Siri Speaker: Apple's Voiced Smart Home Assistant Enters Production
Production for the rumored voice-activated smart home assistant from Apple, dubbed as Siri Speaker, has reportedly started.
Bloomberg's sources that are "familiar with the matter" confirmed that the Siri Speaker is now being manufactured overseas. They added that the smart speaker has been in development for quite some time before it entered production at the Taiwanese manufacturing company, Inventec.
Prior to the report, the Siri Speaker was one of the regularly speculated products to be announced in the upcoming annual Worldwide Developers Conference organized by Apple.
Without a doubt, Siri Speaker is Apple's answer to Amazon's and Google's smart home speakers. Amazon has already released a touchscreen-equipped Amazon Echo, while Google has recently announced the upcoming addition of a mobile calling function on its Google Home.
While Apple is running a little bit behind compared to Amazon and Google, sources added that the Siri Speaker will still be able to distinguish itself from its competitor by incorporating "virtual surround sound technology."
It can be recalled that last April, notable leaker Sonny Dickson spilled that Apple would apply "some form of Beats technology" on the rumored Siri Speaker.
Based on Bloomberg's report, Apple might still have a chance to gather a good size of the market because if there is one area that the Amazon Echo and Google Home lack, it is the wider support for Apple devices and services which the Siri Speaker can obviously provide.
The report mentioned that Apple has developed a HomeKit system that will primarily make automation of appliances, lights and home security control more handy.
Unfortunately, the level of development that the Siri Speaker went through is not yet enough for Apple to release a smart home speaker with a touchscreen.
On the other hand, while Siri Speaker is already being assembled, it is not expected to hit the market until later this year.
WWDC 2017 happens on June 5 to 9 at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California. Real-time updates will be available at the WWDC app available on iTunes or the Apple App Store.
