[ad_1] Apple Inc.’s new HomePod speaker was praised by early reviewers for its audio quality but panned for its integration with the company’s Siri digital assistant. The company’s latest hardware product arrives for pre-order customers and in stores on Friday, a late entrant in the smart speaker market led by Amazon.com Inc.’s Echo devices and…
[ad_1] Apple audio engineers had been working on an early version of the HomePod speaker for about two years in 2014 when they were blindsided by the Echo, a smart speaker from Amazon.com with a voice-activated assistant named Alexa. The Apple engineers jokingly accused one another of leaking details of their project to Amazon, then…
[ad_1] Apple Inc. said its next major new hardware product, the HomePod speaker, is being delayed until early next year, missing the key holiday shopping season. “We can’t wait for people to experience HomePod, Apple’s breakthrough wireless speaker for the home, but we need a little more time before it’s ready for our customers,” Apple…
[ad_1] Apple tried to make the case on Monday for why consumers shouldn’t jump ship to competitors who have been ramping up the innovation — arguably more than the iPhone maker. Companies such as Microsoft have been creeping into the Cupertino, Calif.-based company’s space with its Surface line of touchscreen products and creative-focused Windows 10…