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After much anticipation, Apple have launched a new product that marks a decisive moment for the company as it pushes into the smart home.
Called the “HomeView,” it resembles an iPad that lives in your house and has a 7-inch Retina display mounted on an oval base with speakers.
The home hub, as it has been referred to colloquially online and in the media, is supposed to be switched on at all times and will be a way for users to connect with Siri.
It can recognise up to six different household members and be used for playing music, making calls and web browsing.
It costs $299 (€267) and pre-orders begin on Tuesday.
“Apple HomeView is designed to be shared by everyone in the home yet feel completely personal to each user,” Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, said in a blog post.
It comes either as a standalone countertop unit in four different colours (silver, starlight, rose pink and space grey) and can also be purchased as a wall-mounted option.
The device is the first of Apple’s smart home devices that has a display. It competes with Google’s Nest Hub and a variety of Amazon Echo devices that also have screens. But Apple says its products are different because of its commitment to privacy and security.
This is not the only smart home release to land on Tuesday. It also made upgrades to its 4K TV, which now has a new A19 chip and Siri AI support that can be used hands-free. It also has a new remote that can play music to help you find it.
The company also announced an update to its mini speaker, the HomePod mini 2, which comes in new colours (green, blue, pink, white and midnight).
It now has Siri AI, and Apple said it is “a profoundly more capable and conversational assistant with personal context understanding, broad world knowledge that powers tasks like richer music discovery, and the ability to tap into even more apps”.
The company also partnered with LG and Schneider Electric on several other home products, including a smart door lock that can tell when you are coming home.
The lock can detect when the user is approaching with an iPhone or Apple Watch to automatically unlock or lock the door.
The other products include smart thermostats and indoor cameras that tilt so you can see if packages have been left at your door.