Like Apple, Samsung has been working on a smart speaker that will compete with the Amazon Echo and the Google Home, and the South Korean company is aiming to release it in the first half of 2018, reports Bloomberg.
Samsung's smart speaker sounds similar to the HomePod, with a "strong focus" on audio quality. Apple aimed to make the HomePod stand out with sound quality that beats out competitors like the Amazon Echo.
Apple's HomePod
One prototype in testing is said to be "between the size" of the newest Echo and the HomePod. It could come in different colors, including a matte black shade, and it has no screen but offers a light-up area on the top for visual feedback like the HomePod.
Similar to other products, the Samsung smart speaker will be able to control smart home accessories, and it will be controlled via voice assistant. It will feature built-in Bixby support, Samsung's voice-based AI solution.
Amazon's latest Echo
Samsung confirmed its work on a smart speaker to compete with the HomePod back in August of 2017. At the time, Samsung mobile president DJ Koh said the aim was to provide a "fruitful user experience at home with Samsung devices."
Samsung is considering a price of around $200 for the smart speaker, which would make it more affordable than Apple's $349 HomePod. If Samsung is indeed aiming for an early 2018 release, the smart speaker could come out around the same time as the HomePod.
Apple originally planned to introduce the HomePod in December, but has since delayed its release until 2018.
Wednesday February 26, 2025 6:32 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In an all-caps post on Truth Social today, U.S. President Donald Trump said Apple should fully end its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies.
Tim Cook meeting with President Trump in 2017
"APPLE SHOULD GET RID OF DEI RULES, NOT JUST MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THEM," he wrote.
Trump's post comes one day after Apple held its annual shareholders meeting, during which a majority of...
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In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 18.4 will be released in April.
From the Apple News+ Food announcement:Coming with iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 in April, Apple News+ subscribers will have access to Apple News+ Food, a new section that will feature tens of thousands of recipes — as well as stories about restaurants, healthy eating, kitchen essentials, and more — from the...
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements.
While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way.
By the time the ...
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In some cases, when speaking the word racist through the iPhone's built-in dictation feature, the iPhone briefly interprets the spoken word as "Trump" and "Trump" text shows up in the Messages app before being ...
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The leaker also claimed that an AirTag 2 will launch around the same time.
Kosutami is best known as a collector of prototype Apple hardware, but they have occasionally shared accurate information about Apple's future product plans. For example, they accurately...
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Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported that a new AirTag would be released in mid-2025. May or June would align with that timeframe.
Below, we recap three new features rumored for the AirTag 2:
With a second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, the...
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The first beta of iOS 18.4 is now available, and it includes a small but useful change for CarPlay.
As we noted in our list of iOS 18.4 features, CarPlay now shows a third row of icons, up from two rows previously. However, this change is only visible in vehicles with a larger center display. For example, a MacRumors Forums member noticed the change in a Toyota Tundra, which can be equipped...
I don't need to spend $350 for a smart speaker. Siri already stinks enough on my iPhone and Mac and I already have many other speakers in my home. #NoThanks
