San Francisco (United States) (AFP) – Apple on Tuesday unveiled HomeView, a voice-driven smart display built around its revamped Siri AI assistant, as the iPhone maker makes a fresh bid for a place in living rooms and kitchens. The device, which pairs a square 7-inch touchscreen with a speaker base, will sell for $299 in the United States starting November 13.
Apple has struggled for years to gain ground in the smart home, where its HomePod speakers have trailed Amazon’s Alexa and Google devices. Analysts see the new hardware as an effort to deepen customers’ ties to the Apple ecosystem as AI rivals, including OpenAI, eye devices of their own.
The launch is one of the first under John Ternus, Apple’s former hardware engineering chief, who took over as chief executive from Tim Cook on September 1. HomeView is meant to act as a family command center, controlling connected features such as lights, locks, thermostats, and cameras. It also handles FaceTime video calls, plays music and video, and doubles as a digital picture frame when idle.
Its centerpiece is Siri AI, the overhauled version of Apple’s assistant powered by Apple Intelligence, which the company is pitching as a more conversational helper than the original Siri. Siri AI is central to Apple’s effort to catch up with rivals in generative artificial intelligence, and it is built on AI technology from Google Gemini.
© 2024 AFP
