Today at WWDC 17, Apple gave all of us a Sneak Peek at Apple-Designed Home Music Speaker.
At just under 7 inches tall, HomePod represents years of hardware and software innovation:
- Apple-designed upward-facing woofer, paired with the custom A8 chip, enables bass management through real-time software modeling that ensures the speaker delivers the deepest and cleanest bass possible, with low distortion.
- Custom array of seven beam-forming tweeters, each with its own amplifier, provides well-balanced smooth timbre as well as precise directional control of a multitude of beam shapes and sizes.
- Apple-designed A8 chip provides the brains behind the advanced audio innovations.
- Automatic room-sensing technology allows HomePod to quickly learn its position in a room, whether it’s in a corner, on a table or in a bookshelf, within seconds it is perfectly optimized to deliver an immersive music listening experience.
- Six-microphone array with advanced echo cancellation Siri is able to understand people whether they are near the device or standing across the room, even while loud music is playing.
- Siri waveform appears on the top to indicate when Siri is engaged, and integrated touch controls allows for easy navigation.
- Automatic detection and balance of two speakers using both direct and reflected audio to deliver amazing audio wirelessly for an even more immersive experience.
- Easy setup that is as intuitive as setting up AirPods — simply hold an iPhone next to HomePod and it’s ready to start playing music in seconds.
Pricing and Availability
HomePod will be available for $349 (US) in white and space gray starting in December initially in Australia, the UK and the US.1 HomePod is compatible with iPhone 5s and later, running iOS 11.
Sources: Apple Newsroom
Author: Holden Satterwhite
Founder of Appleosophy and Redfruit Media. Twitter: @hesatter
