Last year, Apple launched the HomePod Mini: a smaller, rounder and - crucially - more accessible track to the original HomePod and, at Apple's event this fall, Cook and co. took out the covers of new "bold" Mini color options.

"Bold" is the word Apple, not ours, but the yellow, orange and blue variants are certainly a little different from the usual palette of smart speakers.

Inside, the speakers are exactly the same as the original HomePod Mini options in gray and white space.

The smallest Apple smart speaker costs $ 99 and is 3.3 inches tall (the original HomePod is 6.8 inches tall) and is powered by the Apple S5 chip.

Like the original HomePod, the HomePod Mini is a 360-degree speaker - which means it sounds good wherever you place it in the room. It is also capable of multi-camera audio with other HomePods (and AirPlay speakers) and you can pair a Minis duo for HomePod stereo action.

In addition to being a smart music-focused speaker, the HomePod Mini also has smart home functions. It can function as a HomeKit Hub and also wraps in a Thread Radio.

The new trio of colors will be available in November.

They will team up nicely with a new Apple launch; the Cupertino giant also used the event to unveil the Apple Music Voice Plan: "a new level of Apple Music subscription designed around the power of Siri."

Costing less than an Apple Music plan at $ 4.99 a month, the idea is that if you only use Siri to power your music, you only need this more casual plan.

You can use Siri on any of your Siri-compatible Apple devices to play songs, skip songs, control the volume, and more, but you'll be able to use Siri's DJ skills for more specific requests.

Think about the line of such requests "Hey Siri, play Revolver from the Beatles "," Hey Siri, sing the latest Elbow album "," Hey, Siri is playing some rock from the '80s or Hey Siri, play something relaxing.

You still have full access to Apple Music's 90 million songs - you just can't browse albums and playlists on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, etc.

You don't even get lossy audio and space audio, lyrics, music videos, or the ability to stream Apple Music to non-Apple devices.

However, you'll get full voice control over your music - whether it's broken or purchased and stored locally - and you'll also get voice access to Apple Radio.

Confused? We agree it's a little weird, but it will probably suit some people.

The Apple Music Voice plan will be available later this fall in 17 countries and regions, including Australia, Austria, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, Taiwan , Great Britain and USA.