HomePod

2023 - 1 - 19

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Image courtesy of "Apple Newsroom"

Apple introduces the new HomePod with breakthrough sound and ... (Apple Newsroom)

Delivering incredible audio quality, enhanced Siri capabilities, and a safe and secure smart home experience.

With Sound Recognition,6 HomePod can listen for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and send a notification directly to the user’s iPhone if a sound is identified. Redesigned packaging eliminates the outer plastic wrap, and 96 percent of the packaging is fiber-based, bringing Apple closer to its goal of completely removing plastic from all packaging by 2025. Apple is a member of the Connectivity Standards Alliance, which maintains the Matter standard, along with other industry leaders. Find My on HomePod makes it possible for users to locate their Apple devices, like an iPhone, by playing a sound on the misplaced device. HomePod can also recognize up to six voices, so each member of the home can hear their personal playlists, ask for reminders, and set calendar events. Ambient sounds — like ocean, forest, and rain — have also been remastered and are more integrated into the experience, enabling customers to add new sounds to scenes, automations, and alarms. With room sensing technology, HomePod recognizes sound reflections from nearby surfaces to determine if it is against a wall or freestanding, and then adapts sound in real time. Two or more HomePod or HomePod mini speakers unlock a variety of powerful features. HomePod is available in white and midnight, a new color made with 100 percent recycled mesh fabric, with a color-matched woven power cable. With Siri, users can access a range of music knowledge, and search by artist, song, lyrics, decade, genre, mood, or activity. Packed with Apple innovations and Siri intelligence, HomePod offers advanced computational audio for a groundbreaking listening experience, including support for immersive Spatial Audio tracks. A custom-engineered high-excursion woofer, powerful motor that drives the diaphragm a remarkable 20mm, built-in bass-EQ mic, and beamforming array of five tweeters around the base all work together to achieve a powerful acoustic experience.

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Image courtesy of "CNBC"

Apple just announced a new $299 HomePod (CNBC)

The second-generation HomePod follows the first generation, which Apple discontinued in 2021 in favor of the smaller and more affordable HomePod mini. The ...

The new HomePod is available to order online and in the Apple Store, in black or white, starting Wednesday. The original HomePod launched at $349 and never gained the traction of cheaper [Amazon](/quotes/AMZN/) Echo or [cut the price in 2019 to $299](https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/04/apple-cuts-homepod-price-to-299.html). The HomePod should sound better thanks to support for spatial audio, which makes it seem like music is coming from around you.

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Image courtesy of "Forbes"

Apple HomePod 2: Stunning, If Familiar, New $299 Speaker ... (Forbes)

Apple HomePod 2nd generation. Apple. Apple just made a surprise announcement: a new HomePod smart speaker. While it was thought that a successor to the original ...

This is cool: the new Apple HomePod has Sound Recognition. It’s a sign that Apple is ramping up the smart home capabilities of the speaker. And as a result the new touch-surface on top has a screen that squeaks out to the edges, unlike the first-gen model. Like the previous version, it has room-sensing technology to direct audio according to the situation it’s in. Apple then released the HomePod mini in 2020, and there the price was very keen: $99. Apple just made a surprise announcement: a new HomePod smart speaker.

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Image courtesy of "Bloomberg"

Apple Revives Larger HomePod Smart Speaker Priced at $299 (Bloomberg)

Apple Inc. will release a new version of the original HomePod smart speaker after the company had discontinued its predecessor and replaced it with a ...

3, alongside the HomePod mini, which costs $99. The new HomePod will sell for $299 starting Feb. [Apple Inc.](/quote/AAPL:US) will release a new version of the original HomePod smart speaker after the company had discontinued its predecessor and replaced it with a smaller and cheaper version.

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Image courtesy of "WIRED"

Apple HomePod (2nd Gen, 2023): Specs, Release Date, Price (WIRED)

This Siri speaker comes with upgrades to audio quality and smart home automation—but yes, it's still expensive.

As for those improved smart home features, you’ll now be able to use your HomePod to listen for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms using its Sound Recognition feature (originally launched with iOS 14). You can transfer whatever audio is playing on your iPhone (like a podcast or phone call) to the HomePod when both devices are near each other, perfect for when you arrive home and want to go hands-free. If the price doesn’t deter you, the second-generation HomePod is [available for preorder](https://cna.st/affiliate-link/2QvS63bbj2Qv6PtmSHd8figQXB4y7gqWZaJs5sYDfdJTCY6qyaBx6pL6svd3eKotchaz3p1sJEy3RdH2ZmKBJWRuevoNcrMifRZ2kAj5nVQ7kFJAwqog1Mq8xatJhhuRsWwt8eQ2v597tps78UVV) and officially hits shelves on February 3. When it’s combined with the high-excursion woofer, internal bass-EQ mic, and an array of five tweeters, Apple says you’ll get a “groundbreaking listening experience.” Par for the course on Applespeak, but the audio quality was never one of our issues with the However, this smart speaker is nearly as expensive as the original. Five years after the original HomePod, Apple has finally deemed it time to release a successor.

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Image courtesy of "TechCrunch"

Some initial thoughts on Apple's resurrected HomePod (TechCrunch)

While the smart home hasn't panned out precisely the way Apple or its competition hoped, the company never took its eye off that ball.

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Image courtesy of "GSMArena.com"

Apple announces second generation HomePod with temperature ... (GSMArena.com)

Aside from working as stereo speakers, the HomePod can also playback Dolby Atmos audio from an Apple TV 4K. As before, you need the same HomePod model to create ...

The second generation HomePod is priced at $299, same as the original model's price when it was discontinued. It seems now Apple will be enabling them on the HomePod mini in a future update. As before, you need the same HomePod model to create a stereo pair as the first and second generation cannot be paired together. The new HomePod also includes temperature and humidity sensors. The new HomePod also supports stereo pairing as with other HomePod models; simply put two of these in a room and you will be asked if you want to pair them. Two years after its discontinuation, the original HomePod is now back in a second generation avatar.

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Image courtesy of "Mac Rumors"

Everything That's Changed in the New 2023 HomePod (Mac Rumors)

Apple this week unexpectedly announced the second-generation full-sized HomePod, around two years after it discontinued the original smart speaker. ...

Unlike other speakers, the new HomePod, like the previous-generation model and the current HomePod mini, cannot function as a standalone Bluetooth speaker. The brand-new HomePod weighs 5.16 pounds, compared to 5.5 pounds for the original smart speaker. The original HomePod came with the cable attached, and Apple did not recommend trying to detach it forcibly. [specs sheet](https://www.apple.com/homepod-2nd-generation/specs/) reveals the new HomePod has five tweeters around its base, compared to seven in the original smart speaker. The next-generation HomePod has four microphones built-in, compared to the six-microphone system in the first-generation HomePod. Below, we've highlighted what exactly has changed with the second-generation HomePod compared to the first-generation smart speaker.

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Image courtesy of "Macworld"

Your HomePod is getting a major update next week (Macworld)

Several new features are arriving for Apple's existing HomePods in 16.3, including the HomePod mini's temperature sensor.

Once the update begins, a white spinning light will appear on the top of your HomePod or HomePod mini until the update has finished installing. The dormant sensor was discovered in the HomePod mini during teardowns, but it took more than two years for Apple to do anything with it. The HomePod update will arrive next week alongside iOS 16.3, most like on Tuesday or Wednesday. Not since version 14.1, which added Intercom and several new Siri features, has the HomePod received so many new features in one update. If the HomePod 16.3 update is available, tap Update and follow the prompts. [activate the temperature and humidity sensor](https://www.macworld.com/article/1476900/homepod-mini-temperature-humidity-sensor.html) in the HomePod mini for measuring the climate of the room.

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