Optus Mobile Review ALDI Mobile Review Amaysim Mobile Review Belong Mobile Review Circles.Life Review Vodafone Mobile Review Woolworths Mobile Review Felix Mobile Review Best iPhone Plans Best Family Mobile Plans Best Budget Smartphones Best Prepaid Plans Best SIM-Only Plans Best Plans For Kids And Teens Best Cheap Mobile Plans Telstra vs Optus Mobile Optus NBN Review Belong NBN Review Vodafone NBN Review Superloop NBN Review Aussie BB NBN Review iiNet NBN Review MyRepublic NBN Review TPG NBN Review Best NBN Satellite Plans Best NBN Alternatives Best NBN Providers Best Home Wireless Plans What is a Good NBN Speed? Test NBN Speed How to speed up your internet Optus vs Telstra Broadband ExpressVPN Review CyberGhost VPN Review NordVPN Review PureVPN Review Norton Secure VPN Review IPVanish VPN Review Windscribe VPN Review Hotspot Shield VPN Review Best cheap VPN services Best VPN for streaming Best VPNs for gaming What is a VPN? VPNs for ad-blocking The new HomePod looks pretty similar to the original, but the top surface is indented (like on the HomePod mini) rather than flush. The power cord is also removable this time around. The new HomePod can be paired with another second-generation model for stereo sound. If you have an original HomePod, you won’t be able to use it with the new model for stereo, but you can still create audio groups. Unsurprisingly, the HomePod is still very much designed for those deep in the Apple ecosystem. You’ll need to use Siri or AirPlay to get it to play music; there’s no option for Bluetooth. You can however use streaming apps other than Apple Music. TuneIn, iHeartRadio, and Deezer are all supported. Spotify is a major omission. Apple has also kitted out the new HomePod with a few additional smart home features. There’s a temperature and humidity sensor that can be used to trigger automations (turning on a fan if it gets over 25 degrees, for example), and sound recognition functionality that can alert you if a smoke or carbon monoxide alarm is ringing. Sound recognition won’t be available until later this year, however. Both features will also come to the HomePod mini. Lastly, the new HomePod supports the Matter smart home standard and acts as a Thread border router. The new take on Apple’s original HomePod has seemingly come about due to the success of the HomePod mini. “With the popularity of HomePod mini, we’ve seen growing interest in even more powerful acoustics achievable in a larger HomePod,” said Apple senior vice president of worldwide marketing, Greg Joswiak. “We’re thrilled to bring the next generation of HomePod to customers around the world.” The new HomePod is available to pre-order from today ahead of a February 3 release date. It will set you back $479.
