FacePod Lives!
Well, it sure sounds like it, according to a report by Mark Gurman for Bloomberg:
The company is working on a product that would combine an Apple TV set-top box with a HomePod speaker and include a camera for video conferencing through a connected TV and other smart-home functions, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters.
The device’s other capabilities would include standard Apple TV box functions like watching video and gaming plus smart speaker uses such as playing music and using Apple’s Siri digital assistant. If launched, it would represent Apple’s most ambitious smart-home hardware offering to date.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because it sounds exactly like the “FacePod” product I laid out a year ago. But that was also incredibly obvious in the midst of a pandemic with everyone stuck at home. The reality is that Apple has a longer history of failure with regard to strategy when it comes to both the HomePod and the Apple TV (and I would even throw the AirPort in there as well, in a tangential space — Apple has been misreading the room, so to speak).
It also sounds like Apple wants to copy the Echo Show with a different product, akin to an iPad on a swivel. Yes, Apple absolutely should have this device as well. As for how much it will cost… no idea, but I know it won’t be $200. Maybe $500 (the iPad mini is $400, and the HomePod mini is $100)?
Regardless, each of these is still leaving out the very large elephant in the room: Siri. Until Apple makes that service a killer one, even having the best hardware won’t matter.
