HomePod

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.

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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.

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On the eve of Apple's big iPhone reveal event for 2020, a new leak is claiming that the rumored HomePod mini and Apple TV will be host to some impressive tech. Specifically, the leak tells us that both of these products will act as Ultra Wideband (UWB) base-stations. When used in tandem with other devices using Apple's U1 chip, the HomePod mini and the new Apple TV will be able to track where those devices are.

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Apple's much-rumored smaller smart speaker, the HomePod mini, could share the stage at the company's big iPhone 12 event next week if the latest rumors are to be believed. Kicking off at 10am PT on Tuesday, October 13, the "Hi, Speed" event will unsurprisingly be dominated by the new four-strong iPhone 12 range - complete with 5G and new camera features - but Apple is also said to be finally filling a long-empty gap in its line-up.

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For years now, rumors have been claiming that Apple is working on its own pair of over-the-ear headphones, and it feels like we might finally be closing in on their reveal. No doubt that phrase has been uttered plenty of times over the past couple of years, but today, some intriguing evidence for the impending arrival of these headphones surfaced. As it turns out, Apple has stopped selling audio accessories from a number of third-party companies.

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September is usually a big month for Apple in terms of new devices, and while the COVID-19 pandemic might have delayed some of the launches Apple had lined up for this fall, those device reveals are still on the way. A new report today is essentially preparing us for the slate of devices Apple will reveal at some point in the near future, with Apple apparently asking its suppliers to produce 75 million iPhones for this launch.

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The HomePod was arguably one of the more divisive products Apple has launched in recent years, next to the Mac Pros, of course. It was terribly late to the smart speaker game and launched with a small set of features compared to the likes of the Amazon Echo or Google Home (now Nest Home). Still, the audio quality was regarded as superb and the quality experience was exactly what Apple was known for. Some, however, have started to wonder if the HomePod was a one-off product but recent changes to the operating system it's running may put those fears to rest.

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For a company loathe to admit it may have made a mistake, you can imagine Apple is pretty eager to redeem the HomePod name. The Siri-powered smart speaker was meant to be Cupertino's retort to Amazon's Echo and Google's Home, not to mention a new foundation in the smart home. Problem is, things didn't turn out quite that way.

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Apple's 2020 iPhone line-up could include four new smartphones, a big 5G upgrade, and an infusion of iPad Pro styling and tech, a new report claims, ahead of the expected launch in September. The new 5G iPhones are also said to be accompanied by important accessories, one seeing Apple's entry into a new market and another updating an under-appreciated current product.

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Despite the lockdowns, quarantines, and shelter-in-place orders, work still has to be done. This is especially true for physical products that have a limited window of opportunity to get out the door. That's harder to do when you very secretive company like Apple that is known for keeping things under tight wraps, or at least as much as they can. The global pandemic has forced Apple to yield some ground and, in doing so, may have also yielded some clues to its upcoming products.

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Just when you thought the nightmares of broken iOS 13 updates are finally over, along comes iOS 13.2. Admittedly, the set of owners affected by a bug that can brick HomePods may be significantly smaller than those that beset iPhone users in the past few weeks. Still, it's a rather stressful experience for owners causing Apple to actually pull out the update before quickly replacing it with iOS 13.2.1 just two days later.

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iOS 13 has been one of Apple's rougher rollouts in quite a while but it seems that things might be settling down a bit now that most showstopper bugs have been addressed. It has definitely not delayed Apple's iOS release schedule, with iOS 13.2 now rolling out to iPhones, iPads, and HomePods. But while the update has good news for almost everyone, owners of Apple's first and so far only smart speaker might want to hold off if they can.

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