Homepod
The world developer conference was held in 2017 where Apple revealed it’s Siri based speaker. Apple claimed it took quite a while to develop this device because it ought to reinvent the way people enjoy music in their respective homes. It was launched on the 9th of February 2018, the uniqueness of this device as proclaimed by Apple is the combination of a smart speaker with a quality sound.
The sound quality has been Apple’s major focus so that this system stands out amidst its rivalry such as the google assistance and Amazon echo. This device is under 7 inches, but loaded with lots of technology. It was built with a 7-tweeter array, each tweeter outfitted with its own driver. A 4 inch upward facing woofer was built in for crisp, clear and distortion free sounds.
FEATURES:
● Stylish woofer.
● Seven tweeters.
● 7 – inch mesh body.
● Spatial recognition.
● Good quality stereo sound.
● Good microphone.
A8 chip controls the internal component which makes it extremely powerful, equipped with spatial awareness. Spatial awareness allows it to intelligently study a room and adjust accordingly to produce the best possible sound. A simple navigation is provided by touch controls at the top of the device and 1GB of RAM. This system is a round compact, covered in a 3D mesh fabric for acoustic properties.
Despite the small size it was built to offer room filling sound integrated with Apple music and built in Siri support. Siri command is detected from anywhere in the room with 6 microphone array even while blasting the music. There’s an improvement in Siri’s understanding of music and help users to discover new content, serving as a home musicologist.
A visible LED waveform located at the top of the speaker was designed so that the user knows when the personal assistance is active. Siri does not intrude in privacy and will only respond after a command. Conversation between Siri and Apple’s servers is anonymous and encrypted. Some of the things Siri will do are:
● News updates.
● Podcast.
● Weather reports.
● Traffic news.
● Sports updates.
● Reminders.
● Read and send text messages.
● Phone calls.
● More.
It supports airplay 2 with the IOS 11.4 update, it pairs with airplay 2 speakers and works with stereo sound in other words you can connect two for a better-quality sound. The good news is, it works with third party services from an IOS device or a Mac per to peer airplay. You’re not limited to Apple’s music subscription, although music support is limited and does not work as a standard Bluetooth speaker with non-Apple devices using a Bluetooth connection.
It can also be used as a home kit hub just like Apple TV or the IPAD. When the it’s connected you can access the devices remotely, Siri can be used to control home kit connected smart devices with this machine as a centralised home control unit.
DESIGN
● Cylindrical body with a flat top.
● Siri wave form is activated with 272 x 340 display.
● Looks like a Mac pro small mesh cover.
● Built in controls for necessary adjustments.
● 6.8 inches tall and 5.6 inches wide.
● Grey and white colour.
● Waveform LED is located at the top.
● No external markings on the speakers.
● Lovely simple design.
● Interior decors.
The power cable is removable, covered in a fabric which looks like the speaker’s fabric. Pulling it with force from the pod disconnects the cable, it’s advisable not to disconnect the cable.
TOUCH GESTURES SUPPORT
At the top is the controls, which supports several gestures. Tap to play and pause the music, double tap to select the next track. A triple tap takes you to the previous track, touch and hold activates Siri plus a visible waveform that shows Siri is ready for a command.
HARDWARE AND SOUND QUALITY
It produces the best quality sound due to the sophisticated hardware. A custom seven beam forming tweeter array is located at the bottom with each individual drive. Audio travels from inside the speaker via a precision horn through to the bottom, something labelled as “tremendous directional control”.
It reacts to Siri’s commands through a six-microphone array located above the tweeters even when the music is loud. The woofer is an Apple designed 4 inches upward facing equipment with a powerful motor to move lots of air that produces a rich deep bass. An automatic bass correction was built into the speakers powered by a low frequency, microphone and dynamic sound modelling which keep sound distortion free even when the volume is loud.
The same A8 chip that came with the introduction of the iPhone 6 can also be found in this device. A good processing power for the speaker termed by Apple as the biggest brain ever built into the speaker. A8 chip power:
● Multi-channel echo cancellation.
● Direct and audio ambient mixture.
● Buffering.
● Real time acoustic modelling.
It has a 1GB RAM and 16GB flash storage, although the storage is not meant for music. The room is detected by the machine through a spatial awareness which automatically adjust and balance the audio to suit the environment. An advanced algorithm is used to detect what’s playing and producing low frequencies for smooth sound.
You get a richer sound if two home pods are paired especially with multiple pods all around the house. You’re able to control the audio everywhere in the house with the new Airplay 2 protocol, which is also available in third speakers.
2 will work together not like having one for right channel while the other for a left channel as with normal speakers. The two units work together to detect and balance sound quality. Home pod supports the following:
● FLAC.
● WAV.
● AIFF.
● Apple Lossless.
● MP3 VBR.
● HE – AAC (V1).
● AAC (16 TO 320 KBPS).
MUSIC PLAYBACK
It’s connects directly to Apple music streaming service in the cloud over WIFI. It will access:
● Music library.
● Playlists.
● Music mixes.
● Preferences.
Different people can contribute to the music playlist because it supports a shared up next music list. A link to the Apple music account authorises anyone in the home to command the device. It works with iTunes match and iTunes music purchase in case you don’t have an Apple music account. Airplay can be used from other music products to play music from streaming services like Spotify.
It works with the following music sources:
● Podcasts.
● Beats 1 live radio.
● Apple music.
● iTunes music purchases.
● iCloud music.
● Airplay from iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV and Mac.
In the past you were able to stream from the Apple music iPhone and Mac all at the same time. In January 2019 the feature was changed and no longer possible to stream music on two devices at the same time with a single person Apple music subscription. Music recommendation is affected by songs streams on your Home Pod from the for you tab on Apple music.
If you want to listen to music not curated in for you section you just need to turn off the recommended settings to make changes, this will also stop this unit from adding music to your listening section of the Apple music profile that catalogue content you’ve played on Apple music. Bluetooth 5.0 is supported By Homepod but unable to play music from non-IOS devices using a Bluetooth connection.
SIRI INTERGRATION
Siri plays a major role in this device, Siri was updated to have a better understanding of music related data which allows the personal assistance to answer lots of questions related to music. Siri will offer recommendations based on your musical taste by taking notes on your likes.
Questions and commands that work with Siri on Home pod are:
● Who’s singing?
● Play more like that.
● Play something new.
● Play more songs like this.
Siri is also able to play content from:
● iCloud music library.
● Apple music.
● iTunes purchases.
Siri’s major role is to be your home assistance and not just limited to making music recommendations. Siri will:
Provide information on a wide range of topics:
● Send messages.
● Make a phone call.
● Set multiple timer.
● Weather updates.
● Calendar appointments.
Its functionality is not limited to a single user, will answer queries from anyone in the house. Siri is limited to, Apple music if you’re not home. You’re unable to send text messages, create reminders and other things. Home pod is connected to the user’s iCloud account and other access is disconnected if the user’s IOS device is on a different network.
Home pod can be used for speaker purposes and a microphone as well for a voice-based call. You can make a phone call on your iPhone and then switch to this device with the aid of handoff. It doesn’t eavesdrop therefore you don’t have to worry about your privacy. Communications that transpired between Siri and Apple’s server are encrypted.
Good news Siri was only available in English when launched, but after the 11.4 update now available in French and German.
HOMEKIT
Home pod can be used as a home kit hub just like Apple TV and iPads, you can access home kit devices through Siri’s integration.
OPERATING SYSTEM
It runs on the full version of IOS with the assistance of a shell app called sound board which integrates with the device hardware. Apps are prefixed with air in the firmware and there is no provision for third party apps or extensions yet.
Regular updates are provided for the Home pod by Apple, just like other IOS devices. It currently runs on IOS 12.1.13 released in January and not free from bug fixes and performance improvements. The updates addressed the issue with restarts and Siri.
REVIEWS
As regards to everything in life there will always be positive and negative reviews and the Home pod was not spare of both. There were lots of positive reviews because the depth of the speaker was tested, and reviewers pleased with the amazing high quality of the device which stands out among other speakers.
On the other hand, some reviewers were not impressed with Siri compare to other personal devices like Amazon’s Alexa, Siri cannot be compared. There were also rumours that it wasn’t selling as expected due to the price tag, ecosystem limitations and issue with Siri. Rumour continues that the next Home pod devices will be cheaper, but might be branded as a different device.
CONCLUSION
Your interaction with music in your environment is delivered through a breakthrough speaker that adjusts to its location and delivers high fidelity audio. The combination of Apple Music and Siri offers a new way for you to enjoy music at home.
