Apple surprised quite a few at the recent WWDC 2017 conference by announcing its voice-assisted speaker called the HomePod. It works only with Apple products (iPhone/iPad etc) and makes the best of Siri to get working.
Unlike previous years, Apple is merely following the trend this time, especially as Google, Microsoft and even Amazon already have products of this kind selling in the market. There’s a lot that we don’t know about the HomePod, except for the fact that it will be available later this year in the US, and is likely to debut in India next year.
However, we decided to give you a lowdown on the features of both the products.
As you can see from the table above, HomePod epitomises all other Apple products, ie it has a closed ecosystem.
Apple claims that the HomePod is a true-blue music speaker that will cater to the needs of users and offer high-quality music in their living room.
However, to use the HomePod, you need to connect it via Apple Music app. That doesn’t mean Apple won’t open up the device to other developers/platforms, but until then, HomePod makes sense only for those who are invested in the Apple ecosystem.
It’s good to see that Apple plans to open up its HomeKit ecosystem to other developers, which means there’s a future in the offing that allows all apps to work with Apple devices.
When it comes to Google Home, we know that it can be used to control lights and TV inside the home (not available everywhere), all done via the internet. Like most Google devices, Home supports third-party smart home apps, a fair share of music apps, and even offers Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity.
Google Home is that product which can be flaunted, but can be used by everyone as well. The HomePod requires the other person to have an iPhone who uses Apple Music.
When you compare the weight of the devices, you can clearly see that Apple has focused on making the HomePod more potent for its music. The use of 7x tweeter and woofer does bulk up the device unlike Google Home, which is looking to be an all-round smart home device.
Such limitations belie the $349 price that Apple is asking for the HomePod. The use of Siri could be a big appeal for Apple users, but then, you can also use Google Assistant on iPhone now (albeit with some limitations).
You can probably make do with the $129 priced Google Home instead, which offers much more for its value. As for the HomePod, we will wait and see if Apple plans to add something more in the coming months to make it more cost viable.
That said, both these products aren’t available in India right now, and it’ll take some time before smart home products like these find takers in the country, with its existing digital infrastructure yet to mature.
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