The cylindrical HomePod is Apple’s answer to Amazon Echo and Google Home. Two competitors that admittedly are much ahead of Google in the AI-powered smart speaker game. But nonetheless, it is here now.
Apple has Siri built-in to the speakers so users can initiate requests using solely the voice. The smart speaker can give you a range of voice-based feedbacks.The HomePod can play Music for you. It can get you the latest news. It can also control other Apple devices. Apple is marketing the HomePod mainly as a music player. And if you want to take full advantage of it, you will have to Apple’s music streaming services which cost $10 to $15 (Rs. 120 in India) per month.
Speaking about the feature, Apple CEO Tim Cook said “It will reinvent home audio,”
The 7-inch HomePod consists of one big woofer that will produce deep clean bass and a custom array of seven beam-forming tweeters. The HomePod is voice-activated, so to make it responsive, Six microphones have been placed inside.
The Siri-based smart speakers are also positionally aware and can adjust audio output accordingly when the need arises.The HomePod comes with is local voice recognition system which doesn’t require your voice to be sent to servers to identify user query.
The HomePod will cost $349 when it will be available in December, in the UK, Australia, and the US. In contrast, the Amazon Echo sells for $180 while the Google Home can be yours for $130.
