Alexa and Siri, rival voice assistants on Amazon's Echo and Apple's iPhone, don't directly communicate with one another.
Addressing Apple's digital assistant, you'll be able to say, "Hey Siri, play Busta Rhymes" "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See, '" and you'll be jamming. The research firm eMarketer says than 35 million people in the USA are expected to use a voice-activated speaker at least once a month this year, more than double its estimate from last year. Making the most of it will require a subscription to Apple's own music streaming service, which runs $10 to $15 per month and has attracted 27 million subscribers so far.
"You should be able to tell 'Alexa, ask Siri X, '" said David Limp, senior vice president of devices at Amazon.
The UAE will have to wait for at least seven months, since the HomePod will start shipping in December initially to Australia, the United Kingdom and the US. However, at 7-inches, it is slightly taller than the Google Home, but shorter than the slender Amazon Echo.
Limp also says that Amazon also saw the emergence of the cloud ahead of other companies. Since HomePod will not hit the market until December, it is unlikely to catch much of the year-end holiday shopping wave and post big sales this year, according to Blau.
The lack of a breakthrough device has periodically raised concerns that Apple has become too dependent on the iPhone and supported the theory that the company lost its knack for innovation when its co-founder Steve Jobs died of cancer in 2011.
Secondly, it suffers from the same compatibility issues as any other Apple product: it only plays Apple Music.
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Currently, Apple's smart speaker does not have anything unique to give it an edge over the other two, as well as justify the higher price tag.
ApplePromotional image for HomePod - Apple's newest home speaker. New iMacs released Monday are getting better displays and graphics capabilities.
McIlwain said he expects Apple to add new categories at next week's bash, but not almost enough to match Alexa's number of skills. It will block videos that start playing automatically, for instance, and can also prevent ads from following and profiling users. It will not block the ads themselves, though. But Apple occasionally also uses the event to introduce new devices and services and upgrades to existing products.
Want directions? They're coming from Apple Maps. "Apple's base should like it, because they are committed to the ecosystem", Enderle said of HomePod.
It's especially frustrating because Apple had a huge opportunity with Siri here that it could have taken advantage of.
So now, we'll have to wait for Part 2 of this "series" - HomePod announcements at the September unveiling of iPhone 8 or whatever Apple plans to call it. Let's hope they haven't made the wrong decision by showcasing the mere shell of the HomePod - to 5,000 developers, no less.
Ortutay reported from NY.
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