Apple is accelerating development of a tabletop home device that combines an iPad-like display tethered atop a HomePod via a robotic limb.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
The company now has a team of several hundred people working on the device, which uses a thin robotic arm to move around a large screen, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The product, which relies on actuators to tilt the display up and down and make it spin 360 degrees, would offer a twist on home products like Amazon.com Inc.’s Echo Show 10 and Meta Platforms Inc.’s discontinued Portal.
Users would primarily interact with this device using Siri and other Apple Intelligence features. It currently runs a modified version of iPadOS, and could, among other things, include a “look at me” command to “focus on the person saying the words.”
Apple is looking to launch the new device in “2026 or 2027” at a price of “around $1,000,” Gurman reports.
MacDailyNews Take: This thing had better do a lot more than is currently described to justify a $1,000 price tag.
Back in April 2021, Bloomberg News‘ Mark Gurman reported that Apple was exploring a high-end speaker with a touch screen. Such a device would combine an iPad with a HomePod speaker and also include a camera for video chat. In addition, Gurman reported that Apple was working on a new device that would meld an Apple TV set-top box with a HomePod speaker and include a camera for video conferencing through a connected TV alongside multiple other smart-home functions.
A combined Apple TV + HomePod would be very compelling. In nearly every place where we have an Apple TV, a HomePod is within a few feet or could be. We imagine an Apple TV + iPad combo device would be like an Echo Show on steroids. – MacDailyNews, April 12, 2021
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Today’s apple is doing a whole lot of “exploring” and very little shipping.
Ya as little as $390 billion.
80% of that is iphone sales which is a product conceived by Jobs and his team in 2007.
Tend to agree. Geez ten years ago I started talking about a device of this nature based around an iPad indeed why you couldn’t just develop a base that turns an iPad into such a device is beyond me, surely could make older models still useful while encouraging buying new ones and multiple iPads. Ten years later and they are still ‘thinking about it’ but based around what sounds like a costly gimmick so far . Too many products or ideas are sounding too much like Sanyo in the 80s or sadly Sony 25 years back when they still retained a quality brand. Hope Apple does go the same way while watching others doing the innovative things which Apple’s unloved Overlord seems to need to not only see, but to be re-assured by years of further development before considering such a product. It’s like having Michael Dell as CEO.
An all-in-one Apple TV + speakers would be a very compelling product for me. I would pay an extra $500 to $750 for a 65″ 4K TV. If the screen tech had Apple’s screen tech (5K?) I would pay maybe $1000 more.
I bought the latest LG OLED smart TV. Had to shutoff wireless function because LG has no idea how to deliver a good smart experience. Even with OS Update turned OFF very weird and annoying things happen with LG when connected to the Internet. I have a decent HT system connected but if audio was all built in, that would be oh so nice.
It would seem that Apple’s challenge with TVs is that people only buy them every 10 – 15 years.
A device with Siri more critically involved? Sorry, her residue cripples confidence. Besides not imagining a Siri benefit, the item seems like a “smart” video conf call appliance. Do we need more devices to incentivize sitting around?
“Thanks a ton for sharing this! It’s great to know how Vivaldi is adapting to the changes.”
“Hey Siri, pay attention. Look here. No, not there. Here!”
Ha. That’s hilarious. “LOOK AT ME Siri when I’m talking to you!”
More overpriced junk controlled by that retard Siri. Apple still can’t make a foldable phone but they can invest in this. Tim Cook is a cuck.