Apple HomePod speaker to compete with Amazon Echo

Apple is launching a smart home speaker called HomePod to compete with the Amazon Echo and Google Home devices, the company revealed at its annual worldwide developer conference. The Cupertino company described the 7in device, which comes in white and "space grey", as a "breakthrough home speaker" designed to "rock the house". This means that Apple has placed an emphasis on audio quality, packing the speaker with an array of seven tweeters and a woofer as well as "spatial awareness" that detects its location in a room and adapts the output automatically. In announcing the HomePod, Apple CEO Tim Cook said there were many companies making products for enjoying music in the home but "none have nailed it yet". He mentioned wireless speaker systems such as Sonos that "sound good but are not smart" and "other smart speakers" (presumably a reference to Amazon Echo and Google Home) that "don't sound great".