After Google and Amazon, Apple has now released a small version of its smart home speaker, the HomePod. This is called HomePod mini and costs under $100.
The design is somewhat arbitrary, but the design possibilities for a small compact speaker seem to be limited. The usual functions are included: music streaming, control of the HomeKit devices and Siri. What the small HomePod can’t do, in contrast to the big one, is the room calibration for better audio quality and also no home theater with the Apple TV 4K – what this means is not yet clear, though.
Especially interesting is the intercom function. With this function you can connect several HomePod minis to an internal communication network where you can send each other voice messages. A little bit like a walkie-talkie function but with voice control. The practical thing about it is that you can’t do this at home in the WLAN, but because everything runs via the iCloud, with authorized Apple devices. That means if you are on the road with your iPhone, you can use it to send a direct voice message home to a HomePod mini. A funny thing.
The function will be updated to the big HomePod as well.
