I expect Google Assistant and Alexa are technically ahead of Siri, but I will only let Apple to have an always-listening device in my home.<p>Google seems to be intentionally trying to make users give up on privacy. If I enable any privacy settings in my Google account, it completely disables <i>all</i> features of Pixel Assistant, even the basic voice commands that work offline. Somehow without agreeing to logging of my "web history" I'm not even allowed to set a 5-minute timer with Google Assistant.
Alexa keeps getting smarter and is substantially less at $50 for the dot (frequently on sale for $40).<p>The dot is also superior because it can work with any bluetooth speaker or AUX speaker. Apple once again is 2 years behind everyone with inferior technology.
There's no open API for this, right?<p>And Siri is ~1-2 years behind Echo/Google Home. Only "innovation" is on aesthetic design.<p>Apple usually comes in when they know they can do something a lot better than the existing competition, but not recently. Not with Apple Watch & HomePod.<p>It's now about:<p>1) Apple has massive distribution
2) They can get a non-step-function revenue increment with that massive distribution, launching new products.<p>Which makes sense why it's music focused (lock-in with Apple Music)
Assuming the audio quality is on par with a Sonos Play:1, An extra $150 is a quite a bit more to pay for Siri integration. Also, will HomePod only work with Apple Music? Another must have that I would need to see before switching from Sonos is the ability to create a stereo pair with 2 speakers.
It sure looks like a gamechanger to me. I have an Echo at home, and I've gotta say it's a bit limiting to converse with. At $349, though, they're clearly going for a smaller market than Amazon & Google.
I find it interesting that even though apple showed us just an empty shell, some journalist told us that this is probably the best sounding speaker out there...<p>RDF jokes aside, I think this will be released as a pure music player first and get smart assistant functions within a year. I don't think it will get an open API the same way google home has but apple will inatead partner with select companies.