[Njtechdiv] Apple's $349 HomePod speaker is now available to preorder

[Andy]

Hey guys, I saw this from another mailing list.  I thought I'd pass it on here.

Apple's $349 HomePod speaker is now available to preorder
Stereo pairing and multiroom audio won't arrive until later, though
By Thuy Ong, Jan 26, 2018, 8:38am EST

Apple's $349 HomePod smart speaker is now available to preorder through the
Apple Store app, with shipping slated to start on February 9th. Despite the
delay in the speaker's launch, the HomePod will ship without features like
AirPlay 2, which allows pairing and multiroom audio. Apple says those
features are "coming this year in a free software update." HomePod is
powered by Apple's A8 chip (that first appeared in the iPhone 6) and
features built-in Siri, six microphones, HomeKit support to control your
compatible smart home devices, and the ability to automatically optimize
sound for a given room.
We briefly played with the speaker last year. My colleague Dieter called it
"a cute little ovoid thing" that "sounds really good in the demos" with
"more bass than you expect from such a small speaker." But we'll need to
spend some real time with it before we can say it's worth $349.
Apple's smart speaker offering is the most expensive of its rivals at this
size. The much larger and more powerful Google Home Max costs $399, while
the standard Google Home is $129, and Amazon Echo is $99.99. HomePod is also
rivaled by the Sonos One smart speaker. To ruffle Apple's feathers, Sonos is
offering two Sonos One speakers for $349, the price of a single HomePod.
Sonos One supports Amazon Alexa integration, and it's promising Google
Assistant integration sometime later this year.
The HomePod is available for preorder now in the US, UK, and Australia in
black or white. The smart speaker will be available in France and Germany
this spring.

Original Article here <https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/26/16935664/apple-homepod-speaker-pre-order-price-release-date>.

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