This morning Apple has announced local pricing, pre-order, and release information on HomePod, their first wireless smart speaker.
HomePod will be released in Australia on February 9th, 2018 at a price of A$499 inc. GST. Orders for the speaker will begin this Saturday the 27th from Apple online and the Apple Store app. The news comes after Apple delayed the release from December to early 2018.
“HomePod is a magical new music experience from Apple. It brings advanced audio technologies like beam-forming tweeters, a high-excursion woofer, and automatic spatial awareness, together with the entire Apple Music catalogue and the latest Siri intelligence, in a simple, beautiful design that is so much fun to use,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.
Australia will be one of the first countries in the world to get HomePod on release. Only the US, UK, and Australia will be getting HomePod at launch with Gemernay and France coming in Autumn.
Features
There are a number of features and integrations that go into HomePod. This includes advanced audio technology, Siri, Apple Music, and more. This makes HomePod more than just a speaker.
HomePod is 18 centimetres tall, includes a high-excursion woofer, seven-tweener array, six-microphone array, an Apple-designed chip, and a seamless mesh fabric. The mesh fabric is available in two colours; Space Grey and White.
Apple Music, Apple’s music streaming service is integrated in HomePod. This mean you have access to 45-million songs, curated playlists, Beats 1 radio, and more. Searching and playing music with HomePod is as easy as using your voice with Siri – even if the speaker is on the other side of the room.
Siri also allows HomePod to do a whole lot more. For example, you can ask HomePod to read the news (a feature I recently highlighted), control HomeKit-enabled accessories like wireless lights and door locks, send messages, timers, and more.
Pricing and Release
HomePod is available in either space grey or white for a recommended retail price of A$499. It will be available online and in selected stores from February 9th.
You will be able to purchase HomePod from Apple online, Apple Stores, Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys, Myer, and Telstra stores around Australia. As with other purchases, Apple will be offering free delivery or pickup and 14-day free returns from their online store.
