Over the past several months, the question surrounding Google's next smart devices hasn't been when they will arrive, but if they will arrive. After all, Google's been slowly but steadily discontinuing older smart products (the Nest Protect, the Nest x Yale Lock) while leaving their replacements to third parties. At time same time, its aging line of Nest smart speakers and displays has been languishing. But Google has previously hinted that new Google Home smart devices are on tap for later this year, and during the company's big Made by Google event today, we may have gotten a glimpse of one. During some pre-recorded banter between Milwaukee Bucks player Giannis Antetokounmpo and F1 driver Lando Norris, the camera panned over to reveal a small, slightly squished sphere with a gray exterior and a telltale light ring encircling its narrow base.

With a mere 24 hours before Samsung's Unpacked event, leaks of some of its soon-to-be-announced products are still rolling in. In a tweet sent out just three days before Samsung's major product event, Max Weinbach of XDA Developers, who has leaked several other major details about Samsung's forthcoming products, showed off real glimpses of the company's new smart speaker, the Galaxy Home Mini. A video of the smart speaker in action and corresponding literature for the Galaxy Home Mini offer insight into just what the product will do. According to images posted by Weinbach, among the capabilities will be the usual list of voice-activated queries like'what's the weather?' or'play Jazz music' in addition to a range of smart home controls. The sheet leaked by Weinbach also suggests that users will be able to summon Samsung's voice-assistant Bixby to change smart thermostats, turn devices off or on, or with applicable hardware, even change the channel on a TV.

Sonos Inc. has announced its new smart speaker, called Beam. The home-theater device is said to feature Amazon's Alexa voice assistant and Apple's new AirPlay 2 technology at launch. Sonos introduced Beam during a Wednesday event. According to the Santa Barbara, California-based consumer electronics company, the upcoming smart speaker is designed to sit below a television set and replace the speakers that are built into existing TVs. Because it has Alexa, users can rely on the voice assistant to control Beam if they don't have a physical remote on hand.

Apple is finally selling the HomePod, its smart speaker. The round, voice-controlled sound system was initially revealed in June and was supposed to go on sale before the end of the year. It wasn't initially clear when Apple would start selling the device, since it only said that pre-orders would open at some point today. But they went live at lunchtime, at the same time in all the countries it will be sold in. It won't actually arrive until next Friday, when it is also expected to appear in Apple Stores, though it's still not clear whether you'll actually be able to listen to it in those stores.

Apple will release its brand new HomePod in just a couple of weeks, it has announced. The smart speaker will go on sale on 9 February. Pre-orders will open this Friday, 26 January, it said in a statement. The 7-inch speaker will cost £319 in the UK, as well as similar prices in the US and Australia when it goes on sale at the end of this week. It will go on sale in France and Germany in spring, Apple said – voice assistants often roll out slower than other products, since they rely on having local data and languages.

TL;DR: It's time to buy a smart speaker. It will be a long time before they're as empathetic as Samantha in Her or as industrious as Rosie in The Jetsons. But they can already make your life easier, or at least more interesting, in a few key ways. So you might as well break down and get one. Chances are, of course, that someone already gave you one.

But there's no need to worry. The speaker is coming into a market full of competitors – plenty of which do the same thing. So if you now have a rounded, bin-shaped hole under your Christmas tree, you can replace it with another voice-enabled speaker. The HomePod boasts of a huge range of features: beautiful sound, a small, beautiful build, and the ability to control it all with your voice. Not all of those features can be replaced – but some of them can be.

When Apple took to the stage to launch its new smart speaker, the HomePod, it began with an explanation that was more like an insult. It was introducing a smart speaker that was the first to include both voice control and good sound, it said, and it flashed up a picture of a Sonos, which it mocked for having great sound but for forcing you to use an app. Now that image may haunt the release of Apple's new speaker. Because Sonos just released the new One: a speaker that can be controlled with the voice and includes the same audio quality that Sonos has become famous for. And what's more, the Sonos speaker will be available weeks before Apple's HomePod, which arrives in December, ships.

This new smart speaker is cheaper than the Dot--but is it worth it? If you make a purchase by clicking one of our links, we may earn a small share of the revenue. However, our picks and opinions are independent from USA TODAY's newsroom and any business incentives. Smart home technology was once nothing more than a lofty dream, but we've finally reached a point where not only do we have a slew of smart devices to control nearly everything in our homes, but they're starting to be super affordable. Take the Amazon Echo Dot.

Apple appears poised to unveil a voice-activated, internet-connected speaker that would create a new digital pipeline into people's homes. Tapping Apple's Siri digital assistant, such a speaker is expected to serve as a butler as well as an outlet for listening to music. If the speculation pans out, the speaker would be Apple's first new product since its smartwatch in 2015. And it would mark an effort by Apple to catch up with Amazon and Google. An early glimpse at updates to iPhone and Mac software has become a tradition at Apple's annual conference for app developers, which begins Monday in San Jose, California.