Apple has kicked off their busy October with the announcement of three new products all based around the home. HomePod Mini and Apple TV get big upgrades to their core while the much rumoured “HomePod with a screen” is now real with the launch of HomeView.
Apple’s smart TV box the Apple TV has gone almost four years without an upgrade yet still serves well as an outstanding and simple way to access streaming apps and content on your big-screen TV.
Only this last weekend I was quietly singing it’s praises at my place as the best place to watch live sport on Kayo thanks to it’s unique four-way split-screen ability – there’s something about the performance and capability of the Apple TV 4K box which makes it more capable than any competitor, though it is also more expensive.
Key to the updated Apple TV are it’s Siri AI capabilities and the power to create an immersive surround sound with Apple’s latest generation HomePods
“The new Apple TV 4K is our most immersive home theater experience yet,” said Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With Siri AI, finding something to watch becomes a full-screen, conversational experience, and with built-in far-field microphones, it’s completely hands-free. Pair it with HomePod for the best surround sound setup we’ve ever offered, and it makes managing your Apple Home accessories easier than ever. Now, alongside HomeView, HomePod mini 2, and Apple Home Collection, it’s part of the most connected Apple Home we’ve ever built.”
Siri AI means when you’ve got a Siri AI capable Apple ecosystem (ie: you’ve also got a very recent iPhone) you can even ask your Apple TV questions of personal context like “what was that show Stephen told me to watch”, with the device drawing on message history to surface your answer.
And of course you can ask more extensive general knowledge questions about the shows your watching using Siri AI.
Additionally, you can now pair up to four speakers for not just stereo but a surround sound experience in your living room on Apple TV content.
Pre-orders start today, and Apple TV 4K (4th generation) is available November 13 for $449.
The outstanding little smart speaker HomePod Mini gets a generation two update six years on which includes new colours and powerful smarts.
At it’s core, just like Apple TV’s update is Siri AI as Kaiann Drance, Apple’s VP of Worldwide Home Product Marketing explained, saying “HomePod mini 2 brings together Siri AI, gorgeous new colors, and incredible audio,”
“With Siri AI, it understands you better than ever, drawing on personal context and broad world knowledge to make music discovery even richer. It fills a room with sound on its own, which gets even bigger in a stereo pair or with multiroom audio, and when paired with the new Apple TV 4K, it delivers our most immersive home theater setup yet. And with just your voice, HomePod mini makes it easy to securely control your accessories and run automations across the connected home.”
As with the Apple TV if you’ve got an Apple Intelligence capable iPhone you’ll also benefit from Siri AI allowing personal context in conversations, but regardless Siri is smarter than ever with general knowledge.
The company also teased a future software update, allowing for a “profoundly more capable and conversational assistant with personal context understanding, broad world knowledge that powers tasks like richer music discovery, and the ability to tap into even more apps”, so we’re waiting to see just what capabilities exist out of the box.
HomePod Mini 2 will come in Black, White, a light pink, Dark Blue and a Dark Green.
The device also features a new top “screen” which Apple calls “Sound Glow” – transforming into a colour canvas matching the music and in sync with the music too.
HomePod Mini 2 pre-orders start today, and it goes on sale October 30 $229
Pre-orders start today for the all-new Apple HomeView – one of Apple’s first truely new devices in a long time, designed to manage your home and stay connected in what Apple calls an “Elegant” designed smart-speaker with a 7 inch screen.
Apple’s VP of Worldwide Product Marketing Greg Joswiak says “Apple HomeView is designed to be shared by everyone in the home yet feel completely personal to each user,”
“It recognises your face to shift from a household screen to your own experience, fills the room with incredible sound, keeps you connected to the people who matter most with FaceTime, and makes it easy to control your smart home. And it’s powered by Apple Intelligence with Siri AI at its core, drawing on personal context from your iPhone to help you find what you need and get more done, all while keeping everyone’s information private and secure.”
With an ever so slight nod to the iMac G4, HomeView features a dome shaped base with a small metal arm connecting the 7-inch screen. That screen is a stunning liquid retina display which can tilt to make the viewing angle more comfortable for the user.
Screen brightness ranges from as high as 500 nits down to 0.3 nits allowing it also to act as a bedside display if you choose.
There is also a separate wall-mounted model which is just the screen on specifically designed mounts.
Using a front-facing camera, HomeView can also recognise up to six home users which will personalise the context and display to suit each person.
And of course, it has the power of Siri AI built in allowing for personal context for each user and smarter conversations in the home assistant
On that 7 inch screen HomeView design to offer playful faces, or show album art, lyrics as well as playing Apple TV video content and other third-party apps, so it will be fascinating to see the availability of streaming services offering a real bonus to this as a kitchen companion when in busy dinner prep mode each night.
Given the camera and screen, HomeView is also designed for FaceTime calls, using Centre Stage to keep people on the call in-frame perfectly even when moving around the room.
At it’s core though, HomeView is designed to be the centre of your smart home, viewing security camera feeds, adjusting lights or locking doors all from a single central visual display.
Coinciding with the announcement of HomeView Apple has also announced a range of partner smart home devices from LG and others to really up the smart home game. These include cameras and video doorbells from LG, and a front door lock. All designed to easily integrate into your Apple smart home.
Apple HomeView goes on sale November 13, pre-orders start today and it’s priced at $449.
Trev is a Technology Commentator, Dad, Speaker and Rev Head.
He produces and hosts several popular podcasts, EFTM, Two Blokes Talking Tech, Two Blokes Talking Electric Cars, The Best Movies You’ve Never Seen, and the Private Feed. He is the resident tech expert for Triple M on radio across Australia, and is the resident Tech Expert on Channel 9’s Today Show and appears regularly on 9 News, A Current Affair and Sky News Early Edition.
Father of three, he is often found in his Man Cave.
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