Items tagged with homepod
With the recent cancellation of the HomePod smart speaker, Apple has abandoned the high-end smart speaker market, leaving just the HomePod mini to tackle the entry-level sector. This loss does not appear to be stopping the Cupertino-based company quite yet, though, as rumors swirl of a revival in the smart home space courtesy of an Apple TV set-top box with a speaker and camera built-in. According to anonymous sources who spoke to Bloomberg, the new Apple set-top box would utilize the camera and speaker to allow for “video conferencing through a connected TV and other smart-home functions.” Furthermore, it would include the standard gamut of Apple TV functionality such as...
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Apple yesterday made a somewhat surprising cancellation in its hardware lineup. The HomePod smart speaker initially launched in early 2018 and was never the big sales hit Apple expected. As a result, the HomePod is getting kicked out of the Apple family. The company issued the following statement to TechCrunch last night regarding the HomePod after the Space Gray version of the speaker showed up as unavailable on its website: HomePod mini has been a hit since its debut last fall, offering customers amazing sound, an intelligent assistant, and smart home control all for just $99. We are focusing our efforts on HomePod mini. We are discontinuing the original HomePod, it will...
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We've been hearing quite a bit about next-generation AirPods for the past few months, and the iPhone 12 event came and went with no mention of the wireless headphones. This was definitely disappointing for some, but a new report from Bloomberg suggests that they are still on the way and will arrive just a little later than previously thought. According to Mark Gurman, Apple is working on third-generation AirPods, which are expected to adopt a similar design to the current-generation AirPods Pro. This means that the cylindrical "stems" that attach to the actual "buds" will be smaller this time around and battery life will be boosted compared to the current models. They'll also be equipped...
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Apple has struggled to get its foot in the door with the HomePod. When the smart speaker was first announced, it was priced at $349, and was later reduced to $299. However, it can regularly be found on sale for $199. But even that hasn't been enough to result in any meaningful market share for Apple. The company hopes to change this with the HomePod mini, which brings most of the good stuff found in the larger HomePod, but in a smaller form-factor. The new HomePod mini features a single main driver, two passive radiators and an acoustic waveguide that is mounted in the bottom of the speaker housing. As the rumors predicted, the HomePod mini is powered by the S5 SoC, which was first...
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Apple is reportedly close to launching a new smart speaker product, and we're not talking about the inevitable HomePod 2. Instead, reliable Apple leaker L0vetodream is alleging that a HomePod mini will be launching this year (perhaps at the "Hi, Speed" iPhone 12 virtual keynote). A cheaper HomePod mini could be just what the doctor ordered for Apple. The original HomePod launched in early 2018 with a $349 price tag, which put it out of reach for many mainstream consumers. Just over a year later, Apple reduced the price to $299 amid lagging sales. Sales for the HomePod haven't improved much since then, and the device has been lumped in the "other" category with smart speakers also-rans according...
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The July 4th (Independence Day) holiday is tomorrow, which means that many folks will be setting off fireworks, enjoying time with friends (socially distanced, of course), and grilling a few burgers and dogs. This weekend also represents a good time to score some discounts on tech gear, particularly if you’re heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem. Apple Watch Series 3 Deals The Apple Watch Series 3 is a few years old, but it is still an incredibly popular smartwatch that Apple has decided to keep around to occupy the entry-level market. The 38mm watch typically retails for $199, but Amazon is knocking $30 off the price, bringing it down to just $169. That price is for either...
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Typically, when Apple has a new version of a product coming, the old version gets marked down to clear out stock. Currently, one of the lowest prices we've seen for the current-generation Apple HomePod smart speaker is available. The discount is currently knocking $100 off the regular price (which was already discounted from its launch price). The $100 discount mentioned comes from Best Buy, and the price cut puts the speaker at $199.99. The $199 price is significantly lower than the $349 price point the speaker launched at in 2018. In April 2019, Apple dropped the price to $299. Apple HomePod in Space Gray or White at Best Buy - $100 discount at $199.99 With the significant discount offered...
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Sometimes it feels like if you have seen one flagship smartphone, you have seen them all—most of the designs are similar to one another these days. Perhaps in a bid to shake things up a tad, Apple is supposedly gearing up to launch a new round of iPhone models that will borrow some design elements of the company's iPad family. There will be four presumed iPhone 12 models in all, including two that will replace the iPhone 11 Pro Max and iPhone 11 Pro, and two to replace the regular iPhone 11, according to what "people familiar with the plans" told Bloomberg. It is said that the two higher end SKUs will ditch the curved edges found on current iPhone 11 models and replace them with stainless...
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Apple got off to a rocky start with sales its HomePod smart speaker, which integrates the Siri digital voice assistant. We can't blame consumers for staying away from the HomePod initially, as Apple debuted the smart speaker at a lofty $349, when Amazon sells scores of Echo devices for under $100. Around this time last year, Apple finally responded to complaints by giving the HomePod a permanent price cut to $299. However, electronics retailer Best Buy is going one step further with a compelling discount on the HomePod. Best Buy is currently selling the HomePod for a "low" $199, which represents a $100 discount off its regular asking price, and matches its limited-time Black Friday...
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It's bad enough we have to worry about sharks with frickin' laser beams attached, but now we have to be vigilant against the threat lasers present to smart home speakers and other devices with digital assistants. How so? Security researchers at the University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo and at the University of Michigan warn that relatively cheap laser points can be modded to inject inaudible and invisible commands into voice assistants. This method of hacking affects all of the popular voice assistants, including Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, and Facebook Portal. "The implications of injecting unauthorized voice commands vary in severity based on the type of commands that...
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Apple yesterday announced its new AirPods Pro along with an iOS 13.2 update that adds support for the wireless earbuds. At the same time, the company also released tvOS 13.2 and the 13.2 update for the HomePod. Unfortunately, the latter update has turned into living hell for many HomePod users. There have been numerous reports that the software update has bricked their devices, and Apple has gathered enough evidence on these widespread reports to pull the update. In one particular reddit discussion thread, this is how the general problem is described: So the update in the beginning pretty much killed Apple Music for me, so I went to unpair it/remove from the home app. Now I have...
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When Apple announced the iPhone 11/iPhone Pro, seventh-generation iPad and Apple Watch Series 5 yesterday, there was no mention made about one of its lesser-known products: the HomePod. The HomePod is Apple's answer to the Google Home and Amazon Echo family of smart speakers, but hasn't been nearly as successful in the marketplace -- likely due to its exorbitant price tag (Apple cut its price from $349 to $299 back in April). With that being said, Apple does have a few updates in store for the HomePod which were further confirmed via the official product page for the device. One of the biggest additions is support for multiple users. Instead of the HomePod being tied to just one person's...
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In an apparent effort to stay competitive in the smart speaker war, Apple today clipped $50 off the price of its HomePod, bringing the cost down from $349 to now $299. The new price applies to both the White and Space Gray models. For those who are interested, the $50 savings negates the cost of adding an AppleCare+ warranty, which is an additional $39 charge. Apple is not exactly known for slashing prices on its products without a new model being announced. It's possible that a HomePod 2 is on the horizon, but more likely, Apple is trying to bolster sales and be more competitive in an increasingly crowded field, albeit one that is dominated by Amazon and Google (in that order). Up to this point,...
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No one thought that it would be easy to take on Amazon in the smart speaker market; after all, the company got the jump on the competition with its first Echo in late 2014. However, if any company stood a chance against Amazon, it was Google, and the newest numbers from research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) show that to be somewhat true. According to CIRP's analysis of the U.S. market, there was a total installed base of 66 million smart speakers during Q4 2018. Of that total, Amazon accounted for a commanding 70 percent of installs with its Echo family of smart speakers according to the research firm. The Google Home family of smart speakers was...
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Apple fans who have been jealous that Amazon Echo and Google Home smart speakers have been steep getting discounts this holiday season have something to be happy about. B&H Photo and Video has a deal going right now on the Apple HomePod speaker that sees a brand new unit in white or gray colors offered for less than the refurbished price direct from Apple. B&H is offering a holiday savings of $100 off on Apple HomePod speakers. B&H has a limited supply of HomePod speakers available in Space Gray or White colors for $249 instead of the normal $349 price. The biggest caveat to the B&H deal is that right now it is out of stock on both HomePod colors. However, the authorized Apple...
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Apple has not said a whole lot about its future plans for its HomePod smart speaker, but it's a safe bet that the company is continually working to improve the device. Otherwise, it will get left behind competitive offers, namely Amazon's Echo products and Google's Home smart speaker. So what might be in store for the HomePod? One of the rumored features headed to Apple's smart speaker is the ability to make phone calls. While nothing of the sort has been announced, French-language website iGeneration claims that speakerphone capabilities are headed to the HomePod with the Apple's iOS 12 update (currently in beta). As it goes, the user's smartphone would handle the grunt work of a phone call,...
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iOS 11.4 is rolling out to iPhone and the iPad today, and it will bring with it support for Messages in the Cloud and AirPlay 2 (among other things). The first feature will allow all of your text messages and iMessages (which can often be quite large in size) via iCloud. The latter is a bigger deal for those with multi-room audio setups in their home. AirPlay 2 will allow you to, for example, sync the HomePod in your kitchen with the HomePod in your upstairs loft, allowing you to enjoy the same music as you move through different areas of your home. Not only can you use AirPlay 2 to sync between multiple HomePods, but you can also sync your HomePod with other AirPlay 2-enabled devices...
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We are now just two weeks shy of Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which means that new product and service announcements from the Cupertino company are right around the corner. So, what can we expect out of WWDC? Some users posed that question to Siri, and surprisingly the digital assistant obliged with some interesting answers teasing what might be in store. One of the things Siri revealed is that the digital assistant is getting a "brand new voice." It's not clear if that means a new voice option, as in a different accent, or more likely if Siri will simply sound different after WWDC. As useful as Siri can be, the software still sounds a little robotic. In contrast, the...
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There are rumblings from one of Apple's suppliers that the company is supposedly planning to release a new HomePod model with Beats branding attached to it. You might recall that Apple acquired Beats for a whopping $3.2 billion just over four years ago, though for the most part is hasn't really integrated the popular brand into its other products and services. Perhaps that's about to change. We're taking the rumor with a dose of skepticism, though as the story goes, the new HomePod model with Beats branding is to be priced at $199. That's significantly cheaper than Apple's current HomePod, which sells for $349 on its website and is available in white or space gray. It's not entirely clear how...
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If you have been looking forward to getting an Apple-branded smart speaker in your home, the HomePod is now up for pre-order. HomePod will sell for $349, making it much more expensive than the competing products on the market already. As of this writing the ship date for from the device is listed as February 9. Apple will sell you an AppleCare+ plan for two years of tech support and accidental damage coverage for $39 per HomePod, although we don't really see the need for such protection for a device that will likely be sitting on a piece of furniture collecting dust for the majority of its life. To setup the HomePod, you do need an iPhone 5S or later, iPad Pro, iPad 5th generation, iPad Air or...
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It hasn't exactly been smooth sailing for Apple's HomePod AI smart speaker, but it appears that calmer waters lie ahead. Apple announced today that the HomePod will be available in stores beginning February 9th. The HomePod was originally supposed to launch in December 2017, but Apple couldn't meet that original deadline. “We can’t wait for people to experience HomePod, Apple’s breakthrough wireless speaker for the home, but we need a little more time before it’s ready for our customers," said Apple in a mid-November statement. "We’ll start shipping in the US, UK and Australia in early 2018.” Customers will have their first crack at preordering a HomePod on...
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When Apple first announced its HomePod smart speaker in June of last year, the company said it would be available to purchase starting in December, initially in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Well, December has come and gone and we are not into early 2018, which is the new launch time frame listed on the HomePod's product page. To go along with that, the FCC has made public documents Apple filed with the agency, suggesting a release is imminent. The documents are actually dated September 27, but have just now been released. That being the case, the hardware likely has not changed in the past several months, with the HomePod now polished up and gearing for retail availability....
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