HomePod will be available in mainland China and Hong Kong starting Friday
Availability of Apple’s Siri-powered wireless speaker is scheduled to expand to mainland China and Hong Kong starting this coming Friday, January 18
Wireless Speaker
Amazon confirmed third-party Alexa speakers will gain Apple Music integration too
Amazon has officially confirmed that Alexa-enabled speakers from third-party brands will soon be permitted to integrate with Apple Music following Echo exclusivity.
Apple will launch HomePod in China and Hong Kong in early 2019
HomePod is officially launching in mainland China and Hong Kong in early 2019, according to Apple itself.
New HomePod 12.1.1 update brings group FaceTime indicator & support for new regions
The LEDs on your HomePod will now illuminate when in a group FaceTime call. And as a cool bonus, customers in Hong Kong and mainland China can now enjoy their HomePod fully thanks to expanded regional support.
How HomePod uses machine learning to boost far-field Siri accuracy
Apple’s Audio Software Engineering and Siri Speech Team explain how HomePod uses machine learning running on the 64-bit Apple A8 processor to filter out echo, reverberation and background noise when making spoken requests to Siri.
HomePod is scheduled to arrive in Spain and Mexico on October 26
The Siri-powered wireless speaker is scheduled to launch in Spain and Mexico on Friday, October 26, according to both Apple’s online store and a recent press release.
Select Sonos speakers gain AirPlay 2 support
The latest Sonos speakers now support AirPlay 2 with multi-room audio and Siri voice control. Older speakers can be grouped with one of the compatible speakers to use AirPlay 2.
Watch HomePod execute Siri Shortcut automation scripts on other devices
This video demonstrates that Siri on HomePod with iOS 11 is already able to execute Siri Shortcuts automation scripts on other devices through an iPhone with the iOS 12 beta.
HomePod goes on sale in France, Germany and Canada
HomePod, the innovative wireless speaker from Apple with built-in Siri, is available starting today in Canada, France and Canada after making its initial debut in January 2018 in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
HomePod can now read the news in Canada
Canadian users can now ask Siri on their HomePod to play some news and she will provide news briefs from both local and international sources, like CBC, Global TV, CTV and CNN.
Sonos unveils Beam smart sound bar, confirms AirPlay 2 and Siri coming to its speakers in July
Sonos today unveiled a new Beam smart sound bar for your TV and announced that official support for Apple’s latest AirPlay 2 media-streaming technology, along with Siri voice control, is coming to select Sonos wireless speakers via a free software update in July.
List of AirPlay 2 Siri voice commands for controlling multiple speakers
We have put together a running list of the best AirPlay 2 Siri voice commands with respect to multi-room audio that let you do cool things such as play music in a particular room, play different playlists on different speakers, continue playing a song on another speaker and more—all by talking.