The original version of Apple HomePod was to be three feet tall and come with dozens of speakers, according to new reports from Bloomberg.
“HomePod was originally a side project cooked up about five years ago by a group of Mac audio engineers, who wanted to create a speaker that sounded better than the ones sold by the likes of Bose, JBL, and Harman Kardon,” the tech site reported in a new article.
“Side projects aren’t uncommon at Apple, where employees are encouraged to follow their muse so long as their day jobs come first.”
According to the report, the side project was scrapped and revived several times before 2014, when the development officially commenced amongst Apple’s accessories division.
Because the HomePod will be limited to Apple Music, HomeKit and iMessage, Bloomberg believes that the new device will be “playing catchup” when compared with Amazon Echo and Google Home, both of which offer support third-party apps like Spotify.
“Apple could still eventually add features to the HomePod. These might include its own app ecosystem and support for competing music services.
“Even so, until that happens, Apple will still be playing catchup in a category invented by a company better known for e-commerce than hardware.”
Apple HomePod, originally scheduled for release next month, has been delayed to Spring 2018. AppleMagazine will bring you the latest news on the upcoming smart speaker as and when we get it.