Yup. Looks ugly as fuck lol
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HomePod Announced (Siri Speaker) Sonos meets Amazon Echo, $349
- Thread starter Muzy72
- Start date
Yup. Looks ugly as fuck lol
jts
...hate me...
At $199, with a lower spec speaker, I'd be a shoe in for one.
At this price it's really for people that value quality sound and can afford to shell out for it. I'm all in on Apple and still doesn't bring significant added value besides its sound; iPhone gives me Siri commands; Apple TV gives me a homekit hub.
Looks beautiful though.
Doesn't support Airplay 1, and from what I remember it wasn't on the list for Airplay 2 supporting manufacturers either. They have their own thing going on.
At this price it's really for people that value quality sound and can afford to shell out for it. I'm all in on Apple and still doesn't bring significant added value besides its sound; iPhone gives me Siri commands; Apple TV gives me a homekit hub.
Looks beautiful though.
Doesn't support Airplay 1, and from what I remember it wasn't on the list for Airplay 2 supporting manufacturers either. They have their own thing going on.
Last_colossi
Member
Yep that's a speaker alright.
I mean it'll probably be a great smart home device but damn, that price.
Benjamin1981
Member
I have Sonos i will replace them with this. The Sonos app is a mess and i only use Apple Music and Apple Podcasts anyway. And as bonus i can control my music using my voice and won't need my iPhone/iPad all the time by my side.
jts
...hate me...
In any case, found it:
Curious about what Apple will do with Beats for it. A poor man's Homepod would be ok for me.
entremet
Member
Not to mention pushing anything via AirPlay like Overcast or Audible. Not a fan of the garbage Sonos app.
This was covered in the keynote. Siri.
Sonos app is kind of mediocre. Plus this could sound better, there's a lot of things you can achieve with DSP these days that isn't isolated to mere equalization.
Kind of. The quote was:
Phil Schiller said:
Kind of humorous timing, but technically not inaccurate.
I'm not sure what to think about the HomePod yet. We don't have any way of knowing whether it'll be better than the Echo or Google Home. Siri today kind of sucks, but they're promising improvements by launch. Maybe it'll be good? They're saying the audio will be meaningfully better, but I kind of doubt the average consumer has any need or interest in audio quality beyond what the Echo or Google Home can already put out. And for those that do have a need, they can just get a Dot and dedicated speaker system. But who knows? Maybe the hardware premium will be worth it.
I've been a huge fan of Alexa and the Echo since day one, and I'm really curious to see how this space will look a few years from now. I think Google ultimately has a better chance of surpassing Amazon than Apple does. But again, who knows? We like to compare the AI on these things, but they're all roughly comparable at this stage. The sound quality and service integration differ slightly, but they all do basically the same things. Google will probably lead the way slightly on AI improvements and continue to benefit from integration with their other services. Amazon can leverage their delivery/logistics network ("restock tissues"), they'll always win on price at the low end of the market, and they're still benefiting from their first-mover advantage that's given them a head start on developer loyalty for their platform. Apple... I don't know. They've got their brand, and maybe some nicer hardware. It's worked for them before.
It's weird. Amazon and Google pour huge resources into these devices and probably sell them at a loss, all to better support their other services. Amazon wants more Prime customers and for those Prime customers to increase their online spending. Google wants to keep people in their ecosystem so they can keep selling ads.
Apple makes almost all their money from hardware. That's why Apple Maps will always be worse than Google Maps, and it's why Siri has suffered compared to other services these last few years. Maps and voice have been worth billions to Google and other players, when all Apple needs is a good-enough default option to ensure their phones keep selling like crazy. They don't have Prime or AdSense to prop them up; if it doesn't help them sell iPhones, they don't really care. HomePods aren't going to help Apple sell more iPhones, and the market for these things just isn't that big yet, especially at $350... best case scenario, even if this thing is a huge hit, this will still be a drop in the bucket to Apple compared to what they make on iPhones. But for Google and Apple, these things are hugely important and can be real money-makers that prop up their core businesses.
So yeah, it's weird. I'm not sure I get the business case for why Apple's doing this. It feels like they're just selling these things because everyone else is.
Yes
SteveMeister
Hang out with Steve.
If you can pair these with AppleTV, I'd be willing to buy a pair for $349 for a Dolby Atmos-like home theater setup. $700 for that seems high.
Bruce Springsteen
Member
Nope, just look at the commands they were presenting, all basic stuff that's been there for years
I'm sure it's an evil diabolical reason
Massive Nights
Member
350 for a thing that will regularly do an internet search for the term "15 minutes" when I say "Siri, set a timer for 15 minutes"? That's a pass from me.
bodyofanamerican
Member
Checked the OP, but didn't see anything on this. Does Siri ONLY work with an Apple Music subscription? Can I not use my voice to play music I have saved locally on my Mac/iPhone? That can't be the case, right?
jts
...hate me...
I don't think there's any way this speaker can be honestly considered "ugly". It's cylindrical and round and covered in mesh, there's nothing particularly offensive about it. It's like Kirby in speaker form. It's objectively cute.
Most people are just offended because it's Apple and try to get that preemptive fabricated criticism in tbh.
Most people are just offended because it's Apple and try to get that preemptive fabricated criticism in tbh.
Alcotholic
Banned
Mac heads gonna get it.
Engadget preview is saying that first-hand, the sound quality is better than the Play:3. Will have to demo this in Best Buy to get a better idea. I feel like $250 a pop would have been an acceptable price. I would have wanted them to do that so that Sonos would be more pressured to drop the price of the Sono 1's to $150 MSRP or something.
Diprosalic
Banned
Remember when apple designs were top notch? Good times. This does not come into my living room.
This made me chuckle. You comparing apples retail to the online entity that's literally destroying retail.
The comparisons to the Sonos are making this more interesting to me. I was thinking of getting the 2 Sonos Play 1s right now for 350. But if they're saying it's better than the 3 I might have to wait.
A lot of people were down on the Airpods and they had some of the high satisfaction ratings of any product(and one of my personal favorites in the past few years).
A lot of people were down on the Airpods and they had some of the high satisfaction ratings of any product(and one of my personal favorites in the past few years).
Costa Kid
Member
You guys freak out. Wait till it's double the price in Europe.
A quick Google search for the Bose SoundLink II is showing me that it's $250 - $100 less than this thing. And even so, Apple is going to be competing with Google and Amazon, not Bose.
Ughhh I have trypophobia and thankfully this doesn't seem to be doing anything to me.
Because it's Apple. Their huge base will buy it.
I don't think it's ugly either. Looks fine. Albeit boring.
Really want to hear more from this:
https://www.theverge.com/circuitbre...kardon-invoke-hands-on-photos-computex-taipei
BlastProcessing
Member
Huh, I think this is the prettiest thing Apple has made in at least 5 years.
Soapbox Killer
Grand Nagus
I don't think there's any way this speaker can be honestly considered "ugly". It's cylindrical and round and covered in mesh, there's nothing particularly offensive about it. It's like Kirby in speaker form. It's objectively cute.
Most people are just offended because it's Apple and try to get that preemptive fabricated criticism in tbh.
There is this thread about kirby being offensive
Speaker seems overpriced and thereby useless. If it was half price maybe? How much different is this from Google Home, which is often $99 on sale
I think you've missed the part where in this comparison the Pixel and Samsung phones already exist.
I was referring to the people dismissing the price. But sure, Pixel and Samsung exists.
entremet
Member
I know. I was going more the marketing and promotion angle. Things like speakers need to be heard in person.
Mr.Shrugglesã
Banned
Another echoing its quality over the play 3.
"Limited by only physics of size."
That's...lol.
Marty Chinn
Member
I don't think this is an Echo/Alexa or Google Home killer but let's not pretend either of those will stack up in audio quality either.