Apple Siri Smart Speaker Rumours

Rumour has it, Apple will be releasing a Siri Smart Speaker to compete with Amazon’s Alexa-enabled Echo speaker and the Google Home Speaker. It’s expected that the new iOS device will be announced at the WWDC (Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference). The 2017 conference will be held from June 5th – 9th.

Apparently the new device will use Siri as a voice interface to stream music, control HomeKit, report weather and news and even perform Web searches. The HomeKit feature of the Speaker would include the ability to control smart home accessories like lights, locks, and curtains all through voice activation. It’s also believed that the new speaker will carry some form of Beats technology, unsurprisingly after Apple bought head-phone maker Beats electronics for $3bn back in 2014.

Apple Maps integration is also a possibility, which Apple is considering so Siri could alert you exactly when to leave the house for an appointment. Finally, it’s rumoured that the device will also feature facial recognition after Apple’s acquisition of Faceshit and Emotient, which may help the device act based on who is in a room or by your emotional state. The Siri Smart Speaker would notably be the first new piece of Apple hardware introduced since the Apple Watch and we can only hope Apple will go ahead with the release and combine Beats renowned audio capabilities with your own personal assistant.