Apple long-awaited crop of smart home devices to be powered by the new Siri AI assistant are almost ready for liftoff, according to the latest reports. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says the so-called HomePad smart display could finally be ready to rock as soon as October, but as late as early next year.
The report also offers more details about the form factor itself. Gurman says there are two versions incoming. One that looks like a “HomePod speaker sliced in half” and another that’s more like an Echo Show that affixes to the wall magnetically. Gurman’s sources say the display will be around 7-inches in size, similar to some of the home hubs we’ve seen from Google and Amazon.
Gurman reports that the hallmark feature is facial recognition. Not only will that identify which family member is using the device and surface personalised context accordingly, but it would also personalise the way information is displayed depending on how far it deems the user to be away from the screen.
In terms of the interface, it’ll be a version of tvOS but with elements if iOS and watchOS thrown in for good measure. There’ll be a grid of icons, widgets and apps, the report says.
Naturally, there’ll be FaceTime and the ability to monitor security cameras and other smart appliances. It’ll also feature an intercom feature for chatting to others around the house via various other Apple devices, like a HomePod speaker. Naturally there’ll be access to stock apps like calendar, notes, photos and others.
However, those personalised interactions sound key. Gurman writes: “The product was designed to capitalise on Siri AI, an upgrade to the assistant that can tap into personal information and lets users precisely control applications with their voice.”
Before that, a new Apple TV and refreshed HomePod mini will be on the way, both boosted by the generative AI advances Apple is debuting with this year’s operating system updates. Recent reporting from the same publication has suggested Apple has had hardware ready to go since the spring, but has held off until Siri AI and its Google Gemini-powered advances were ready to launch. Now that time is finally approaching.
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