Apple wants a screen in your kitchen. HomeView is a 7-inch smart home display on a speaker base, with a front-facing camera for FaceTime and the new Siri AI built in. Apple announced it on 13 October. It costs $299 and ships on 13 November.
What it is
The countertop model comes in silver, starlight, rose pink and space gray. A wall-mounted version comes in silver and space gray, with three mount options from Schneider Home. The screen is a 7-inch Liquid Retina display, and the interface changes with distance: larger and simpler from across the room, more detailed up close.
What it does
- Works as a smart home dashboard: view camera feeds, adjust the thermostat, turn on lights and lock doors.
- Recognises up to six people and shows each their own messages, calendar and apps.
- Handles FaceTime calls, music, photos and a household intercom.
- Turns web recipes into step-by-step instructions, with hands-free timers.
The conditions
- Full Siri AI needs an Apple Intelligence-compatible iPhone or iPad.
- It is not available in the EU.
- The early hands-on impressions, from Gizmodo, Engadget, AppleInsider and others, come from demo time at Apple's event, not from real homes.
It goes up against Amazon's Echo Show line and Google's Nest Hub. TechCrunch notes that the HomePod has had mixed success in the smart home, and that reports tied the delays partly to problems with Siri AI.
