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Apple is discontinuing its HomePod digital assistant and sound system, but continues production of the much less expensive HomePod Mini, TechCrunch reported.
HomePod, which is sold while supplies last for $ 299, debuted four years ago as a high-end speaker and digital assistant combination that is based on Apple’s Siri voice control system.
Reflecting on the end of HomePod, TechCrunch wrote: “The original HomePod was a feat of audio engineering that Apple spent more than five years developing. To achieve their development, the Apple team built a complete development center near their Cupertino headquarters, with a world-class development environment with a dozen anechoic chambers, including one of the largest anechoic chambers outside of academic use in The USA. “
An “anechoic chamber” is one that is free of echoes.
TechCrunch quoted an Apple spokesperson as saying in a prepared statement: “The HomePod Mini has been a success since its debut last fall, offering customers incredible sound, a smart assistant and smart home control, all for just $ 99. We are focusing our efforts on HomePod Mini. We are discontinuing the original HomePod, it will continue to be available while supplies last through the Apple Online Store, Apple Retail Stores, and Apple Authorized Resellers. Apple will provide HomePod customers with software updates and service and support through Apple Care. “
The HomePod Mini, according to Apple’s website, offers many of the features of its older brother. Both models can stream music from multiple sources and, with Siri, control multiple smart devices. But the smaller model doesn’t have what Apple calls “spatial awareness” or certain Apple TV 4K pairing capabilities. Apple’s website indicates that the gray model is out of stock, but the white version is still available.
In February 2020, PYMNTS reported that Amazon owns about 70 percent of the smart speaker market.
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PYMNTS STUDY: A NEW APPROACH TO MODERNIZING PAYMENTS IN BANKING – 2021
About the study: A New Approach to Modernizing Payments in Banking, a PYMNTS collaboration with Red Hat and Temenos, is a research-based report that examines the trends transforming retail and how these changes are creating new challenges and opportunities for banks. The report aims to provide banks with a roadmap to help them acquire the technical capacity necessary to support digital payments in all its forms.
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