The latest Apple HomePod leak seems to have come from the smart speaker itself, with Siri hinting at a screen and confirming earlier rumors.
A recent update to the HomePod may have led to Siri leaking a big Apple secret. Apple’s HomePod is a smart speaker with no proper display, although colorful lights appear on the top of the device to indicate that it’s speaking. A HomePod with a screen would be a considerable improvement and give new life to Apple’s smart home product category, which is trailing the competition.
Apple’s HomePod is a high-end smart speaker that can also serve as a hub for other smart devices compatible with Apple’s HomeKit. The original HomePod was discontinued by Apple last year, and only the smaller and less expensive HomePod mini is currently available. This speaker has a good sound quality for its size, yet its abilities as a smart speaker are lacking. Both Amazon’s Echo and Google’s Nest and Home speakers are recognized by most as having a much better understanding of spoken commands and questions.
The original HomePod has been discontinued but is still receiving software updates. Reddit user totalsoda recently shared a video of a HomePod speaking a quite unusual phrase for a speaker. ‘I found an answer. It’s displayed on your HomePod,’ Siri can be heard to say. That’s impossible at the moment since neither Apple’s HomePod nor HomePod mini has a screen. Past rumors have suggested that Apple is working on a HomePod with a display, somewhat similar to an iPad in a stand or a wall mount. As a smart home screen, the device would get power from a cord instead of a battery, an exciting possibility.
More Details Of The HomePod Leak
While rumors continue circulating about Apple working on a HomePod with a screen, the odds of such a product coming this year seem better if the software is actively being tested. The iPhone paired to the HomePod that gave the possible leak was running iOS 15.4 beta 1, and the HomePod was on the beta version of its software as well. Reddit user totalsoda didn’t make any assumptions about Siri’s odd statement, noting that it might be a future leak or simply a Siri error.
When asking the HomePod questions that require an internet search, the response usually indicates the results will be sent to the paired iPhone, so sending to a screen is normal. The difference here is the reference to ‘displaying’ the answer on the HomePod. Unfortunately, totalsoda didn’t remember what question prompted this response, yet did recall that it was the sort of question that would require an internet search, rather than a calculation, conversion, or smart home interaction, which Siri and the HomePod can handle without any internet help.
Source: totalsoda/Reddit
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