Smart homes are becoming the new trend and Google and Amazon are already at the forefront of the race with their gadgets. It is fitting to see other major players join the race sooner than later, and as it appears it won't be long before Apple makes a jump into the smart home arena.
The Cupertino-based tech titan is reportedly working on a device much like the Amazon Echo and the Google Home, but it will have its own unique touch. Apple is expected to launch the voice-assisted speaker complete with Siri and smart home integrations at the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which will take place between June 5 and 9, 2017.
Only days after Australian leaker Sonny Dickson shared details about the Apple smart home speaker on Twitter, known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities revealed that there's "over 50 percent chance" the Siri-based speaker being announced at WWDC. Kuo told MacRumors that the device will go on sale in the second half of 2017, in time for the new Amazon Echo and Google Home successors.
"We expect Apple's first home AI product will have excellent acoustics performance (one woofer + seven tweeters) and computing power (similar to iPhone 6/6S AP). Therefore the product is likely to be positioned for: (i) the high-end market; (ii) better entertainment experience; and (iii) higher price than Amazon Echo," Kuo noted in his research.
In addition to the information Kuo revealed, Dickson's tweets last week suggested the Apple smart home speaker would run a version of iOS with an unknown Beats technology. Speaking of the design, Dickson said that it will have a Mac Pro-like concave top, built-in controls and speaker mesh covering most of the device's surface.
It is believed to carry some form of Beats technology, and is expected to run an variant iOS
— Sonny Dickson (@SonnyDickson) April 27, 2017
Apple has been working to majorly overhaul Siri and it's capabilities, for all devices, but most notably their upcoming smarthome device.
— Sonny Dickson (@SonnyDickson) May 1, 2017
Apple's new smart home device will have many advantages over Amazon Echo. Firstly, Siri integration will give one-up to Apple as it supports 18 languages as compared to Alexa's English vocabulary. If Kuo's prediction is right, Apple will connect all of its devices including iOS and macOS, support AirPlay for music streaming, and a classy design to top it all off.
Apple, as usual, hasn't commented on the matter. But June is not too far, so it's best to wait and see what Apple has in store for us all at its WWDC conference.
