Apple’s New HomePod Speaker to Compete with Amazon Echo

gene

gene

Audioholics Master Chief
Administrator
One of the most important announcements at Apple's WWDC event yesterday was HomePod, a home networked speaker system with smart features that position it as a cross between Sonos and Amazon Echo. HomePod is a seven-inch tall speaker with seven built-in tweeters an upward firing woofer and six microphones. It packs the same A8 processor used in the iPhone.

Will HomePod be a threat the Amazon Echo?



Read: Apple’s New HomePod Speaker to Compete with Amazon Echo
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
I just got an email from AVS about this. I haven't found a convincing reason for me to go with something like this, though it does look pretty cool.
 
T

The Real Thomas Dolby

Audiophyte
I don't think it will sound one tenth as good as the kind of speaker that a rock guitar playing teenager would have owned in the 1970s. (Real Stereo speakers with 3-way crossovers)

I just got an Echo Dot; the sound quality is pretty bad, but it is easy and fun to play music with voice control. At $40, you could buy almost 10 Echo Dots for this costs and put them in different rooms all over the house. Apple's ownership of the highly lucrative 1/3 of the Smartphone market makes it a natural enemy of any "third platform", such as Alexa.
 
Wayde Robson

Wayde Robson

Audioholics Anchorman
I haven't heard it yet but my feeling is, on the prospect of Apple making great sound systems, I can't help but think of an old Elvis song.

"...Well they said you was hi-fi, but that was just a lie..."
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
More of "ain't nothin' but a hound dog"
 
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Cos

Cos

Audioholic Samurai
As an Apple Stock holder since 1999, and a person who loves his Apple Watch 2, my only comment is WTF $350.00?

I own 2 Amazon Alexa devices (Echo & Tap). I did not buy them because the sound great, I bought them because of their smart speaker features. It already works with my home thermostat, reads my audiobooks, works with Spotify and is the best alarm clock ever! ;). Now they can take calls, keep voice mail through their Alexa App and even works with my new GE Fridge (I have no idea how yet).

Apple, and soon Microsoft, are so far behind the smart device (IOT) that they will never catch up in features and support. SIRI is light years behind google voice, and Alexa and I wont be spending my money, no matter how big the apple logo.

I did however pre-order the new Amazon Echo Show ;)
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
As an Apple Stock holder since 1999, and a person who loves his Apple Watch 2, my only comment is WTF $350.00?

I own 2 Amazon Alexa devices (Echo & Tap). I did not buy them because the sound great, I bought them because of their smart speaker features. It already works with my home thermostat, reads my audiobooks, works with Spotify and is the best alarm clock ever! ;). Now they can take calls, keep voice mail through their Alexa App and even works with my new GE Fridge (I have no idea how yet).

Apple, and soon Microsoft, are so far behind the smart device (IOT) that they will never catch up in features and support. SIRI is light years behind google voice, and Alexa and I wont be spending my money, no matter how big the apple logo.

I did however pre-order the new Amazon Echo Show ;)
Microsoft, At least during Steve Jobs era, There was no such things too late to the market. Microsoft has the resources and tenacity to keep on improving product until it becomes one of market leaders (SQL) or simply a must have (Exchange, Office etc...)
So, I won't write them off just yet, but I do agree - Cortana is still in early stages.
 
hk2000

hk2000

Junior Audioholic
And why, again is Audioholics bothering with these toys? I thought the name says it all! I for one would never listen to my music from a single speaker- even casually. Stop contributing to the degradation of music reproduction. Haven't the Ipod, Iphone and MP3 done enough to plunge audio back into the dark ages, now they're going after home systems too? I know it started long before this, but I wished Audioholics would just pass on bringing it to the fore, it kinda legitimizes it as a viable audiophile product, which it isn't.
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
I see it as a gadget, radio alarm clock with cpu. Not nearly as a replacement for stereo system
 
sholling

sholling

Audioholic Ninja
I see it as a gadget, radio alarm clock with cpu. Not nearly as a replacement for stereo system
I'm with you, I never play music from my Echos. I use them as a smart alarm clock, news, weather, and traffic reports, and to play my audiobooks. I'm also experimenting with smart-home toys and my Echos can kick off scripts to turn on lights and (though my Harmony Hub) turn on my TV and receiver, and turn them all off when I go to bed. I'll be adding more scripts to adjust lighting by dimming the family room for movies.

I'm comfortable with the Echo because Amazon is in the business of selling "stuff" not selling customer data. That could change but I can't see them risking the massive investment that they've made by spying. I won't own Google's competing product because Google's business model is based on monitoring and mining customer communications to target advertising and as a result, I'm not letting a Google microphone into my home. If I were a pod-person/iPerson (Apple fanatic) I'd consider their product because I have about the same amount of faith in their common-sense integrity as Amazon's, but I would no way pay that much for it. As a speaker, (unless sounds better than a Sonos) it's way over-priced, and Siri is probably the least capable of the big-three (Alexa, Google, and Siri) digital assistants.
 
GlocksRock

GlocksRock

Audioholic Spartan
Engadget recently posted an article stating that Amazon will be releasing a new Echo that is supposed to be more like the homepod. It's said to be smaller, better looking, and have much better sound quality, but no word on a release date or price. I got an Echo on Craigslist for $75, and to me based on the sound quality I'm glad I didn't pay anything more. After having that, I purchased several echo dots for my new house, and where I need an actual speaker connected, I'll just use the 3.5mm output and connect something worth listening to.
 
sholling

sholling

Audioholic Ninja
I have two Echos and two Echo Dots that I use for home automation and listening to audiobooks. I plugged-in some cheap ($35) Logitech computer speakers and it sounds much-much better than the regular Echo and even better with some cheap ($99) Edifier R1280 powered speakers. I've also tried them with decent quality headphones and it sounded pretty good.
 
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