SAN JOSÉ: Apple will later this year release a “HomePod” music-centric smart home speaker, challenging a market currently dominated by Amazon and Google in its latest move to weave deeper into people’s lives. HomePod will take on lower priced Amazon Echo and Google Home, which have had momentum in the arena of voice-controlled speakers capable of controlling smart appliances, fetching content from the internet and more. It is designed to work with the Apple Music subscription service and can produce rich sound while tapping into the artificial intelligence power of Siri. Analysts said Apple is playing to its strength in the music industry by focusing on sound quality and its catalog of songs. “Apple is smart to frame the HomePod as a music-centric and audio-centric device rather than just another smart speaker or another home for Siri,” said Jackdaw Research analyst Jan Dawson.

Source: Manila Times June 06, 2017 01:41 UTC