Skip to content
  • Categories
    • Business
    • Tech
    • News
    • CEDIA
    • Videos
  • Events
  • Issue Library
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Directory
  • Submit
  • Shop
  • Media Kit
  • Subscribe
Menu
  • Categories
    • Business
    • Tech
    • News
    • CEDIA
    • Videos
  • Events
  • Issue Library
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Directory
  • Submit
  • Shop
  • Media Kit
  • Subscribe
Home / News / Tech News / It’s Not Just iPhone News. Apple Launches a HomePod Surprise

It’s Not Just iPhone News. Apple Launches a HomePod Surprise

  • October 14, 2020
  • 5:08 pm
  • Michael Heiss Michael Heiss

This week’s Apple virtual event provided news on one new device that I’ve been waiting for that isn’t a phone, laptop, or tablet. Although the announcement about HomePod mini was leaked shortly before the Tuesday event, it was otherwise a pretty unexpected surprise, given Apple’s more prominent focus on new iPhones.

Apple HomePod mini whiteTo some extent, the HomePod mini is an obvious addition for Apple. The original HomePod does sound good, but it is a bit long in the tooth and is also a bit larger than the current competition from both Amazon and Google as well as the many third-party smart speakers. Most importantly, HomePod Gen.1 lists at $299, albeit with discounts of as much as $100 off.

While there are some audiophile and higher end smart speakers that costs as much or more than HomePod, pricing for first-party smart speakers now centers at $100 at the high end with the sweet spot said to be at $49. If you’ve read our recent reports, you already know that is the price for Amazon’s Echo Dot and Google’s Nest Mini are at that price.

HomePod mini will retail for $99 when it goes on preorder on November 6, with shipping set for the week of November 16. OK, so it’s not that “mini,” but it is, after all, an Apple product.

To be clear, there is nothing “mini” about the product concept as stated by Tim Cook: “Amazing sound, a world-class assistant, smart home, and privacy and security.” Without actually experiencing the product in person at this point, it is all but impossible to see if it makes good on the promise, but it certainly appears to contain the right ingredients.

Inside the spherical, but flat topped, 3.5-inch tall HomePod mini there is a full-range driver flanked by passive radiators on two sides that faces downward into an acoustic waveguide that is said to deliver enveloping sound throughout the room. Beyond the physical side of sound reproduction, the new HomePod mini uses what most would call DSP, but which Apple has dubbed “Computational Audio” that is powered by Apple’s S5 chip. The goal is to deliver what was billed as “breakthrough audio performance.”Apple HomePod mini internal

Of course, as with any smart speaker, the actual sound reproduction is only part of the concept. It is the “smarts” in smart speaker that increasingly differentiates one from the other. As you might expect, here is where Apple calls upon its core strengths.

Siri’s capabilities have been expanded to include “search by lyric” and dramatically increased integration with both iPhone and CarPlay. As an example, use a HomePod mini to ask Siri when a local retailer closes, and you’ll not only get the answer, but the routing will appear on the display in a CarPlay-equipped car. Working in the other direction, there is seamless handoff between an iPhone and HomePod mini. As an example, if you are listening to music on your iPhone and take it indoors, the content will automatically be transferred from one device to the other.

Since certain aspects of smart speakers have become somewhat common across the various brands and their respective operating systems, here Apple is keeping up with the combination. Voice recognition will allow each family member to “talk” directly to their stored messages and content without being able to reach into another’s data. An intercom feature will allow one HomePod to broadcast to all the units in the home for things such as “dinner’s ready” call outs. Even better, the call-out will reach to all Apple devices in the home, including iPhones, iPad, Apple Watch, and even CarPlay. IoT/Smart Home device integration and discovery has been simplified.

Apple HomePod mini All intercom
Apple HomePod mini All intercom

There’s more to the new Apple HomePod mini, and I’ll go into deeper detail once I get my hands on one in a few weeks.

All of this is what constitutes (for most of us) “the unexpected thing” from the Apple product announcements. It should come as no surprise that the unveiling of a new range of 5G-capable iPhone 12 models was the main attraction – “the expected thing.” I’ll leave the details on those new products to others, but there was at least one “unexpected thing” buried in the wave of iPhone feature and product and product announcements.

Totally unexpected was that the new iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max models will be able to shoot, capture, edit, and playback content in Dolby Vision in 4K at 60fps with 10-bit video. Even in the broadcast and professional worlds, Dolby Vision has been used to date only on pre-recorded content; you just can’t (right now) “shoot and go live to air” with Dolby Vision. Indeed, that is why the HLG format has become popular for live HDR broadcasts.

Whether you are a residential technology professional who wants to create your own promotional and demonstration material that shows the benefits of Dolby Vision, or the owner of a display with Dolby Vision who wants to show off your creations in a way that no other device currently allows, this is an amazing advance.

To close, it must be mentioned that there was one product announcement that did not occur, but that I was hoping to hear: news of a new Apple TV. Like you I’m sure, I have spots waiting in my home entertainment ecosystem for a new Apple TV to replace the current Gen 5 and Gen 4 models around the house and office. To be fair, a new Apple TV wasn’t really “expected.” Rather, to many, it was “hoped for.” Many are being lured by both the lower pricing and the advanced features of recently introduced products from Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast, TiVo, AirTV Nvidia Shield, and others. In the face of that, when will Apple step up its game as it has across the other categories where it competes, and in many minds excels?

It’s only October. Plenty of time for one more Apple product introduction event this year for MacBook, as well as Apple TV. One can hope! For now, with what may be the most unique holiday shopping season ever underway, there are now even more products to consider. The one thing we can almost certainly count on is that there will be more before the year is done.

TAGS
AppleNewsmart speaker
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
PrevPrevious articleMy Experience with Jasco’s Wi-Fi Smart Home Product Line
Next articleHarman’s Mark Levinson Adds Amplifier and Preamplifier to Elite Line Featuring Turntables, Amplifiers, Preamplifiers, and Audio playersNext
Michael Heiss

Michael Heiss

Michael Heiss is a long-time observer of the consumer and professional electronics markets. As a product and marketing executive at Harman International he was responsible for many breakthrough audio and video products. On the entertainment side of the business he was a promotion manager at NBC and was key to the development of hotel in-room movies and created the first nationwide movie rental service for Beta and VHS cassettes. A part of CEDIA since its founding, he served two terms on the CEDIA Board, headed the Technology Council and is a favorite presenter at CEDIA events around the globe. He was awarded CEDIA’s “Volunteer of the Year” award and is a CEDIA Fellow. He is also a member of the TV Academy, IEEE, the Society of Broadcast Engineers, and is a Life Member of SMPTE.
RELATED POSTS
Villa Inside TV Snap One

Snap One-Enabled Smart Home Provides Ultimate Finland Getaway

The Home Tech Expo

The Home Tech Expo Best Exhibitor Pricing Offer Ends Soon

DEN SmartStrike

DEN Smart Home Debuts Authorized Dealer Program for SmartStrike

  • Tech News
SEARCH OUR SITE
DIGITAL EDITION NOW AVAILABLE
GET THE LATEST NEWS IN YOUR INBOX
* indicates required

TOP POSTS THIS WEEK
  • Seymour Retro Masking System Seymour-Screen Excellence Now Shipping Retro Masking System 41 views
  • Sanus Mounts Era300 SANUS Offers Stands and Mounts for New Sonos Era 100 and Era 300 Speakers 40 views
  • NFC Card NFC Tags – An Inexpensive Smart Home Automation Application  20 views
  • DEN SmartStrike DEN Smart Home Debuts Authorized Dealer Program for SmartStrike 19 views
  • TP3 Omada TP-Link Launches Omada Cloud-Based Controller with Zero-Touch Provisioning  16 views
Facebook Twitter Linkedin Instagram Youtube
  • Contact Us
  • Partner With Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Subscribe
  • Directory
  • Join our team
Menu
  • Contact Us
  • Partner With Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Subscribe
  • Directory
  • Join our team
Back to top
Innovative Properties Worldwide, Inc.

1750 Wewatta Street, #1821, Denver CO,  80202 | 720.476.4920

© Residential Tech Today 2022. All rights reserved.

Produced by IPW

Looking for the latest tech news? We have you covered.

Don’t be the office chump. Sign up here for our twice weekly newsletter and outsmart your coworkers.