Hey Siri, when is Apple finally going to let you compete with Google Home and Amazon’s Alexa?
If she was here, Siri would tell you December seems to be the answer. That’s when Apple’s latest gadget, called the HomePod, is set to launch.
The HomePod isn’t likely to replace the iPhone is terms of popular gadgetry, but the 7-inch tall, mesh-covered smart speaker does have a mix of upcoming technologies that gives some insight into what Apple plans for its digital assistant.
Apple obviously intends the HomePod to be a launching point for Siri’s development.
NEW TASKS FOR SIRI
No longer content for Siri to just answer questions — which is smart, because Google and Amazon’s digital assistants have already moved past that point — Siri will now be a music curator, a message sender and hub for smart home controls, among other things. She will also be able to speak with a less robotic-sounding voice.
But for the short term, Apple seems to be making sure it isn’t promising more than it can deliver. The company is promoting the HomePod primarily as a home music system. Siri will apparently need to learn to DJ before she can run in any other unexpected directions.
Apple is seemingly giving Siri, and the HomePod, the equipment it needs to succeed. Apple has designed the speaker to deal with a number of music-specific issues.
It will automatically adjust to it surroundings, literally, by using sensors to determine the size of the room it is placed in or whether or not it is placed in a corner on a table.
More personal choices, such as volume or bass settings, will still be left to the user.
HOMEPOD CHIPS
HomePod will also have an A8 chip and a 64-byte processor that first appeared in the iPhone 6.
A more immediate concern for everyone outside of the US might be if the speaker will be launched in their home markets.
Google Home and Amazon’s Alexa have both been limited by their ability to go international.
Apple is promising international launches in the UK and Australia concurrently with the US launch in December, but while further international launches were also promised next year, no time line was given.
However, Apple also announced that one of Siri’s new features would be the ability to translate English to (and by extension speak) Chinese, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
That could give some hint as the markets that Apple is looking at.
The HomePod will retail for $349 in the US.
