Now available in additional colours HomePod can improve your smoke or carbon monoxide alarm by using sound recognition to send you a Notification if these alarms are heard, even if you are listening to loud music or are not at home. This could be a lifesaver, and it’s ever so simple to enable. What is Sound Recognition? Apple has updated HomePods with the ability to recognize when a smoke or carbon monoxide (CO) alarm is heard by the device microphone. The feature is part of the Sound Recognition capacity of these devices(and also other Apple devices with mics), which is a low level AI that ..read more

The MacPhone designed by Hartmut Esslinger in 1984 Way back in 1984 Frog Design founder Hartmut Esslinger was designing products for Apple. Now one of those products appears to be becoming part of the future of the company. Is it a Mac, is it a phone, is it a iPad, is it a HomePod ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  A recent report from one of the two guys who file so many stories some speculate they may live in Tim Cook’s filing cabinet now claims Apple plans a HomePod with a 7-inch screen for 2024. Now, while that sounds like a pair of concepts that don’t really fit together, perhaps they actually do and if y ..read more

The new $299 HomePod retains the traditional design of the larger model but packs new audio technologies and advanced computational audio In a second shock product introduction Apple has introduced a new full-size HomePod, promising better sound, new technologies, Matter support and a new feature coming this spring called sound detection. Apple also promised the new devices will offer temperature and humidity sensors, and confirmed previous claims that its HomePod mini also offers the same sensors, which will be enabled with iOS 16.3, which ships next week. What’s new in the HomePod? The new ..read more

Now available in additional colours Apple has something to sing about as it prepares for WWDC. The HomePod mini seems to be a big success, according to fresh Strategy Analytics data, even as Canalys claims Apple’s AirPods are by far the biggest-selling TWS headphones in the world. AirPods took 31.8% TWS market The Canalys report tells us that AirPods seized 31.8% of the global TWS market, selling around 21.7 million units. That’s up 14% annually, and takes place as second place contender Samsuing sees sales decline 4% to 6.5 million in the same period. Xiaomi retained third place, but saw a ..read more

Apple history fans may recall the Apple Paladin: A Mac combined with a fax machine, scanner and telephone Apple prototyped, but never shipped, in 1995. Now the latest *Hot Apple Rumor* from the tale torrent at Bloomberg suggests the company may have cracked it, maybe. What’s the Hot Apple Rumor? The speculation we’re seeing suggests a device that combines three things: A HomePod An Apple TV A microphone and FaceTime camera. You’ll be able to plug it into your television, it will run tvOS, and will also let you take video calls on the TV screen. Not only that, but you’ll be able to ask Siri ..read more

Price may turn out to have been the sweet spot to push Apple’s HomePod tech into more homes, according to the latest Strategy Analytics data. HomePod mini gets respectable HomePod mini generated c.4 million sales giving Apple around 10.2 percent of global market share in Q3 2021, the analysts claim. That’s up from 5.9% and 2.1 million shipments in the year before quarter, their data shows. Overall, Strategy Analytics estimates total smart speaker and smart display shipments grew 10% year-over-year to 39.3 million units, a record for a third calendar quarter. They do note that sales in Q4 have ..read more

Chill out with a little music Apple has made colorful versions of its great little HomePod mini smart speaker system available for sale in the U.S., following their introduction in October 2021. The small devices pack a powerful, clear sound and work well with your podcasts, music streaming, Siri and more. For music, podcasts, smart homes The new colors include yellow, orange, and blue, as well as their original white and space gray varieties. Apple has put some attention to detail here, so you’ll find details that color-match the speaker, including the touch surface, fabric and power cable ..read more

Now available in additional colours Apple now offers the HomePod mini in five colors, including yellow, orange, blue and  the white and grey of the original. What Apple said “HomePod mini sounds incredible, and with access to more than 90 million songs in the global Apple Music catalogue and deep integration with your Apple devices, it’s the must-have smart speaker for iPhone users,” said Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With new vibrant colours, HomePod mini fits in even more places and delivers amazing sound, the power of Siri, and simple and secur ..read more

What follows are 15+ Siri commands to help you stay productive when using your HomePod or HomePod mini. Toward the new workplace Apple’s Siri and HomePods can be quite valuable when you work at home or in your small office, and while many bosses are making incredibly poor decisions that negatively impact the health of their employees and of their business, an emerging majority know that remote and hybrid working is the future. The fourth wave of the pandemic seems to consist of a wave of second-rate bosses insisting many of us return to work in the office, but hopefully that destructive decis ..read more

Your office assistant Looking for an excuse to charge Apple’s HomePod mini to your office expense accounts? Here are several ways it will help you get things done. Do this first Some of these tips require that you enable Personal Requests on your HomePod Mini. This is simple to do, but boring to read about, so follow these instructions Apple provides. Done that? OK, here are a few useful things your HomePod mini can help you do. Call wrangling To make a call with your HomePod, just say “Hey Siri, call [name of contact from your book]”, or simply try “Hey Siri call [number”. Your HomePod wil ..read more