Apple officially announces new HomePod speaker to ‘reinvent home music,’ coming in December for $349
At its Worldwide Developer Conference today, Apple has officially taken the wraps off of its oft-rumored speaker in the form of HomePod. The device acts as a standalone way for users to interact with Siri, play music, and more. Tim Cook touts this as Apple’s effort to “reinvent home music” just as it did with products like the iPad.
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Prior to announcing Apple’s product, Phil Schiller explained that Apple has worked to take what companies like Sonos and Amazon have done and create a “breakthrough home speaker.”
Schiller explained that a successful speaker must:
- Rock the house
- Spatial awareness
- A musicologist
To offer strong sound quality, the HomePod features a 7 tweeter array with precision acoustic horns and directional control. There’s also an Apple-design 4-inch woofer and it’s powered by Apple’s A8 chip. It measures in at just under 7-inches tall and features a mesh design.
Schiller touted the combination of the HomePod’s small form factor and spatial awareness as something that sets it apart from the competition.
On top of HomePod is a light array that will flash when “Hey Siri” is activated. Schiller says that Apple’s Siri team has worked to integrate all sorts of music-based actions, such as asking who is playing a specific instrument on a track. Apple Music is of course deeply integrated, but at this point it’s unclear if other services such as Spotify will be integrated.
There’s also HomeKit support for using HomePod as a home assistant. HomePod can also act as a HomeKit base station, allowing for remote control of home accessories.
- Music
- News
- Unit conversion
- Messages
- Reminders
- Podcasts
- Audio & Timers
- Translation
- Stocks
- General knowledge
- Weather
- Traffic
- Sports
- Nearby
As for privacy, Apple says that HomePod will start listening only when “Hey Siri” is prompted. From there, the HomePod users local recognition and sends an anonymous ID to Apple’s servers. Of course, everything is sent over an encrypted connection.
HomePod will start shipping in the U.S., U.K, and Australia this December for $349. It will come in white and space gray. It will expand to additional countries next year.
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