A new Apple TV that would double as a FaceTime video calling camera and a smart speaker is reportedly in the works, potentially giving the company's home entertainment and smart home offering a significant boost. The current Apple TV 4K is generally considered to be long-overdue a replacement, having been initially released all the way back in 2017.
It's been a day of interesting reports surrounding Apple's HomePod. Earlier today, we learned that there's a secret sensor hiding in the HomePod mini, and while that sensor may not be active right now, it could enable specific functionality in the future. Not only that, but there's also whispers of Apple's plans for the future of the HomePod line, and we could see the company launch something meant to go toe-to-toe with the likes of the Echo Show.
A currently dormant new sensor in Apple's HomePod mini could help make the Siri-powered smart speaker a more useful part of the smart home, should the company decide to enable it in future. Launched in November 2020, the HomePod mini was initially a smaller, more affordable sibling to the original HomePod. Now, with that bigger version officially discontinued, the $99 model is the only smart speaker Apple offers.
Bid farewell to the original Apple HomePod, with the Siri-powered smart speaker being discontinued, the company has confirmed today. Launched in early 2018, the speaker met with praise for its high sound quality, but its $439 price tag at release meant it struggled to gain traction against rivals from Amazon and Google.
It seems that UWB, short for ultra-wideband, will be the new buzzword for this year, with more and more tech companies and device manufacturers adopting the short-range wireless technology in products ranging from phones to smart home appliances to even cars. That said, Apple already laid the groundwork for that quite some time ago with its U1 chip but it is only now that it's turning on that functionality for the HomePod mini that it promised would be ready before 2020 ended.
If you got a new Amazon Echo Dot for Christmas, consider turning it off. Chances are you got the device as a gift, opened it immediately, and got to work asking about the weather, movie facts, and told it to sing a song. If you're like me, chances are you then sat the device on a shelf and forgot about it. It's probably still powered up and listening to you right now.
Apple made big and still doubted claims about reducing electronic waste when it removed the charger and EarPods from the Apple 12 packaging. It isn't, however, applying that same logic across all its devices, at least not yet. The HomePod mini, for example, ships with its own power brick, and you can use only that to sufficiently power up the smart speaker. At least that was until a firmware update a few weeks back that added a new feature without anyone even noticing it.
Apple was terribly late to the smart speaker party and even when the HomePod finally landed, it was initially a disappointment when it came to Siri's usefulness and control of smart home appliances. It definitely got better over time but its competitors have moved on to bigger and smaller smart speakers. At long last, Apple finally bit back with the HomePod mini but the smart speaker is reportedly giving new owners more headaches than the $99 speaker is worth because of intermittent and inexplicable Internet connection problems.
Apple is not a fan of unauthorized or third-party repairs. While legislation on the right to repair still hangs in limbo, the company is doing every bit it can to at least discourage untrained hands from taking a whack at it. Sometimes it comes via some arbitrary software certification, other times it is based on how difficult it is to open up a device. The new HomePod mini clearly falls in the latter category, making it nearly impossible to even replace the power cable.
Apple's iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 12 mini aren't the only new devices going up for preorder today, with some hotly-anticipated accessories either available for your shopping cart or promising to arrive there soon. The HomePod mini, the smaller version of its smart speaker, can be preordered now, while two iPhone 12 accessories are now listed as "coming soon" on Apple's site.
After nearly two years of no major movement in its smart speaker product line, which itself came years late to the market, Apple has finally announced a half-successor to the HomePod. The HomePod mini isn't due to ship until next month but isn't stopping Apple from pushing out a new version of its HomePod software that prepares for its arrival. Software version 14.1, however, which lines up with iOS 14.1 and iPadOS 14.1, isn't just about the mini speaker but also introduces features that make all HomePods, and Siri, smarter.
Apple has wasted little time getting to the big announcements during its iPhone reveal event today, and it led the show with the confirmation we've all been waiting for: HomePod mini. As the name suggests, the HomePod mini is a smaller version of the HomePod, with Apple promising "amazing sound," from the speaker despite its tiny size.