Apple HomePod – a Siri powered smart speaker and home assistant that can ‘rock the house’ – is unveiled at WWDC 2017
Apple announces 'breakthrough' home speaker - BUT you'll need Apple Music to play tunes
APPLE is launching its own 'smart speaker'called the HomePod.
The technology company made the massive announcement during the World Wide Developer Conference this evening.
It's powered by the same chip which runs iPhones and comes with great audio, Tim Cook told the conference.
HomePod has spatial awareness so it can detect the room its in and optimise sound.
Siri has taken up a new hobby and has become something of a musicologist - telling you exactly who is playing down to tiny details like the name of the lead singer.
It's also a helpful home assistant, and can be integrated with Apple's HomeKit.
That means if you've got smartlights that are Apple optimised, you can switch them on-and-off using HomePod.
It detects sound really well, too.
It'll detect your voice from across the room even with music playing, thanks to the built-in speaker array.
The HomePod will be available from December in the US and UK, priced at $349 (£215) - although the conversion might differ.
Apple addressed the privacy issues surrounding smart speakers.
Many found Amazon's Echo and Google's Home assistant creeped them out when they realised their voice interactions were being stored in the cloud.
Apple claim that until you utter "Hey Siri," nothing is activated, or sent to Apple.
It sends an anonymous Siri ID that's encrypted, then stops listening once you've stopped talking to it.
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