are written by James Patterson
Complex Commands
- Who’s the drummer in this song?
- When was this recorded?
- What was the top song on May 5th, 2016?
- Play more songs like this
- Play I’m Poppy
- Play 24K Magic next
- Who’s singing?
- Play some lullabies in the baby’s room
- When was this recorded?
Usability Based on Area of Interest
HomePod will integrate with the following areas of use:
- Music
- News
- Unit conversion
- Messages
- Reminder
- Podcasts
- Alarms and Timers
- Translation
- Stocks
- General knowledge
- Weather
- Traffic & Nearby
- Sports
- Home
Set Up – Single vs. Multiple Speakers
Single speaker set up is the most basic option to “rock the house”. We believe that dual speaker setup will be required in larger living spaces if you try to compete with high end audio speaker systems.
Technical Specs and Dimensions
- Height 172mm or 6.8 in.
- Width 142mm or 5.6 in.
- Weight 2.5kg or 5.5 pounds
- Available in Space Gray and White
Audio Specs
- Apple designed A8 chip
- High-excursion woofer
- Seamless mesh fabric
- Six-microphone array
- Seven-tweeter array
Release Date
Apple committed to make HomePod available in December 2017. That’s namely for U.S., U.K., and Australia regions. If history repeats itself and Apple follows the suit of AirPods, the general public will be able to pre-order in September, right after Apple’s main keynote. We believe that first units will be reaching customer homes for Christmas Holidays but count on a general delay of six weeks to ship for the majority of orders.
HomeKit Connection
Where HomePod will truly shine is when connected to the Apple’s HomeKit ecosystem. You’re be able to order Siri to fulfill the following commands:
- Open the blinds
- Turn on the lights
- Make it cooler here
- Open the shades halfway
- Turn on the front yard sprinkles
Review
We’re eager to put our hands on the HomePod as soon as it’s released in December. Right then, we can fully experience the Siri speaker’s capabilities so please keep checking our review section. The sneak peek we’ve seen from Apple’s WWDC even looks very promising and given its success rate, we’re staying very optimistic. The fact that 60% of EVTs and DVTs (Engineering/Design validation testing units) get axed before production, gives us high hopes that HomePod was chosen as one of the highest potential innovative products to be released in 2017.