and why not??? i suffer the difference every day at work with the Microsoft-doorstopper and the Android stuff of my friends, family etc. nobody would complain that a Porsche is more expensive than a, let´s say, VW Golf. i’m fine within the Apple-cosmos since 1995 and therefore keen on the new Homepod, telling it to connect to my B&O devices

Are there not still too many unanswered questions about Airplay 2 to know?

If, as it seems, many of the BeoPlay / BS speakers will be updated to the Airplay 2 protocol, does that effectively turn your BeoSound 2 for example into a HomePod?  Outside of the integrated voice control, it may well effectively be the same, especially in conjunction with an iPhone. 

I'm not sure what extra then a HomePod will get you? When you are saying "Hey Siri, etc etc" , your phone is listening and talking to the airplay 2 enabled speaker, rather than talking directly to the HomePod.

Of course, Siri on the HomePod may have a different capability set to the iPhone - that wouldn't be unusual, it works that way elsewhere (a Chromebook vs an Android phone). So who knows if that combination is the equal of a HomePod? 

And of course, at what point down the road (if at all) will Apple open up the HomePod to other music streaming services in the same way as Apple Music.

Apple have been late to the game in other product categories before without harming them, this time its not going to be so easy. Launching without some of the capabilities finished yet plus the huge delay is not encouraging i would suggest.

@egges: I am comparing my today’s experience with Deezer/TuneIn built-in within B&O prodcust (native/elegant/does not consume my mobile phone’s battery) with Airplaying experience when I want to stream AppleMusic. Plus it is not one-click-music quick playback. 

Then for the HomePod I anticipate the reverse thing. Not that it should stop Deezer users from buying it... ...just thought it might not be so ultimately elegant.

@Aussie Michael: we hope some adventurous forum members from countries where it is released might buy one and share experiences here... :whistle: ;j

However, still waiting for AirPlay 2 to be released ;-(

Might be more interesting for B&O/NL users (supposing that many also have ATV’s) than a ‘simple’ HPod.

MM

sorry, AnalogPlanet, i was answering moxxey and TWG, who consider Apple-users as blind and ignorant sheeps, sadly(haven't seen your post before posting mine). of course i can't use AppleMusic out of the B&O-app, but that's not a problem for me at all. i hope Airplay 2 will give B&O the tool to enable BS 2 (and their other monospeakers) for stereo-mode as it is announced for the HomePod; at least i won't hesitate to get a second BS 2

Personally, I'm keeping away from voice control. Too many stories about people suddenly getting advertising for something they've mentioned in a private  conversation, even though they were convinced that their mobile device microphone was supposedly turned off.

Just wait until rogue political parties start exploiting this technology and are listening to your views..... Big Brother???

Graham

AnalogPlanet wrote:

@Aussie Michael: we hope some adventurous forum members from countries where it is released might buy one and share experiences here... :whistle: ;j

I have 2 pre-ordered but will only set up one initially.  I am a pretty basic user since I don't subscribe to Apple Music and only use my local library of music. I won't be using Siri much if at all since it won't work well with Japanese words and then only pull my music off of iTunes Match which is lower resolution. I will be happy to report back on my Airplay usage and how well I think it sounds without doing any direct comparison's to my B&O devices.  I don't know if I will have Airplay with Tunein or how elegant that might be, so that might be missed.  The Tunein app for iPhone/iPad seems to require a paid subscription to use. I believe this will be an advantage for B&O!

vikinger wrote:

Personally, I'm keeping away from voice control. Too many stories about people suddenly getting advertising for something they've mentioned in a private  conversation, even though they were convinced that their mobile device microphone was supposedly turned off.

Just wait until rogue political parties start exploiting this technology and are listening to your views..... Big Brother???

Graham

Orwell was prescient in predicting abuses of the surveillance state, but he never would have imagined that Big Brother might not be the government but rather the tech giants like Google, Facebook, etc. I am far too distrusting to let voice command products have free reign around the house.

For a while I worked in computer forensics, the things I can tell you after looking at your cache and search results would astound you. We've seen cases over here where the police obtained Siri and Alexa search records that were quite damning. Siri, how do you get rid of a body? Seriously. But what kind of moron asks that and doesn't think it's recorded somewhere in the cloud?

Once again, it's a tradeoff between privacy and convenience. Usually convenience wins for most people. As for the HomePod, I look forward to hearing what it really sounds like, the blurbs on the drivers and such look promising.

Mark-N wrote:

 I am a pretty basic user since I don't subscribe to Apple Music and only use my local library of music.

This is me and I also don't use Siri. However, the fact that one's true library isn't accessible via Home Sharing, and even if it was, it may not play all of the tracks based on limitations which are right now being reported by tech news sites is a bit problematic.

I'm eager to hear how it sounds so please keep us posted!

Sal wrote:

This is me and I also don't use Siri. However, the fact that one's true library isn't accessible via Home Sharing, and even if it was, it may not play all of the tracks based on limitations which are right now being reported by tech news sites is a bit problematic.

I'm not sure what this means, if I can't access my iTunes library and direct it to the HomePod via Airplay?  This would be a very bad move on Apples part if that happens.  I will use the iTunes Remote app which connects to my library via Home Sharing and just select the HomePod in Airplay.  If this doesn't work like it is expected to I will be returning the HomePods immediately.

One area where I expect Apple to be better than B&O is software updates for problems encountered.  We'll see though.  I still have to periodically unplug my Essence Mk II every now and then to get my Essence Remote to work again.