Another smart try from Apple
Your home — your castle — is under relentless attack. Every vendor under the sun is trying to infiltrate your fortress. The latest attack is coming from Apple with the re-launch of the HomePod.
What was originally launched back in 2018 and almost abandoned by early 2021, the HomePod Mini was left behind because - in the words of Apple - '... it has been a hit ...'.
For some reason Apple feels that it has the right answer for smartening your home. Last November, I wrote about the struggle Amazon has with Alexa.
Here are the touted selling points for the 2nd generation HomePod:
Immersive, high-fidelity audio. That's very good. I expect this from speakers.
An intelligent assistant. We are still talking about Siri, correct?
Works seamlessly with your Apple devices. I am sure I can start streaming music from my iPhone or connect to AppleTV. Which device doesn't do that?
A powerful way to control your smart home. For instance, its Sound Recognition will alert you if the smoke alarm goes off. You can ask about the humidity at your place. As well, you can use it to remotely unlock your door.
Private and secure. Secure? I hope so. Private? Define private first. In order to keep improving the interaction between you and the device, a person at Apple has to listen to the voice command and provide feedback. This will improve the algorithm to work better next time.
Despite all the fluffy language, the voice assisted devices are still in their infancy. Technologies like ChatGPT will eventually get us closer to the conversation. The challenge is our inability to clearly express our intention, yet from the non-verbal context we can decode the meaning of the request. Since HomePod (and all the other devices) can't see your facial expression or distinguish when you have parallel conversation with another person at the same time, its capabilities will be limited to 'hey Siri, turn off the lights', 'no, not the light here, the lights in the bedroom'.
Launching HomePod is just an attempt to get more branded Apple products in your home. By doing so, this creates a little bit of novelty and hope that with the device, you will eventually subscribe to Apple Music (it comes with free trial). Nothing more.
In another Apple news,we learned that Apple is delaying their augmented reality (AR) glasses launch. Instead, they plan on developing a cheaper mixed reality headset. According to the report, the glasses will be using ten cameras with advanced chips to process all the video to provide the desired virtual or augmented experience.
After Apple realized the device would weigh several kilos (or pounds) and require users to carry a backpack with batteries to last a few hours, it decided to wait for the technology to catch up. Sometimes you have to be patient and wait years. That wisdom comes with years of painful failures. That’s something which its competition like Facebook/Meta is still in process of acquiring.
What is the recurrent pattern here? Innovation is hard. Running a company requires discipline. You have to balance growing revenue, investing in the future while trying to stay at the top. So far, Apple is doing this well.