Apple he really needs to make a smart home device with a screen that can take advantage of the company's technological strengths. Currently, HomePod and HomePod mini are presented as smart home hubs. but their value in this capacity is easy to question. While these smart home speakers handle Apple Music well enough, Siri is terribly inept compared to the assistants included with Google Home and Amazon Echo devices.
Apple's only selling point for its smart home solution, HomeKit, is privacy. However, most users of Amazon and Google products and services already share so much data with those companies that there isn't much to reveal about using their smart hubs. Apple lags far behind in popularity and there are several reasons for this. The original HomePod is a nice speaker for music, but far too expensive compared to the proper Bluetooth speakers with equivalent fidelity. Siri lags far behind Google Assistant and Alexa from Amazon. Apple has already delayed launching the HomePod and then launched a single smart home speaker with limited appeal.
Apple now has the HomePod mini available at a much more reasonable price, and two of these smart speakers can be paired for a stereo sound that fills the room. It's a nice, but still expensive, solution for smart speakers, and it probably sold well a few years ago. What is completely missing, however, is a smart home hub with a display. In the of Bloomberg Power On Newsletter, there has been some speculation that Apple might consider a 15-inch HomeKit device that is similar to an iPad. Amazon and Google market leaders offer more than one such device. Echo Show has already gone through four generations and five dimensions, while Nest Hub has offered two dimensions in the last three years. Apple currently only sells HomePod mini, a smart speaker that insists on sending search results to an iPhone screen instead of reading them aloud. While an iPad can be used as a hub, it requires accessories to stand upright and runs on a battery instead of a wall adapter, making it an incomplete solution.
Apple's home hub with a screen
Using Home on a Screen application is much more convenient. Setting up automation, checking camera flows, and scheduling automation is easy on an iPhone or iPad, but the same processes range from difficult to impossible with a HomePod. The same goes for every smart speaker system. Most people prefer visual interfaces, and computer technology is built around screens. An Apple HomeKit hub with display is really needed and could be the solution that invigorates the company's chances in the market.
HomePod focuses on music, but an Apple home hub with a screen could put display and touch features first. Viewing Apple TV, FaceTime, and security camera would be possible from a central location with a permanent display. If Apple had an entry-level model, a case could be made to order more screen hubs for use in the kitchen, master bedroom, and front door. Visual playlists, smart home automation, search results, family communication with voice or notes would become very quick and easy. a Apple The smart home screen with a screen might be what it takes to get the company up and running again.
Source: Bloomberg
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