Apple delays HomePod speaker

OK, Google, and hey, Alexa, you won't have Siri to worry about in the living room for the holidays. Apple on Friday delayed the pending release of its high-end HomePod connected speaker until 2018, saying it wasn't ready for shipment. When the company announced HomePod in June as a higher-fidelity answer to Amazon's Echo and Google Home -- and its Siri personal digital assistant on board -- December had been its scheduled release. In a statement, Apple said "We can't wait for people to experience HomePod...but we need a little more time before it's ready for our customers." It also put off the release of its AirPods wireless earbuds in 2016 by two months.