Apple's HomeView brings Siri AI to the wall
Apple has launched the HomeView, its first smart display for the home1. It puts a small screen on top of a speaker base and is built for video calls, showing photos and giving information at a glance1. It is meant to hang on a wall or sit on a table and act as a hub for other smart home gadgets4.
The HomeView starts at $299 and begins shipping next month4. It has a 7in screen and face recognition, and it will help users control doorbells, thermostats and smart locks4. It is also the showcase for Apple's AI-upgraded Siri4.
It did not arrive alone. Apple also brought out an updated HomePod Mini and a new Apple TV, all aimed at putting its overhauled Siri at the centre of people's lives2. The new HomePod Mini costs £1493. The smart home is a market where Apple has tinkered for a decade without major success4.
There is a catch for European buyers. Apple will not sell the HomeView in Europe5. The iPhone maker has been locked in a long fight with the European Union over AI features5.
What it means for your business
This is a consumer gadget, and nothing here points to a business use for it yet. What matters for a UK company is the direction of travel. Apple wants an AI assistant on the hall wall and the kitchen table, recognising faces, opening locks and running the heating. Those habits come into the office with your staff, and the questions they raise are the ones you already ask of any agent: what can it see, what can it open, and who answers when it gets it wrong.
The European angle is the part to watch. Whether the UK counts as Europe for this launch is not yet clear, and we will not guess. If you buy Apple kit for your teams, expect the same device to arrive with different features depending on which side of a regulatory line you sit. A product held back by a dispute over AI rules is a reminder that what an assistant may do is now settled by regulators as much as by the people who make it.
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Every factual sentence in this briefing carries a number. These are the numbers. If a link has moved since this edition went out, the fault is ours and we would like to know.
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Apple launches HomeView, its first smart display for the home
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Apple launches first smart display 'HomeView' that's like an iPad for your house
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HomePod Mini: Apple launches new £149 device to try and put Siri at the centre of your life
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Apple unveils new smart home devices that showcase upgraded Siri AI
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HomeView: Apple won't sell its latest new product in Europe, for this reason
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Phase Eight and Hobbs owner hit by cyber-attack, as H&M probes separate hack claim
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Just 5 years in, interactive chatbot platform Character.AI files for bankruptcy
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Your Algorithm, Your Words: New Ways to Shape What You See on Facebook
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