Apple Introduces its home assistant HomePod

Here are some screen captures during the WWDC keynote. They pretty much show you an overview of the new HomePod.

• Rather pricey at $349!
• Available in December.
• The one thing that is good is Apple's attention to security. The HomePod never sends anything you say to the servers until you use the wake word, then it uses an anonymous ID to send the info, and it is encrypted. So Apple understands our concerns about privacy better than Amazon and certainly better than Google.

I think it is way to pricey myself, and I'm not sure how well, if at all, 3rd party music like Pandora and Spotify will integrate.

Personally, I think home assistants sounded good when we first heard about them, but they tend to be used less often in my house than I thought they would. Another device that was an impulse buy but turned out to be little used. I've got an Echo and Echo Dot, they are rarely used, and don't perform as well as they should, though that is mostly due to FW issues.

ETA: Apple now has a web page up for their new HomePod.
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[Dusky Rose]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I think it is way to pricey myself, and I'm not sure how well, if at all, 3rd party music like Pandora and Spotify will integrate.

Wow. Way too pricy, and probably too late to market.

We have several Dot's, got 'em while they were cheap, and use them all the time. Mostly to listen to news, play music from our Amazon playlists, and listen to audio books. But we've got them hooked up to some lights and can turn on those lights just by telling Echo to turn them on.

(Which is nice when my insomnia hits, I can turn all the basement lights on at 2am before I actually get there.)

But once someone gets this stuff set up, who wants to migrate to some other system? I'm still learning how to use all this stuff.

The Privacy issue doesn't bother me. I don't see that they're very good listening devices yet. And we're not saying anything secret or even usefull.

We have enough problems trying to get the Echo to listen to what we're saying, rather than what the news announcer is saying, when we get them turned on. It can be hard to turn them off when it's listening to itself play the news. That's annoying, and I hope they can find a fix for that soon.

Yep, Alexa is one dumb blonde! I have to argue with her all the time. She wakes up to almost any noise, but cannot get commands correct about half the time. I use mine mostly to control a few lights too. But I sometimes just pull out my iPhone and control them through the Kasa app.

I look at the HomePod the same way I look at the Apple TV: It simply doesn't appeal to me. To pricey, and Amazon has already made me see how buying an Echo was a waste of money. The Dot is way cheaper and can control home devices, but the Echo was a waste as it has rather poor sound quality. Even if the HomePod does rock the house, I listen to Pandora and I don't think HomePod will support 3rd party music services.

[Jessica Lares]

The A8 chip and microphones are supposed to help solve the problem of it not being able to hear you.

It's meant to compete with the other speakers in the same price range, not Alexa or Google Home. Siri is just a bonus and you don't necessarily have to use it because it's otherwise just an AirPlay device.

I suspect the sound will be superior to Alexa devices and Google Home. I'm sure it will be good for those wanting such a device, but I can do everything the HomePod does with my iPhone 7 or iPads, excepting the speaker system of course. I use Pandora rather than Apple Music, so another reason I'm not interested.

[pwalker8]

While it sounds nice, I already have a very good sound system. If Apple actually worked with all my home devices (light switches, etc) then I would be a lot more interested. One of my frustrations with Apples Field of Dreams philosophy (built it and they will come), is that in situations like carplay and homeplay, they haven't come.

Well those issues occur with other makers too. My Echo devices only control specific home devices, and not that well at the moment. I suspect the same is true with Google Home. The makers seem to make alliances with home device companies, but none make alliances with all of them. I do notice that Apple incorporated home device scenes into their system, just as Amazon did. I'm not sure about Google Home, but they likely have them too. So it makes me wonder if they are all using a standardized control system for home devices. A standardized system would be nice, then home device manufacturers could more easily get their devices to work across the various devices. But I haven't researched to see if that is the case. I know that my TP-Link lightbulbs have scene capability, and the scenes work very well with my Kasa app on my iPhone and iPad. Kasa is TP-Link's own app. But Amazon has issues with scenes on my TP-Link lightbulbs. So each company with home assistant devices has to get their firmware working correctly before 3rd party home devices will fully function.

Personally, I find it is easier, and often quicker, to use apps on my iPhone or iPad to control home devices like lightbulbs. Having to remember the magic words to say to a home assistant is a PITA, especially when they don't always work. If I had a house full of remote controlled lightbulbs, music system, thermostat, etc., then I think a master control app on a tablet or phone would be much better for controlling those than trying to remember the names and commands for each device. But that is just me...

[pwalker8]

Right now, I only have a couple of lights on a controlled device, the external porch light and one of my living room lights. They are wemo devices so I use the wemo app. Supposedly in the fall, Belkin will have a Wemo bridge which will allow me to use the wemo switches with HomeKit. I actually have apps that would allow me to control my reciever, my tivo and my AppleTV from my iPhone, but none are associated with HomeKit and none are Siri controllable. If I could simply say, Hey Siri, turn on the receiver, or Hey Siri mute the receiver, then we are cooking with gas.

Siri, nor Homekit, work with my TP-Link bulbs. So either I use Amazon, and argue with her about the commands, or I use the TP-Link Kasa app on my iPhone or iPad. Hopefully some day we won't have to worry about compatibility. True plug and play. Which by the way still doesn't always work, especially on Windows computers.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Siri, nor Homekit, work with my TP-Link bulbs. So either I use Amazon, and argue with her about the commands, or I use the TP-Link Kasa app on my iPhone or iPad. Hopefully some day we won't have to worry about compatibility. True plug and play. Which by the way still doesn't always work, especially on Windows computers.

You have a typo there. It should be plug and pray.

Originally Posted by pwalker8

You have a typo there. It should be plug and pray.

Yep that to!

Most true USB interfaces work fine on Windows 10, but I have several older radios with older style serial cables that need the Prolific driver to operate through USB ports. To get them to work I have to use an old driver from 2007. Problem is that Windows 10 keeps replacing the old driver with a new one that won't work. It is really Prolifics disallowing Chinese cloned cables from working, however it also kills legitimate cables that were sold by reputable companies. I've tried every workaround to keep Windows 10 from messing with the drivers, but it still does. Very aggrevating especially since my cables were not the Chinese clones. Every time Windows 10 updates, which is really often, I have to reinstall the driver. So it is more plug and fail at the moment. Interestingly, the cables always work perfectly on my Mac, but the radio programming software is not available for Macs. Thankfully most newer radios now have built in USB controllers, so no drivers are necessary.

[johnnyb]

Will Siri read iBooks?

[kyteflyer]

Too rich for my blood. It will be around $500 here in Oz, definitely need a new washing machine before this.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

Too rich for my blood. It will be around $500 here in Oz, definitely need a new washing machine before this.

But just think of what you can listen to as you are hand washing your laundry in an old tub with a washing board!

Originally Posted by pwalker8

But just think of what you can listen to as you are hand washing your laundry in an old tub with a washing board!

Yes, and an old washboard and tub can double as musical instruments too. Form a band!



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