Hi, Merve;
Neither do I, since another speaker isn't what we need any time soon. At first,
I thought it might offer free access to music and other things. Since that's
not the case, there's no need for buying it. Take care.
Lillian Way
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-philly-comp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-philly-comp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Merv Keck
Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2018 7:10 PM
To: blind-philly-comp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-philly-comp] Re: Get your wallet ready because Apple's HomePod
is almost here
I havre to agree with Robin. I am invested in the Sonos Ecosystem now. And I am
happy with the quality of their Alexa enabled smart speakers. Plus I have Echo
dots for messaging. So I have no motivation to purchase the very expensive
HomePod.
From: blind-philly-comp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-philly-comp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Robin Frost
Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2018 7:06 PM
To: blind-philly-comp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-philly-comp] Re: Get your wallet ready because Apple's HomePod
is almost here
Hi,
I wish I could say this even remotely excites me but having purchased a few
Amazon Echo dots and some echo capable Sonos one’s I just don’t think the
homepod calls to me even a little but. It’ll be interesting to see what saves
it from being perhaps one of Apple’s less successful endeavors. I hope it does
well for their share holders but so far I haven’t seen anything that’s drawing
me towards it.
Robin
From: David Goldfield
Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2018 5:23 PM
To: blind-philly-comp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:blind-philly-comp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-philly-comp] Get your wallet ready because Apple's HomePod is
almost here
Amazon echo - Google News - Saturday, January 20, 2018 at 3:37 PM
Get your wallet ready because Apple's HomePod is almost here
Apple's HomePod missed its 2017 launch.
Image: mashable
By Raymond Wong <http://mashable.com/author/raymond-wong/> 2018-01-20 20:32:16
UTC
Apple's answer to the Amazon Echo
<http://mashable.com/2015/02/10/amazon-echo-review/> and Google Home
<http://mashable.com/2016/11/03/google-home-review/> smart speakers, the
HomePod <http://mashable.com/2017/06/05/apple-homepod-hands-on-sound/> , is
almost ready for launch.
After missing its release last year, the $350 smart speaker has now been
approved <https://fccid.io/document.php?id=3719077> for sale by the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC), which means Apple will probably start selling
it very soon.
Following its delayed launch, Apple said it "needed a little more time" to get
HomePod ready for customers.
Apple said HomePod would start shipping the U.S., UK, and Australia "in early
2018". Well, it's early 2018, and everyone's still waiting for the Siri-powered
speaker to show up.
While the FCC approval doesn't reveal anything new about HomePod, we know we're
in the home stretch before release. Inventec, one of the two suppliers
assembling the smart speaker, says it's already made 1 million of them,
according <http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2018/01/16/2003685829>
to the Taipei Times.
Inventec and Foxconn, the other HomePod manufacturer, are expecting to ship
10-12 million speakers in total by the end of the year.
[embedded content]
When HomePod finally does launch, it'll face stiff competition from Amazon and
Google. Apple's entering a new space that Amazon's been leading for years.
Amazon says it sold
<http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2318860>
"tens of millions" of Alexa-powered devices this past holiday season.
Google's also moved a good amount of Assistant-powered Home speakers. The
company says it sold
<https://www.blog.google/products/assistant/how-google-home-and-google-assistant-helped-you-get-more-done-in-2017/>
"more than one Google Home device every second since Google Home Mini started
shipping in October," which works out to more than 6 million devices. And
that's not even counting all of the Home speakers sold since the original
launched in 2016.
At first glance, it may seem like Apple has no chance of catching up — it's
already well behind Amazon and Google, but this is still anyone's game. As we
saw at CES 2018
<http://mashable.com/2018/01/08/google-amazon-artificial-intelligence-ces-2018/>
, third-party device makers are just starting to incorporate Alexa and Google
Assistant into their devices, so we've still got a ways to go before anyone's
declared a winner.
And while there weren't as many new products with HomeKit compatibility as
there were with Alexa and Assistant at CES, vendors are warming up to Apple's
smart home platform. Belkin's even made a cool bridge adapter
<http://www.belkin.com/us/p/P-F7C074/> that automatically makes all WeMo smart
home devices compatible with HomeKit.
Ultimately, HomePod's success will depend on a number of factors:
* Price: At $350, HomePod costs way more than a $50 Echo Dot or Google
Home Mini, and still more than a $100 Echo, or $150 Echo Plus, or $130 Google
Home.
* Siri: Apple's digital assistant is nowhere near as robust as Alexa or
the Assistant. How well Siri handles questions, controls, and more will be
important.
* Sound quality: HomePod looks to have the best sound quality out of
all the speakers (although we'll have to see how it compares to the very loud
and very good-sounding Google Home Max), but again, will people be willing to
pay for it? An Echo or Home provides good-enough sound.
If you've been waiting for HomePod, just know this: It's almost here. Be
patient. We're so close.
http://mashable.com/2018/01/20/apple-homepod-coming-soon-fcc-approval/
David Goldfield
Assistive Technology Specialist
Feel free to visit my Web site
WWW.DavidGoldfield.info <http://WWW.DavidGoldfield.info>
You are invited to visit the moderator's Web site at WWW.DavidGoldfield.Info
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