Apple announced a new smart speaker today, but it aims to take on the smart display market too that is cornered by the likes of Google and Amazon. The company is reportedly designing something that will resemble an iPad, with the device said to control your smart home and perform other tasks.
Apple’s smart display may be priced competitively as a new report claims it is based on an affordable model
The iPad-like design may resemble a member of Apple’s tablet family, but its functionality will be completely different, according to a report published by Bloomberg. Mark Gurman writes in his findings that the device itself will be based on a low-cost iPad but does not dive into the details of its design, meaning that, at least for now, we do not know if Apple will stick with a chassis with the physical home button or choose a full-screen option.
As for its functionality, this iPad-like display will be able to control your smart home through the HomeKit app, stream videos, and perform FaceTime calls. However, the entire process of how this would be done was not detailed. Since it is taking on the likes of the Echo Show, it is possible that Apple will fine-tune its voice assistant Siri to improve to the point where it will perform the aforementioned tasks efficiently. For now, Siri is trailing behind Alexa and Google Assistant, so Apple’s goal would be to improve that first.
The smart display is said to be designed in a way that it can be mounted on walls, or other objects, with Apple possibly working with other companies to make compatible third-party accessories for this product. Previous reports have stated that Apple was working on a similar product that would sport the design of an Apple TV and would also act as a smart speaker with a FaceTime camera. However, MacRumors reports that the technology giant has run into several development roadblocks with this product.
Instead, it appears that we could be getting a cut-down version that features an iPad-like design, meaning that it could be priced competitively. Then again, Apple could stop the development of this product too, so remember to treat all of this information with a pinch of salt for now.
News Source: Bloomberg
