Does the new HOMEPOD play Radio from app ??

Ya-Boy-Ya

anyone know ???

Looks amazing

Creamy Goodness

No one knows yet, I assume you can AirPlay any audio stream to it.

Ya-Boy-Ya

Would be amazing if you could.... from the spec it should deliver

cnocbui

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

No one knows yet, I assume you can AirPlay any audio stream to it.

You are an optimist. The Apple page for it doesn't mention using any other source other than Apple Music. The blurb has the caveat:

Siri works with Apple Music. Subscription required for Apple Music.

One would hope you could stream to it from an iphone or Mac, but I think that won't be allowed. This is for selling Music subscriptions.

adox

Ya-Boy-Ya wrote: »

anyone know ???

Looks amazing

Amazingly expensive imo.

Too late to the party and overpriced.

I`m becoming less and less of an Apple customer. Their pricing policy is ridiculous at this stage even for them.

Sad Professor

It probably will support Airplay streaming from a Mac/iPhone, though I kinda hope it doesn't. The whole point of a device like this is that I don't have to airplay stuff to speakers, wasting my precious iPhone battery in the process. So I would hope it has a way of streaming radio by itself, if not at launch then soon after. I have an Airplay speaker at the moment and it doesn't work very well, especially in a kitchen with interference from microwaves, etc. Then I get a phone call or I go to use the camera and the sound stops and won't resume. It's terrible for playing radio and I'm planning to replace it soon with a real radio.

If the sound quality is as good as Apple claim, then $349 seems like a fair enough price to me. Those smart speakers that Google and Amazon sell have pretty mediocre if not terrible sound quality. Apple is presumedly focusing on the sound because they can't quite compete on the AI front yet, but that will change. They are obviously playing catch up here.

Creamy Goodness

cnocbui wrote: »

You are an optimist. The Apple page for it doesn't mention using any other source other than Apple Music. The blurb has the caveat:


One would hope you could stream to it from an iphone or Mac, but I think that won't be allowed. This is for selling Music subscriptions.

Why would you be talking to it to AirPlay a Music source? you play "radio" on your 2017 pocket computer, and change your pocket computer's output source like you can do for the Apple TV now. Yes Siri is for Apple Music, but that's just so you can do "Hey Siri, Play Coldplay's latest terrible song". Siri's backend needs to cache 100% of the titles for music on Apple Music.

cnocbui

Why wouldn't you?

I can 'hey Cortana, turn Bluetooth on. Play Black Hole' to my old Nokia 720 Windows phone and and it will do just that; turn bluetooth on, launch the music app and play the requested track, streamed to a BT receiver hooked to the HiFi.

You are assuming you can Airplay anything to it. What I am saying is that I doubt that you will be able to, which I think aught to be a capability. This will just be a repeat of Apple's refusal to allow you to Air Drop between OSX and iOS or to Airplay from OSX to iOS. Not only is it a walled garden, the streets are all one way with massive speed humps every 10m.

Creamy Goodness

You can AirPlay anything to an AppleTV which up until the HomePad is there home hub I don't think the HomePod will differ.

AirDrop between iOS and macOS was released with iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite a whole 3 years ago.

Sad Professor

It's rare to see anyone bring up the "walled garden" anymore. I remember when that was almost all we talked about in here. I'm not sure if Apple opened it up or their competitors decided it was a good idea, probably a bit of both, but it definitely doesn't seem to be a dealbreaker for most users anymore.

cnocbui

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

You can AirPlay anything to an AppleTV which up until the HomePad is there home hub I don't think the HomePod will differ.

AirDrop between iOS and macOS was released with iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite a whole 3 years ago.

I hope you are right, I know I can Airplay any source to my Airport Express, but The lack of this capability being mentioned by Apple is not a good sign. My bet is that this will be Apple Music subscription only, not even your own local iTunes library.

Yes, I know Apple eventually allowed Air Drop to work between OSX and iOS, I was talking about the first several years when they didn't.

Sad Professor

According to iMore, it support Airplay but not Bluetooth.

Apple's speaker works similarly, taking in your music (from Apple Music or another device via the AirPlay 2 protocol) and computing the hell out of it. The A8 chip analyzes your music in milliseconds to provide the best EQ, balance, and projection for your exact room layout.

Unfortunately, to achieve that musical clarity, HomeHub doesn't support Bluetooth connections — only AirPlay 2 and local Apple Music streaming. And like every other smart speaker manufacturer, the default music service is the company's own: You won't be able to stream Spotify, Pandora, Amazon, or Tidal without sending it from another device first.

Pretty much as expected then. Maybe in time Apple will add an App Store, but in the meantime you can just stream from your device, same as you would with AppleTv or any Airplay speaker.

jack presley

I'd like a speaker like this to do as my computer speaker too so if it can't play other stuff it won't suit me.

Sad Professor

jack presley wrote: »

I'd like a speaker like this to do as my computer speaker too so if it can't play other stuff it won't suit me.

It will, but via Airplay only.

Creamy Goodness

cnocbui wrote: »

Yes, I know Apple eventually allowed Air Drop to work between OSX and iOS, I was talking about the first several years when they didn't.

AirDrop for iOS came in iOS 7. iOS users were without it for a single year, hardly several.

jack presley

Sad Professor wrote: »

It will, but via Airplay only.

Is this the way people get Netflix audio onto their Sonos?

adox

Sad Professor wrote: »

According to iMore, it support Airplay but not Bluetooth.



Pretty much as expected then. Maybe in time Apple will add an App Store, but in the meantime you can just stream from your device, same as you would with AppleTv or any Airplay speaker.

Amazons Echo has Amazon music as default player alright but also allows you to use Spotify as a music player(which can be set to default)

Surprised there isnt support for apps such as tunein etc.
Slightly cripled device out of the box by the sounds of it. Maybe fixed with updates but really should be more capable from the off imo.

Fingleberries

adox wrote: »

Slightly cripled device out of the box by the sounds of it. Maybe fixed with updates but really should be more capable from the off imo.

Pretty much standard fare for Gen-1 Apple hardware, no? Pretty much the same as the old "Wait for the first Service Pack" for Microsoft OSes back in the day

I reckon it'll still sell gangbusters, though personally I think it looks too large to be considered beautiful or to be put front and centre to display on a shelf at home.

adox

Fingleberries wrote: »

Pretty much standard fare for Gen-1 Apple hardware, no? Pretty much the same as the old "Wait for the first Service Pack" for Microsoft OSes back in the day

I reckon it'll still sell gangbusters, though personally I think it looks too large to be considered beautiful or to be put front and centre to display on a shelf at home.

Id be skeptical about it selling bucket loads. Plenty of other options out there with more options, much cheaper etc.

?400-?450 for this with Apple Music being pretty much it really doesnt appeal.

cnocbui

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

AirDrop for iOS came in iOS 7. iOS users were without it for a single year, hardly several.

Airdrop was released in 2011, you couldn't airdrop between OSX and iOS until OSX Yosemite in Oct 2014. iOS 6 was released in 2012, so years, plural.

iniall

adox wrote: »

Amazingly expensive imo.

Too late to the party and overpriced.

I`m becoming less and less of an Apple customer. Their pricing policy is ridiculous at this stage even for them.

iPod. iPhone. iPad. All "too late to the party and overpriced".

adox

iniall wrote: »

iPod. iPhone. iPad. All "too late to the party and overpriced".

Nope. they werent the first to market with any of them but they were all game changers with no or little established competition. I have owned all three.

This will have very little USP apart from the badge and be a vastly inferior product to its competitors at twice the price and the rest.

iniall

But what is its competition? The Echo and Home are poor speakers and Sonos has no Siri.

adox

iniall wrote: »

But what is its competition? The Echo and Home are poor speakers and Sonos has no Siri.

We will wait to see what the speaker is like but the Echo Dot can be paired with any speaker on the market. Costs ?50.

adox

Actually forgot that Homekit is integrated into it as well so thats a big plus for it.

Yourself isit

adox wrote: »

Nope. they werent the first to market with any of them but they were all game changers with no or little established competition. I have owned all three.

This will have very little USP apart from the badge and be a vastly inferior product to its competitors at twice the price and the rest.

I heard that about the iPod.
Which was $400 if I recall.

It's not an Amazon echo. It's a speaker. A good speaker system can't be cheap.

Sonos speaker systems run from $250-$600

Yourself isit

adox wrote: »

We will wait to see what the speaker is like but the Echo Dot can be paired with any speaker on the market. Costs ?50.

50 for the speaker?

adox

Yourself isit wrote: »

I heard that about the iPod.
Which was $400 if I recall.

It's not an Amazon echo. It's a speaker. A good speaker system can't be cheap.

Sonos speaker systems run from $250-$600

I know how much the original iPod was. I bought one myself and many other versions afterwards. It's not the same thing at all imo.

This is an Amazon Echo. That's exactly what it is. The speaker may be better but it's a home assistant device. It's overpriced imo in the market place.

adox

Yourself isit wrote: »

50 for the speaker?

?50 for the Echo Dot which has a very small speaker built in but can be paired with a speaker through line in or Bluetooth.

My point was that you said the Echo and Google Home are poor speakers(have you heard them) and that you were paying for a good speaker here. I was pointing out that with the Amazon Echo if you aren't happy with the speaker in it you can by the little Echo Dot and have plenty of cash left to buy a great speaker to go with it and probably not spend as much as the HomePod.

Yourself isit

adox wrote: »

I know how much the original iPod was. I bought one myself and many other versions afterwards. It's not the same thing at all imo.

This is an Amazon Echo. That's exactly what it is. The speaker may be better but it's a home assistant device. It's overpriced imo in the market place.

It's not. It's that and a high end speaker. Getting rave reviews from music mags.

adox

Yourself isit wrote: »

It's not. It's that and a high end speaker. Getting rave reviews from music mags.

Meh i think it is. Even you are saying it is with a better speaker.

Sad Professor

First impressions are very positive about the sound quality and suggest the HomePod is nothing like the Echo:

CNET:

HomePod came off as bolder and more vivid than Sonos Play:3 in the experience I tried, and a lot better than Amazon Echo. I'd also say the music sounded consistently vivid and crisp in a quiet space, more so than the Sonos and Amazon comparisons on-hand.

HiFi:

As Sia’s The Greatest played out, the HomePod sounded impressive: strong bass rang out – which was perhaps the overriding audio takeaway for the speaker – but the vocals still seemed sharp and crisp. In comparison, the Sonos Play:3 appeared uncharacteristically flat, while the Amazon Echo felt almost pedestrian.

Engadget:

The HomePod however, sounded crisp and bright no matter the musical genre fed through it -- it rendered The Eagles as well it did Kendrick Lamar... And the Echo? Well, I'll put it this way: if listening to the HomePod was like listening to a CD, then audio through the Echo sounded like AM radio. In my experience it's excellent for audiobooks, but if given the choice, I'd rather have the HomePod pump out my jams.

The Echo doesn't support Apple Music, which is Apple's fault, but since I'm happily subscribed to Apple Music, the HomePod is potentially ideal for me, but I remain sceptical until reviewers get some real hands on time with it. The main thing for me is how well it actually works. I have a Logitech Airplay speaker which sounds great but is a pain in the arse to use. I don't want Airplay or Bluetooth streaming or anything hooked up to anything else. I just want a speaker that's easy to set up and can play music by itself. Some kind of third party support would be nice too, but that can wait provided they get the core functionality right.

adox

One thing is for sure. These kind of devices are great for streaming services. Apart from the whole just telling it what you want played, the fact that you arent using a phone or tablet to send the music to it is fantastic, not wasting your battery on streaming music.

Sad Professor

adox wrote: »

One thing is for sure. These kind of devices are great for streaming services. Apart from the whole just telling it what you want played, the fact that you arent using a phone or tablet to send the music to it is fantastic, not wasting your battery on streaming music.

Yeah, the whole streaming from your device to a speaker/tv thing is really cumbersome in my experience. I often just put my headphones in or play using my iPhone speakers (which I hate!) because I just couldn't be bothered with it.

Dades

Sad Professor wrote: »

Yeah, the whole streaming from your device to a speaker/tv thing is really cumbersome in my experience. I often just put my headphones in or play using my iPhone speakers (which I hate!) because I just couldn't be bothered with it.

Since I bought a Bose Soundlink Mini 2, I have my phone constantly paired with it at home, in the garden, etc. It's in constant use for podcasts and Spotify and works pretty seamlessly.

I'm confused as to whether the HomePod would replace this setup I have. How you do browse for stuff? Can you even play a podcast you've downloaded on it?

Zcott

You'd use airplay for it. No pairing required, it just shows up as an output.

Sad Professor

Dades wrote: »

Since I bought a Bose Soundlink Mini 2, I have my phone constantly paired with it at home, in the garden, etc. It's in constant use for podcasts and Spotify and works pretty seamlessly.

I'm confused as to whether the HomePod would replace this setup I have. How you do browse for stuff? Can you even play a podcast you've downloaded on it?

As Zcott said above, you will be able to stream to it via Airplay, but it's designed to operated using Siri. So you could just tell it to play a track directly from Apple Music or Apple Podcasts.

murpho999

Sad Professor wrote: »

As Zcott said above, you will be able to stream to it via Airplay, but it's designed to operated using Siri. So you could just tell it to play a track directly from Apple Music or Apple Podcasts.

Wonder how you sign-in or link to your account, does it connect to your phone first for that?

Creamy Goodness

murpho999 wrote: »

Wonder how you sign-in or link to your account, does it connect to your phone first for that?

I'm guessing there'll be a HomePod app just like the Watch app. You'll be able to control things there. Or maybe like the Apple Tv (4th gen) setup, you hold your phone close to the device and it wirelessly sets up the HomePod.

murpho999

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

I'm guessing there'll be a HomePod app just like the Watch app. You'll be able to control things there. Or maybe like the Apple Tv (4th gen) setup, you hold your phone close to the device and it wirelessly sets up the HomePod.

So does that mean only iOS device users can use it?

Creamy Goodness

murpho999 wrote: »

So does that mean only iOS device users can use it?

Not sure, Apple didn't even allow journalists to even touch the devices when in the demo rooms.

I'd say we'll see more information at the September event.

Sad Professor

The fact that it's Airplay only would suggest that it will require an Apple computer or device. However, once its set up it won't really matter what device you have as it will be streaming directly from Apple Music and taking instruction via Siri.

adox

With the Amazon Echo they have an app but also a dedicated website where you can register and set it up. Id imagine it would be something similar.

You can then add "skills" which are like apps(ones that are available). Can all be done with a mobile device or PC/Mac so Id imagine the same with Apples set up.

Zcott

murpho999 wrote: »

So does that mean only iOS device users can use it?

Probably. No Bluetooth or aux in.

jakdublin

I'm tempted by this, but I ditched Apple Music shortly after it messed up my music collection and am a dedicated Spotify user. I know I could Airplay my music to HomePOD but I feel I'd be missing out on premium features by being a Spotify fan. I need to be talked into buying it :-)

cnocbui

Sounds more like you need to be talked out of buying something you don't need.

Dades

^^ This!

It seems to me that if you're looking to use this primarily as a speaker through which to play audio, then it's just a very expensive non-bluetooth connected waste.

OU812

It should be able to play an iTunes library though, right?

Sad Professor

OU812 wrote: »

It should be able to play an iTunes library though, right?

Yes, via your iCloud Music Library. That's it's primary function - to play Apple Music.

Or you can stream anything to it via Airplay from your computer/device, but as said, if that's all you're going to use it for then it's a waste of money. At best the Airplay option should be considered a compromise until it supports third party apps.

cnocbui

Walled Garden device. It exists to sell Apple music subscriptions, not to provide a great user experience.

jakdublin

cnocbui wrote: »

Sounds more like you need to be talked out of buying something you don't need.

It's often the case when it comes to Apple launches, but I'm getting better at resisting. Think it's my age. Might be growing up at last.