A Smart Home Hub with HomeKit at the Center Apple had long been rumored to be readying a smart speaker to challenge the Amazon Echo and Google Home - and, this month finally unveiled it. It’s called the HomePod and has Siri built-in for answering a broad array of queries and controlling HomeKit-compatible smart home appliances. However, there’s a lot more to the HomePod than even all of that. Apple has primarily billed it as set to revolutionize homebased music listening, hinting at a somewhat unorthodox strategy. A typically Apple take on the smart speaker Many aspects of the HomePod shouldn’t overly surprise; in fact, in many ways, it is a very Apple-like approach to the smart speaker. With its 6.8-inch-tall and 5.6-inch-wide body covered almost entirely by a mesh fabric, it adheres strongly to the company’s trademark minimalist design philosophy. Furthermore, it will be significantly more expensive than the competition, with a US price that is nearly twice as high as the Echo