Apple’s new HomePod will arrive in stores on Friday, February 9, and will be available for orders online from January 26, only in the US, UK, and Australia, while France and Germany shall be added to this list from spring.
The Apple wireless speaker has advanced audio technologies and delivers a unique listening experience from wherever it is placed and plays any genre of music. It can be operated by your voice and is user-friendly, coupled with an Apple Music subscription that gives you access to one of the world’s largest music repertoires. Siri, now with over half a billion users, portrays a deep understanding of your taste of music and with her help, the HomePod will be able to assist you in a variety of other jobs as well. This 7-inch technological miracle embodies years of accumulated hardware and software innovation and includes:
1. Apple-engineered audio technology, using software meant for real-time modeling audio beam-forming, echo cancellation and is powered by Apple’s A8 chip, delivering a wide, spacious soundstage. It makes use of spatial data to sense its own location in a setting and automatically adjusts the audio to deliver the best sound.
2. Apple-designed woofers for a deep, clean bass, a custom array of seven beam-forming tweeters that provide pure high-frequency acoustics with directional control and an operating system that preserves the originality of tones and richness of recordings. The six microphones will register a “Hey Siri” from across a room, even with loud music playing in the background.
3. An easy set-up which involves steps that are similar to setting up AirPods: by simply holding an iPhone next to a HomePod that will play music in a matter of seconds. The Siri waveform will appear on top to indicate that Siri is engaged in word and in-built touch control ensures easy navigation.
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Apple Music:
The Apple Music subscription will give you access to a huge database that comprises any genre, mood or activity of your choice, with an ability to remember tastes and preferences shared amidst devices as well. Siri’s knowledge base can be mined for advanced searches in the Apple music catalog by asking questions like, “Hey Siri, can you play something else?” or “Hey Siri, can you give me more information about the album?”, etc. 45 million songs can be accessed, including their complete iTunes library or offline libraries, absolutely free of ads.
Apple HomePod is cut out for more work than playing music, such as being able to send messages, set timers, play podcasts, check the news, keep you updated on sports, streaming directly from NPR, CNN, ESPN and others, give traffic updates and weather forecasts, and even keep control on a variety of HomeKit smart home accessories. It can also be used as a speakerphone with iPhone, promising clear sound quality.
With support for HomeKit, the Apple HomePod can operate on several home accessories or some scenarios such as on hearing “Hey Siri, I’m home”, it will control accessories like turning on lights, raising shades, set a desired temperature and make adjustments to deliver a sense of the perfect home hub, enabling remote access and automation.
Related:
SiriKit for Apple HomePod:
SiriKit will help the HomePod to support third-party messaging apps, permitting users to ask Siri to send a message to any desired contact, like a friend or a family member, using apps such as WhatsApp. It will automatically work with Siri for setting reminders, note-taking and to-do list apps like Things and Evernote to create a new list, mark items as complete or create and modify notes. For developers interested in adding SiriKit support, more information is available at developer.apple.com/sirikit.
Home Assistant:
In a free software update due to be available this year, Apple users will be able to play music throughout a house using the multi-room audio. When placed in the kitchen, the HomePod can play any genre of music, like Blues in another room with Siri’s assistance or play the same song in sync. If there is more than one HomePod in the same room, the speakers can be put up as a stereo pair for an enhanced hearing experience.
Security and Privacy:
An integral concept, security, and privacy are fundamental to any Apple design of hardware and software services. The HomePod will send all information to Apple servers only after a “Hey Siri” is recognized locally on the device, encrypted and sent using an anonymous Siri identifier.
