Apple brings AI-powered Siri home with US$299 HomeView hub

NEW YORK – Apple began showing off on Oct 13 a new round of smart home products, including an iPad-like device dubbed the HomeView meant to hang on walls or perch on tabletops that will showcase its AI-upgraded Siri virtual assistant.

The HomeView device starts at US$299 (S$383) and starts shipping in November. It will feature a 7-inch screen and face recognition, and will help users control doorbells, thermostats and smart locks in a market where Apple has tinkered for a decade without major success.

Apple is launching these products as it tries to fend off competition from rivals, including traditional competitors like Amazon.com, which has invested heavily in its Echo speakers and Ring doorbells. Last week, Amazon launched premium tablets, as well as newer artificial intelligence upstarts like OpenAI that have hardware ambitions of their own.

Investors are looking more closely at Apple’s hardware sales for growth, as the company’s services revenue has come under regulatory pressure.

Apple this summer upgraded Siri’s capabilities with assistance from Google, but analysts said it is unclear whether its AI assistant is competitive enough to lure consumers to a crowded connected home device space.

“Apple needs to demonstrate that its AI capabilities can deliver meaningful benefits beyond basic voice commands, simplifying everyday tasks and bringing greater intelligence to the home,” said PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore.

“The opportunity is considerable, given its vast installed base, but reliability, trust and ease of use will ultimately determine whether consumers embrace these features. AI alone will not be enough to convince households to invest in more devices.”

The launches also coincide with growing worries that connected devices, including refrigerators and smart TVs, could be vulnerable to hackers.

Apple’s HomeView launch was accompanied by updates to its HomePod smart speaker and Apple TV devices. It also introduced a range of accessories, including doorbells, cameras and thermostats, made by LG and Schneider Electric and designed with help from Apple.

“It is interesting to see Apple partnering LG and Schneider, as it typically likes to have full control of the hardware it sells,” said Ben Wood, co-founder of CCS Insight. “However, looking closely, it appears like there has been very deep collaboration between Apple and these partners to ensure the design, engineering and experience closely match what users would expect from Apple.”

During a video demonstrating the device, Apple showed the HomeView and Siri juggling voice requests from multiple members of a family at the same time.

The HomeView device will not be sold in the European Union because Siri AI remains unavailable there because of EU regulations, Apple said.

Apple first released its Home app to control smart gadgets in 2016, with HomePod smart speakers following in 2018, but those offerings are competing with Alphabet’s Google Home speakers and Amazon’s Echo line.

Analysts said two major hurdles for Apple were making its devices work with a variety of third-party gadgets, and the limited ability of Siri to give useful answers.

Apple’s US$299 price for HomeView is above Amazon’s Echo Show 8 at US$199.99 and Google’s Nest Hub at US$99.99, as it seeks a bigger role in connected homes.

The new Apple TV 4K enters the market at US$299, more than double the price of its predecessor and in line with Nvidia’s Shield TV Pro, while rival offerings from Amazon, Google and Roku cost US$200 or less. REUTERS