At long last, the Apple HomePod has a release date
Apple's been hyping the HomePod, its wireless Siri-enabled smart speaker, for months now.
And it's finally (almost) here. It'll be in stores on Feb. 9 and up for pre-order Jan. 26, shipping in the U.S., UK, and Australia.
The central purpose of the HomePod is as a music player. If you have an Apple Music subscription, Siri will be able to find you the music you're looking for, and tailor it to your preferences and tastes.
It's outfitted with six microphones, meaning it can hear your call of "Hey Siri" from across the room, even while music is playing. It's seven inches tall and outfitted with a seamless mesh fabric. It's enabled with spatial recognition, meaning it can sense where it's located and adjust its audio settings accordingly.
And if you just can't get enough HomePod, you can set up two of them in the same room as a stereo pair to really blast your music. You can also play music throughout your house with multi-room audio. But most products aren't perfect upon launch and the HomePod is no exception: These features won't be available until later this year.
In addition to playing songs for you, Siri can inform you about those songs. She can answer questions like "Hey Siri, when was this song released?" or "Hey Siri, who is this artist?" HomePod can access the Apple Music library, as well as your iTunes library, even when it's offline.
You can also connect it to your iPhone, and use it to make speaker phone calls.
But the HomePod isn't just a speaker. It will also be a smart home hub (think Amazon Echo or Google Home) Apple-style. Instead of Alexa or Google Assistant, it'll be Siri at your beck and call.
Siri can send messages, set timers, and deliver you daily news, traffic, and weather reports. It will also control your HomeKit smart home accessories. All you have to do is call "Hey Siri."
The HomePod isn't cheap -- it'll cost you $349.
That's $50 cheaper than the Google Home Max, but a whopping $250 more than the Amazon Echo, and $220 more than the Google Home.
Monica wrote for Mashable's Tech section with a focus on retail, internet of things, and the intersections of technology and social justice. She holds a degree in creative writing from Brown University, and has previously written for Dow Jones Media, the New York Post, Yahoo Finance, and others. In her free time, she can be found attempting to cook Asian food, buying board games, and looking for new hobbies.
