What to know about new Apple HomeView smart home display hub
Apple is releasing a new smart home display, its answer to other popular smart displays and speakers, such as Amazon's Echo Show and Google's Nest Hub.
Apple HomeView, which the company announced on Tuesday, is a smart home device that features a recycled aluminum screen with a 7-inch Liquid Retina display, on a domed speaker base.
HomeView can be used as a tabletop device or mounted to a wall and will be available in four colors -- rose pink, silver, space gray and starlight. The HomeView can play music, open a recipe, let users make FaceTime calls, display content synced to one's Messages, Calendar, Reminders, and Find My features and incorporates Siri AI features.
"It recognizes your face and adapts to everyone who's using it and then, it pulls information from your iPhone," Cecilia Dantas, a product marketing manager for Apple, told ABC News. "It can recognize up to six users and pull information for everybody in the home. Once you leave, your data is not stored on the device."
Analysts say it makes sense for Apple to try to tap into an emerging customer base that has embraces smart home devices and features.
"We know in certain markets that there's double-digit percentage of homes that have Alexa devices, for example. We've seen smart doorbells prove very, very popular but there's still plenty of upside," Ben Wood, chief analyst for market research agency FDM CCS Insight, told ABC News. "It's a lot of the early technology enthusiasts who've gone into smart homes so far and I think Apple are looking to say, 'What's that next piece of opportunity?'"
Here are five things to know about Apple's new smart home display hub.
HomeView is customizable for up to six users
HomeView will have the ability to differentiate between multiple users, with a maximum of six different users, according to Apple. Each user can set their own personalized home screen with apps and widgets, as well as toggling between their personal screen and a shared home screen with other users.
Each person's content, such as photos and music, will remain separate and private, but can also be shared with others on the communal screen.
HomeView is compatible with other Apple products
Apple's smart home display and speaker will work with other connected devices from the company, as well as with new smart home cameras, thermostats and locks that are part of the Apple Home Collection, a partnership between Apple and LG Electronics and Schneider Electric.
Similar to an Amazon Echo's "drop-in" feature, Apple HomeView will offer an intercom feature that allows users to send a message to other HomeView displays, Apple HomePod smart speakers, iPhones, iPads or Apple Watches.
HomeView can be used by touch or by voice
HomeView users can use the device like a smartphone but can also interact with the smart home hub with their voice. For example, a user could reply to an iPhone text message by typing on an onscreen keyboard or using their voice to dictate a reply.
HomeView costs $299
Both the tabletop HomeView display and the wall-mountable HomeView, which is offered in silver and space gray, will cost $299 in the U.S.
The HomeView is more than competitors like the Echo Show 11, which retails for $249.99 and the second generation of the Google Nest Hub, which starts at $99.99.
HomeView features AI powered by Siri
As with Apple's MacBook and iPhone, HomeView will incorporate Siri AI, a new form of Apple's Siri assistant. It will let users take advantage of the AI's ability for "personal context understanding and onscreen awareness" and "ask Siri about virtually any topic and get an answer," the company said.
A user's Siri conversations with HomeView can also be synced via the Siri app across Apple devices, including the iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple Watch.
Apple HomeView became available for pre-order on the Apple Store on Tuesday and will be released on Friday, Nov. 13.
