Bloomberg's Gurman sees new HomePod with Facetime, Apple TV functionality

Not everything that Apple throws out to the public becomes a huge hit. The Newton PDA is one example that comes to mind as does the Apple HomePod. The latter is a smart speaker that tried to cash in on the new smart speaker category that was created by Amazon in 2014 with its Echo line of speakers. Apple was late to the party and when it arrived, it asked for too much money.

Essentially made of a speaker, and a digital assistant, the idea is to get news, sports, weather, and other entertainment from the digital assistant and play music through the speaker. Without a display, the speaker is used to verbally say what otherwise would have been read on a screen. The problem with Apple's smart speaker was that at $349, it was priced extremely high compared to the price of $99 for the OG Echo. And both Amazon and Google had versions of their speakers available during certain holidays for as low as $25.

Sure, Apple loaded up the HomePod with features to improve the quality of its sound compared to Amazon's Echo and Google's Home lines of smart speakers. The HomePod was equipped with a 4-inch high excursion woofer with a custom amplifier that delivered sound out of the top of the device. A six-microphone array was placed around the middle of the speaker, and seven tweeters were put on the bottom of the HomePod.

And while Apple gussied up the quality of the HomePod speaker, there was still Siri to deal with. Those of you who have used Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa will know what we mean. Siri is arguably the worst of the three with Google Assistant on top. And after 10 weeks of availability, the HomePod captured only 10% of the market, well behind the 73% slice of the smart speaker pie owned by Amazon at that time.

Apple cut the price to $299 and finally waved the white "surrender" flag when it released the HomePod mini for a much more reasonable price of $99 in November 2020. And now, with smart displays taking over, Apple apparently wants in on the action.

On Sunday, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman mentioned in the Q&A section of his weekly "Power On" newsletter that he believes a new HomePod is coming. This device, he says, will combine a HomePod with FaceTime capabilities, and Apple TV functionality. Gurman wrote, "I don't think a big stand-alone HomePod is still in development, but perhaps a new HomePod mini is coming. In any case, the combination product will probably be at the center of Apple's approach, with HomePod minis surrounding that throughout the home."

Last year, the Bloomberg scribe said that Apple was working on a combination HomePod, Apple TV, and a camera for video calls that works through a television set. If Gurman is right, a similar product is indeed being developed along with a new HomePod mini

The device Gurman describes could take on Meta's Facebook Portal, Amazon's Echo Pro, and the Google Nest Hub Max. But once again, Apple is going to have to deal with the Siri-ous problem it has with its digital assistant not hearing correctly, failing to deliver the correct answer (even if it is a question about an Apple device), and more.

For Apple to gain traction with a device similar to what Gurman is talking about, it needs to be smart about the pricing. The Facebook Portal Go, a portable smart display, starts at $199. For $349, you can buy a 15-inch Portal. The Google Nest Hub Max is priced at $229 or $9.54 a month over 24 months.

Remember, the pricing of the HomePod was one of the reasons why it failed to pick up market share. If it is priced to sell, the new multi-talented HomePod could be Apple's device designed to get its foot inside your house.

Gurman didn't mention when he believes that Apple will introduce such a device. Could we see Apple make a surprise announcement in June during the WWDC 2022 Developer Conference? Anything is possible.