The Apple HomePod, that was originally released in early 2018, is finally getting ready for sale in India. Although the Rs 19,000 Indian price of the smart speaker was revealed this January, the actual sale will only begin in the coming days.
It’s worth noting that Apple has confirmed the availability of the HomePod in the country, however, it isn’t actually available right now. The Apple India site shows a “Buy” button for the speaker, but it only takes the customer to find the nearest reseller. Moreover, online retailers including Amazon, Flipkart, and Paytm have also yet to declare its sale. Apple has also started sending emails to Indian customers announcing the availability.
It seems the sales will start as soon as retail outlets will be allowed to function normally as the lockdown is expected to be eased on May 17.
The HomePod is Apple’s answer to the likes of Amazon Echo and Google’s smart speakers that largely dominate the segment. Apple’s product is a premium offering shaped as a 6.8-inch cylinder. The 2.5kG speaker has a high-excursion woofer, seven horn-loaded tweeters, six microphone arrays for accurate far-field voice detection, and internal mics for automatic bass correction.
It comes in Space Grey and White colours variants. The HomePod works within the Apple ecosystem of devices and hence, you need at least an iPhone 6S, iPhone SE, or something newer to connect with the HomePod. Any iPad Pro, iPad 5th Generation, iPad Air 2 or newer, and iPad Mini 4 or newer models will also work with it.
Siri is also available as a virtual assistant to answer queries, control smart appliances compatible with Apple HomeKit as well as play music.
Apple’s iPhone Se (2020) will also go on sale in India soon as Flipkart has kicked off registrations for the product.