At WWDC 2017 Apple has announced HomePod, its first smart speaker. With built-in Siri, Apple Music and HomeKit, the smart speaker will be another powerful competitor that competes with Amazon’s Echo series.
Apple’s HomePod is a high-performance smart speaker that measures 6.8 inches high by 5.6 inches wide (172 x 142mm) and weighs 5.5 pounds (2.5kg). As shown in the images, the wireless speaker shows off an elegant and minimalistic appearance design defined by its smooth and mellow body and a seamless mesh fabric exterior. Moreover, its compact form factor allows you to deploy the speaker anywhere in your house.
The wireless speaker comes equipped with a high-excursion woofer and seven horn-loaded tweeters, and each tweeter and the woofer features their own amplifier in order to produce high-quality 360-degree wireless audio.
As a smart speaker, it’s supported by an A8 chip, so it has the ability to automatically analyze the acoustics and adjust the sound based on its location, and deliver the music in the optimal direction. Using multiple HomePods you can also create a more powerful speaker system.
Apple Music has been integrated into the wireless speaker, and using built-in Siri, you can effortlessly ask your HomePod for playing your favorite music or searching more from Apple Music. Of course, in addition to music, you can also ask your HomePod about various everyday household questions and tasks. In addition, HomePod also features HomeKit technology, so it also works as a smart hub that wirelessly connects with other HomeKit-enabled smart home devices, meaning that you can use Siri to control all of them in your house.
The HomePod smart speaker will be available for $349 USD starting in December 2017. If you’re interested, jump to the product page for its more details.