HomePod
Amazon unveils the $199 Echo Studio, its answer to the Apple HomePod and Google Home Max
Today at a special event, Amazon unveiled a bevy of new Echo devices, including several aimed a bit upmarket. The Echo Studio is Amazon’s answer to the Google Nest Max and…
Apple’s HomePod set to gain some long overdue functionality this fall
It’s no secret that the HomePod’s software updates have been a bit sluggish, which made it all the more alarming that the device was barely touched on in yesterday’s Apple…
Amazon said to be launching new Echo speaker with premium sound next year
Amazon is reportedly looking to offer an Echo that more directly competes with high-end speakers like the Sonos line of devices or Apple’s HomePod, according to a new report from…
AirPods and HomePod get some new skills
Apple’s audio hardware didn’t get a ton of love at WWDC but the devices didn’t go unmentioned, here’s what’s coming to your HomePod and AirPods. For AirPods users, Siri will…
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The HomePod got a healthy little price drop today, bringing Apple’s premium smart speaker down to $299. Announced in mid-2017 and released in early 2018, the Siri-powered product brought a…
Over a quarter of US adults now own a smart speaker, typically an Amazon Echo
U.S. smart speaker owners grew 40 percent over 2018 to now reach 66.4 million — or 26.2 percent of the U.S. adult population — according to a new report from…
Report: Smart speaker adoption in US reaches 66M units, with Amazon leading
Smart speakers had a good holiday. Amazon already said its Echo Dot outsold all other items on its site this holiday season, which hinted toward the sizable growth for the…
Apple is finally launching HomePod in China, but the timing is tricky as the premium device will have to wrestle with local competitors and a slowing economy. The firm said over…
We already know Alexa had a good Christmas — the app shot to the top of the App Store over the holidays, and the Alexa service even briefly crashed from…
Apple’s HomePod will be available in China starting early next year
“嘿 Siri!” Apple’s HomePod will be available for sale in China early next year. A listing is already up on Apple’s China site, with the smart speaker priced at RMB…
Amazon’s Echo Dot may have been a bestseller on Prime Day, but Google’s Home Mini device is now the top-selling smart speaker worldwide, according to a new report out this…
Apple is reportedly working on a new, likely more expensive, set of AirPods with noise-cancellation, according to Bloomberg. The report cites people familiar with the matter, who said that Apple…
A look back at the best tech ads of the last 35 years
Last week the Association of Independent Commercial Producers announced the winners of its annual awards honoring the best moving image marketing of the year and Apple’s “Welcome Home” ad took…
With WWDC a couple of days out, we’re coming up on one year since Apple first showed off its glitzy answer to the Amazon Echo and Google Home smart speakers.…
Featured Article
What to expect at WWDC 2018
According to the calendar, it’s somehow already June. That means Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference is just around the corner. As matter of fact, things kick off in San Jose on Monday morning at 10AM PT (1PM ET). As ever, the main thrust of the show will be focused on developers — it’s right there…
Buried amid the flurry of iOS 11.4 news issued by Apple today is one key piece of hardware news: the company’s high-end smart speaker will be arriving in a number…
AirPlay 2 and HomePod stereo pairing arrive with iOS 11.4
iOS 11.4 arrives today, and with it, a bunch of welcome upgrades. The biggest updates here are, unsurprisingly, on the streaming media front, including the arrival of AirPlay 2, and…
Apple is releasing iOS 11.4 with support for Messages in iCloud, AirPlay 2 and more
Apple this afternoon will officially release the latest version of its iOS software for your iPhone and iPad, iOS 11.4, which at last adds support for Messages in iCloud, along…
Featured Article
In defense of the HomePod
My HomePod, Google Home and Amazon Echo all live within about 15 feet of each other in my apartment. This is as much a testament to my obsession with smart home crap as it is to my inability to buy into a single tech giant’s hardware ecosystem. I’ve gone all-in with each assistant at various…
Apple’s HomePod gives FKA Twigs psychedelic dance powers in Spike Jonze ad
One thing thing the Amazon Echo and Google Home can’t do: deliver room-melting superpowers. Sure, Siri functionality is still pretty limited at launch, but who’s going to argue with the…
Sure, yesterday’s big wood staining HomePod news was a bit of a black eye for Apple’s smart speaker, but it’s going to be a boon for one very specific, extremely…
Apple confirms HomePods can leave marks on wood surfaces, updates support page with notice
Yeah, so this is a bummer. Now that the HomePod is out in the wild, reports have started trickling in from users complaining about the $349 smart speaker’s unfortunate side…
The HomePod was never preordained to be a blockbuster for Apple. Sure, the smart speaker has received overwhelmingly positive marks for sound quality, but the product is a bit late…
After what seems like an endless wait, Apple’s HomePod finally lands this week. You can read our freshly posted review — it’s the next best thing to actually buying the…
If you want to read a lot of words about the Apple HomePod, you can do so here and here. Obviously, I’d recommend you do so before plunking down $350…
A four-sentence HomePod review (with appendices)
Apple’s HomePod delivers superior sound quality and solid Siri performance but still lags behind competition on breadth of voice commands.
The HomePod is much smaller than I remember. I hadn’t seen one since June, when Apple announced the speaker back at WWDC. Apple pushed back its projected December launch date…
Two Sonos One speakers now cost $349 – the same as one Apple HomePod
Sonos is offering a special limited deal for its new Sonos One smart speaker, which works with Amazon’s Alexa right now, and is gaining support for Google Assistant in a…
The Apple HomePod ships February 9 for $349, available to order this Friday
Apple is finally shipping the HomePod. The device will ship on February 9, seven months after its announcement at WWDC 2017. It will cost $349 and limited at launch to…
