In the first reviews for Apple’s new HomePod speaker, everyone totally raves about the smart speaker’s pristine sound quality. Siri, on the other hand, doesn’t sound so brilliant.
Apple seeded a few review units to major outlets ahead of this Friday’s HomePod launch. The embargo lifted this morning, and the early reviews reveal a few surprising tidbits about the HomePod.
Here’s what people are saying:
Battery life on the iPhone X got you down? Consider downgrading to an iPhone X knock-off fresh out of China.
The Chinese company Oukitel unveiled its newest iPhone copycat this week that comes with a lot of the same features for a fraction of the cost, including a vertically stacked dual-lens camera and face unlocking.
The iPhone X’s biggest competition of 2018 is nearly here and unfortunately for Samsung, the unveiling won’t be much of a surprise.
Photos of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S9 leaked online today revealing some of the new features Samsung has copied from Apple, along with some new colors the iPhone can’t match.
Check it out:
Tablet sales are still on the rise worldwide and based on a new report from the International Data Corporation, Apple’s iPad is one of the biggest reasons why.
The IDC published its latest analysis of the tablet market today and according to the firm’s analysts, the detachable tablet market grew 10.3% this past holiday season compared to the year before and Apple was one of the only companies to see much growth.
Apple’s new HomePod is flying off shelves with shipping times already slipping, but some Apple fans are already dreaming up what the next generation HomePod will look like.
Concept designer Martin Hajek published a beautiful new set of renders that imagine what HomePod might look like if Apple expands the product category to include larger and smaller versions of the HomePod just like with the iPhone. One of the mockups even brings back the iPod’s iconic click wheel.
Take a look:
Apple’s refurbished store is stocking up on new products heading into February.
Right after Apple added refurbished iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus units to its store this morning the company also added the latest generation Apple TV, giving customers an option to get it at a discount.
Apple made more money last quarter than it ever has in the company’s history, but despite bringing home $88.3 billion in revenue, not all investors were impressed.
Wall Street walked away from Apple’s Q1 2018 earnings with mixed reviews. Money and cash is at an all-time high, yet there are some worrying signs that iPhone sales are about to hit another slump and new products like HomePod aren’t doing much to excite the market.
Here are the five biggest takeaways from today’s call:
The first Apple earnings report of 2018 is already here. Based on analysts’ expectations, it will probably be Apple’s biggest earnings ever.
Thanks to the high price of the iPhone X and the holiday shopping season, Apple is set to rake in record-setting profits this quarter. Wall Street is eager to know what Apple plans to do with all its cash, especially now that it is bringing more than $200 billion back home from overseas.
Tim Cook and Apple CFO Luca Maestri are set to get on the phone with investors at 2 p.m. Pacific to talk about all the numbers. Per usual, we’ll be right here live-blogging all the action with up-to-the-minute analysis on all of the juicy new nuggets.
Come join us:
iPhone X sales did not come in as strong last holiday season as investors hoped. Apple just posted its Q1 2018 earnings, and iPhone sales declined compared to the same quarter a year ago. Everyone on Wall Street seemed to expect an increase.
Still, there’s a silver lining: Despite the weaker iPhone sales, Apple made a record-setting $88.3 billion in revenue during the quarter. CEO Tim Cook says the iPhone X defied the company’s expectations, leading to Apple’s best quarter in history.
ARKit hasn’t produced any apps that are absolutely must-haves, but that could soon change with iOS 11.3.
Apple has added some new ARKit features in the updates slated for release this spring. iOS developer Andrew Hart has already created a demo that utilizes the image recognition tools to identify books on a store shelf while providing reviews and ratings from the internet.
Prepare to be amazed:
Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, is set to make another big investment in media.
The Emerson Collective, founded by Laurene Powell Jobs in 2004, is reportedly considering making an investment in the Buzzfeed media’s news division.
What would you do if your family reunion only lasted three minutes?
That’s the concept for Apple’s heartwarming new short film, Three Minutes, that celebrates Chinese New Year. The entire film tells the story of a mom who works as a train conductor on one of China’s longest routes. Her entire route takes six days to complete and she only gets to spend three minutes with her son and sister at one of the stops. What they do during that short time will shock you.
Prepare to have your heart strings pulled:
The first big Apple earnings report for 2018 is nearly here. And, based on analysts’ expectations, it will likely be Apple’s biggest moneymaking quarter ever.
After weeks of waiting, investors will finally get their first look at how well the iPhone X is selling. Apple’s holiday sales probably hit historic levels. But with recent reports that Apple slashed iPhone X orders in half, there could be quite a few surprises in store.
As usual, Cult of Mac will be here to liveblog all the action as it transpires on Thursday, February 1, at 2 p.m. Pacific. Get ready to watch for these six things during the call:
Spotify is testing a new tool to up the competition with Apple Music by stealing a key feature from one of the oldest companies in the streaming game: Pandora.
Stations, a new stand-alone app from Spotify, launched on the Google Play Store in Australia this week allowing users to listen to curated stations without any type of manual controls.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is not a fan of the new iPhone X.
Woz criticized the iPhone X when it was unveiled last year. And now that he’s finally spent some quality time with one (thanks to Tim Cook), he says Apple made some really bad design decisions.
Apple says it is cooperating with U.S. government agencies investigating the company’s decision to throttle CPU speeds on iPhones with older batteries.
The official statement from Apple this morning comes a day after news broke that the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating whether Apple broke any securities laws.
Investigators at the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission are looking into whether or not Apple violated securities laws when it disclosed that it throttles CPU speeds on some iPhones.
Apple revealed at the beginning of the year that it intentionally lowers the speed on iPhones with older batteries to prevent unwanted crashes. Customers in numerous counties have filed lawsuits against the iPhone maker. Now it appears that the feds are getting ready to weigh in.
The 2018 SXSW Conference is adding a fresh crop of faces to its speaker lineup this year, including one of Apple’s most popular executives.
Apple media boss Eddy Cue is set to make an appearance at the annual conference that’s a celebration of music, tech, movies and TV. All of which are areas Apple is planning to dominate in 2018.
Apple has come out with a colorful new ad for the iPhone X that shows off the device’s amazing selfie camera at one of the most craziest parties in the world: Carnaval in Brazil.
The new ad is part of Apple’s push to make more regional ads. Apple made a similar ad for Carnaval last year that focused on Portrait Mode on the iPhone 7 Plus.
Watch the fun new ad:
Apple’s new HomePod speaker might be the dumbest smart-speaker on the market.
Based on early reviews and leaked info, it appears that Apple has seriously crippled Siri on the new HomePod speaker and removed some features, making it vastly different than the version of Siri that lives on your iPhone.
Apple has whipped up some new commercials to celebrate the upcoming Grammy Awards by combining some of today’s best artists with the iPhone X’s new Animoji feature.
The new ads, titled “Amigos” and “Alien,” feature Migos singing their song “Stir Fly” and Childish Gambino performing “Redbone.” Migos appear as a fox, dog and pile of poop, while Gambino appears as an alien.
Check it out:
Apple’s recent acquisition of Shazam might be a great way for the company to drive subscriber growth, according to one early Shazam investor.
DN Capitol chief executive, Nenad Marovac, gained a deep understanding of Shazam’s business model after his firm invested in it back in 2004. Marovac says Shazam will be a great way for Apple to try to catch up with Spotify in terms of subscribers, if it can convert enough Shazam users.
One of the biggest directors in Hollywood is ready to totally embrace filming on the iPhone.
Steven Soderbergh — whose titles include everything from Ocean’s Eleven to Magic Mike — filmed his latest movie entirely an iPhone. Only instead of using it as a gimmick, Soderbergh says he’s likely going to start using iPhone on most of his future films.
Pre-orders for Apple’s new HomePod speaker went on sale this morning and it looks like there’s still plenty of supply to go around.
HomePod doesn’t hit stores until February 9th but most Apple fans have already made up their mind on whether its a must-buy. Cult of Mac is running a poll and we want to know who’s ready to plop down $349 on the first Siri-powered speaker.
Submit your vote below:
Apple’s first big product launch of 2018 is finally here after the HomePod launch was pushed back last year.
HomePod pre-orders are set to open to the public in just a few hours on Friday, January 25th. If the launch is anything like the iPhone X or AirPods, shipping times could slip quick, but it’s going to be hard to know when you can buy one.
