AI war to begin following the release of Apple’s HomePod

The newest smart speaker was released by Apple on Friday and the luxury tech company have revealed that they spent six years developing it. Smart speakers have become one of the most advanced gadgets on the market since being released.

Those at Apple are said they gathered “the biggest audio team on the planet” in designing and manufacturing the smart speaker. The tech company is set to go head-to-head with Amazon in its quest to be the dominant commercial organisation in Artificial Intelligence.

Both Amazon and Google have both already released smart speakers with the Google Home currently leading the Australian market.

Experts have predicted that the launch of the HomePod could see the total number of products with artificial intelligence to double inside Australian homes over the next twelve months. This is despite the fact that many people are still unconvinced that their privacy will remain protected should they invest in artificially intelligent devices.

Amazon first introduced its smart speaker technology into US homes more than three years ago, however the senior director of audio design and engineering, Gary Geaves, said that Apple had spent years perfecting its model.

Mr Geaves that the process “from conception…to actual execution took more than six years” and reasoned that when introducing a completely new product “there isn’t a deadline”.

Apple would have wanted to get its release right after the success of Amazon’s Alexa in American homes and the earlier release of the Google Home and Google Home Mini.

Apple went above and beyond in their designing and testing of the speaker, even creating a custom-designed audio chamber “built specifically for HomePod development”.

The company’s gamble comes in the price range with it costing more than double that of the latest Amazon release, the Amazon Echo Plus. Amazon’s latest release is due to arrive in Australia this week as well, placing even greater competition on Apple.

Foad Fadaghi, the managing director at Telsyte, said that he believes up to 20% of Australians could be using products with artificial intelligence by Christmas. These numbers are based on the US take up of these smart speakers and the release of Apple’s newest innovation should spur sales.

He said that one of the biggest factors that would influence this is the positive reception the HomePod would likely receive from “Apple-buying households that don’t just have Apple products, but services”.

Apple will be hoping that the release of the HomePod is a big success and can place further pressure on Amazon and Google following the lower-than-expected sales performance of the iPhone X released late last year.

 

Zac Fyffe
Zac Fyffe
Passionate about writing and sharing my experiences with others. Zac has a keen interest in sport and politics in particular. Contact: [email protected]
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