HomePod phone call support is definitely in the pipeline
Apple has been struggling to turn the HomePod into a worthy rival for Amazon’s extensive family of Echo smart speakers, as well as the increasingly popular and versatile Google Home line. Curiously, the 2018 edition of the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference brought no news of game-changing iOS 12 functionality for the pricey Siri-controlled device, while mum’s the word on that oft-rumored lower-cost model as well.
One feature we’ve always suspected was coming sooner rather than later, especially after reports of closed beta tests last week, is direct phone call support. Now it’s practically guaranteed that the general iOS 12 release this fall will enable the technology on the Apple HomePod, helping it catch up to Amazon Echos and Google Homes.
We don’t have a lot of details on the execution right now, as the operating system’s latest developer beta build simply offers a glimpse at a fourth feature in the HomePod’s personal requests setup UI. You can’t actually try out the smart speaker’s Phone functionality just yet, although the only real question about it is call quality.
Of course, this is a high-quality product overall that’s managed to impress the vast majority of reviewers and early adopters with its audio performance, so there’s no reason to expect anything less than a high sound standard for both initiated and received voice calls. Oddly enough, there’s no sign of multiple timers in iOS 12 beta 5, although that doesn’t necessarily mean the feature is delayed or not happening.
One feature we’ve always suspected was coming sooner rather than later, especially after reports of closed beta tests last week, is direct phone call support. Now it’s practically guaranteed that the general iOS 12 release this fall will enable the technology on the Apple HomePod, helping it catch up to Amazon Echos and Google Homes.
We don’t have a lot of details on the execution right now, as the operating system’s latest developer beta build simply offers a glimpse at a fourth feature in the HomePod’s personal requests setup UI. You can’t actually try out the smart speaker’s Phone functionality just yet, although the only real question about it is call quality.
Of course, this is a high-quality product overall that’s managed to impress the vast majority of reviewers and early adopters with its audio performance, so there’s no reason to expect anything less than a high sound standard for both initiated and received voice calls. Oddly enough, there’s no sign of multiple timers in iOS 12 beta 5, although that doesn’t necessarily mean the feature is delayed or not happening.
source: 9To5Mac
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: