When Apple first announced HomePod, they were somewhat cagey on the details, but now that the company has confirmed the release of the device, more details have since been revealed, such as how the HomePod can be used as a speakerphone so that they can enjoy hands-free calls, and also how it can support commands from multiple users.
Some of these details were part of the HomePod’s press release, and some came from developer Guilherme Rambo who found the details via the Apple Store’s documentation. Starting with the speakerphone feature, it seems that users will be able to hand-off their phone calls to the HomePod seamlessly, which means that if you’d rather not carry your phone around, you can use it as a speakerphone.
HomePod tidbits from Apple Store documentation pic.twitter.com/2MdH4Xyfnh
— Guilherme Rambo (@_inside) January 23, 2018
Also we suppose while it might have been obvious, HomePod will be able to accept commands from multiple users. This means that it won’t be locked to one person’s voice/account, so anyone can basically control the speaker and ask Siri questions. It will also allow users to stream music from an Apple Music account, although as some have pointed out, this could potentially affect the main user’s listening preferences if the requests are varied.
HomePod will be released on the 9th of February, with customers being able to place pre-orders starting on the 26th of January, where the speaker will be priced at $349.