Apple has shrunk the HomePod and made it cheaper – introducing HomePod mini

Apple has shrunk the HomePod and made it cheaper. The HomePod mini is priced at just $149 and offers the convenience of Siri to get things done and enjoy impressive sound quality.

Despite standing just 8.5cm tall, the HomePod mini still packs a big sound.

Apple designed every acoustic element on the HomePod mini to create outstanding audio.

It uses computational audio which makes calculations in real-time to make the sound the best it can be wherever it is positioned in your home.

“HomePod mini has everything customers want in a smart speaker — amazing sound for listening to music, a world-class intelligent assistant that delivers a personal experience to each member of the household, and like every Apple product, it’s designed with privacy and security in mind,” said Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing.

“HomePod mini is the ultimate smart speaker for anyone with an Apple device. It works effortlessly with iPhone to hand off music, answer calls, or deliver personalised listening suggestions, elevates the sound from Apple TV, plays music from a Mac, and so much more.

“There’s a lot of Apple innovation packed into such a small speaker, all at an affordable price.”

Of course, the improved Siri is also onboard HomePod mini to make it a truly smart speaker and can recognise several different voices in the same household.

The HomePod mini offers 360-degree sound with an Apple-designed acoustic waveguide to direct the sound flow down and out the bottom of the speaker.

And if you but two HomePod mini speakers, they can also be set up as left and right speakers.

There’s also a three-microphone array so Siri can hear you when you ask to listen to your content.

With Siri, the HomePod mini becomes a very smart speaker.

Apart from accessing content, HomePod mini can also help you access messages, reminders, notes and calendar appointments as well as making and answering phone calls.

Siri can also provide a snapshot which includes your schedule, the traffic situation as well as weather and reminders.

And naturally HomePod mini works well with Apple’s devices – iPhone, Mac, Apple TV.

For example if you’re listening to music on your iPhone and bring the iPhone close to the HomePod mini, the music will hand off to the speaker.

And it is also a great way of monitoring and controlling your smart devices including lights and door locks as well as setting scenes that can control numerous devices when you go to sleep, when you wake up, when you go out and when you want to watch a movie.

Intercom is a new feature that allows live voice messages to play on all HomePods and iPhones and AirPods in the home.

Additional Features:

– Siri Shortcuts: created on iPhone and iPad are accessible on HomePod mini, so users can ask Siri on HomePod mini to start a pot of coffee, control a robot vacuum, add milk to the grocery list, and more.

– Ambient sounds: including rain, a fireplace, a stream, and more, offer the perfect background noise to focus, relax, or fall asleep. Siri can set a sleep timer so the sounds automatically stop playing.

– Find My: helps locate a misplaced iPhone, iPad, iPod touch®, Mac, or Apple Watch by playing a sound to pinpoint its location.

– Web search: results from HomePod mini can be sent directly to the user’s iPhone for easy viewing.

– Music alarms: let users wake up to a favourite song, playlist, or radio station from Apple Music.

The HomePod mini will be priced at $149 and will go on sale the week of November 16.

 

 

 

 

Editor