Apple’s smart home projects: the new Homepod with 6″ screen will have a battery and AI 35 comments
Under the code name J490 Apple is preparing its answer to the Amazon Echo Show (test): a smart touchscreen controlled by Siri with deep integration into the user’s smart home. Through Apple Intelligence, Battery and Module Stations should be able to become a HomePod AI with a screen.
6″ screen with modular docking stations
Visually, the screen should stand out. A 6-inch square touchscreen is meant to be reminiscent of two iPhones connected together and, thanks to its thick frame, reminiscent of a “square iPad” (cover photo), writes Bloomberg’s Gurman. It could be a HomePod with screen, which has been suspected for a long time.
The device should be equipped with a built-in battery and speakers, so that it can also work without a constant power supply. A camera will also allow FaceTime video calls. Colors should be boring: Apple I’m probably only planning on silver and black.
The device has a screen of around 6 inches and looks like a square iPad. It’s about the size of two iPhones side by side, with a thick bezel around the screen. There’s also a top-front camera, a built-in rechargeable battery, and internal speakers. Apple plans to offer it in silver and black options.
Bloomberg
Planned speaker station
The device must be standalone and connected to iCloud. For everything else, the tablet/screen must be able to be inserted into different docks. These could be speakers or wall mounts. This means the display can also become a HomePod or wall-mounted security display.
New dynamic user interface on the new operating system
Control must be possible by voice on the one hand and by screen on the other. A new operating system named “Peble” is intended to enable a new compact smart home operating system through a mix of watchOS and iOS sleep mode that has deep access to Apple’s HomeKit and Matter and therefore thousands of third-party devices. The operating system is also rumored to focus on video surveillance, making cameras easier to control and view.
HomePod with display user interface (concept)
Peble’s particular trick appears to be a series of sensors that detect the distance between the user and the screen. Depending on the distance, the device then decides which content is displayed. If the user comes closer, the screen can show the thermostat and, from further away, only the temperature, Gurman writes.
The screen device, which runs a new operating system called Pebble, will include sensors to determine how far away a person is. It will then automatically adjust its functionality depending on the distance. For example, if users are several meters away, the temperature can be displayed. As they approach, the interface can switch to a home thermostat control panel.
Bloomberg
The count of users in the room is also important Apple one.
Apple Intelligence is intended to highlight the device
The new smart home display should not only be an iPad with a new operating system and deep integration into HomeKit, but also one Apple Intelligence can be weaponized. According to a person familiar with the matter, connecting the display with Apple’s intelligence gives the voice assistant Siri “a life of its own like has never happened before.”
Exactly what this means is unclear from the article, but it is. Apple In the coming months, Intelligence will evolve Siri so that it becomes an integral part of the user interface of the group’s products. Siri is expected to gain access to smart home, appointments and control of iPhone, iPad and Mac in April. She can access ChatGPT from December. The new operating system would be deeply linked to this type of control via Siri.
Released next year?
There is virtually no concrete information from Gurman on a possible release date. The device has reportedly been in development for over three years and was recently declared a priority by CEO Tim Cook. About four groups are now working on the product, two design teams and two development departments.
Bloomberg
A release is planned for next March. This seems possible, although a little early: Apple Intelligence and Siri are only connected on the roadmap from April 2025, with many languages promised by summer. At the same time, it also starts during this period Apple Intelligence in the European Union. It would not be unthinkable that Apple The device will therefore only go on sale in April, as the smart display could play a role in the group’s future AI projects.
Other projects for the premium model with robotic arm
Alongside the static smart home display, the group is also working on a variant with a robot arm. This matches previous rumors that Apple is also researching home robots and would like to join this industry with a moving table and robotic arm. The version with a screen and movable arm has not yet been confirmed, but Gurman speaks of significantly higher costs: the robot version of the smart home screen could cost up to $1,000.
Topics: Apple
HomePod Siri Smart Home What: Bloomberg
Lucas explores smart gadgets and connected ecosystems to optimise home comfort and security.
