Preorders for the Apple HomePod are now live on
Apple’s Japan and Taiwan websites. The smart speaker retails for JPY 32,800 Yen
(US$ 308) and TWD 9,900 (US$ 316), respectively, with an expected shipping date of
next Friday, August 23.
The HomePod currently retails in the US for US$ 300,
following a US$ 50 price cut. It was slow to gain market share with most
competitors coming at a fraction of the its price and Amazon’s strong hold of
the smart speaker market.
Since its launch, Apple has updated the HomePod with
phone call support, support for multiple timers, and ability to search for
songs by lyrics. iOS 13 brings a host of new features including Handoff of
audio between the HomePod and an iPhone, voice recognition for support of
multiple users, and tighter integration with iOS Shortcuts and HomeKit.
The 13.0 update for the HomePod, along with iOS 13,
iPad OS, MacOS 10.15 Catalina, and tvOS 13 are expected to arrive soon after
Apple’s iPhone 11 press event, which is suggested to take place on September 10
this year.
