Fun facts about Apple’s new HomePod
Before we delve into the unique personality of this device, let’s first understand what HomePod™ is and what it is not.
Apple® claims HomePod is the ultimate music authority, bringing together Apple Music® and Siri® to learn your taste in music. From all indications to date, Apple is spot on with that assessment. The engineering is amazing. HomePod isn’t just one speaker, it’s actually eight speakers, all controlled by Apple’s own A8 processor and tons of custom software. There are seven tweeters that fire down and out from the bottom, and a single four-inch woofer pointing out of the top for low frequencies. There is also a total of seven microphones — six around the middle for Siri, and a seventh inside that measures the location of that woofer so Apple can precisely control the bass.
All of these speakers and software aren’t trying to add anything to music, but rather to eliminate unwanted extra sounds you might get from reflections in the room in which HomePod sits. It is this kind of nuance that easily makes HomePod the best sounding smart speaker in the marketplace.
If you’re all in on the Apple ecosystem, and you’re a diehard fan of Apple Music, then HomePod is your device of choice. But if you are instead looking for a more competent Amazon Echo or Google Home as a voice-controlled intelligent assistant, you may not find it in HomePod.
If you still have HomePod perched on the fence, here are some fun facts you should know: Read More...
Apple Introduces HomePod
Back in 1984, Steve Jobs introduced the Macintosh®. Or rather, the Mac® introduced itself to the audience by saying “Hello, I’m Macintosh. It sure is great to get out of that bag.”
Apple's introduction of HomePod™ demonstrates just how far we’ve come from those early days of technology intelligence. HomePod can not only introduce itself, but teams with Siri® and Apple Music® to create a brilliant home assistant capable of managing everyday tasks and bringing the music listening experience to an entirely new level.
Designed to compete against — er, crush? — Amazon Echo and Google Home when it begins shipping this month, HomePod is a powerful intelligent speaker in an elegant mesh-covered cylindrical package that stands just seven inches tall and boasts seven beam-forming tweeters for high-frequency acoustics and a large woofer for deep, clean bass. Driven by its A8 chip, HomePod software enables a spatial awareness that can sense its location in the room and automatically adjust the audio for the optimal listening — or command-executing — experience.
Apple Hardware takes center stage at WWDC
With more than 5,000 developers in attendance, Apple introduced a new iMac®, a powerful new iMac Pro, an iPad Pro® in a new form factor and a smart speaker called HomePod — the first new product since the Apple Watch® was unveiled in 2015.
HomePod created the loudest buzz. It’s Apple’s answer to the popular Amazon Echo and Google Home wireless smart speakers, and delivers amazing audio quality that competes with the best Wi-Fi speakers on the market. Read More...