Apple announces HomeView, a home screen and speaker; not yet for the UAE
Apple's new HomeView puts a 7-inch screen on a speaker base for music, video calls and smart home control. It costs $299 in the US from 13 November; the UAE is not on the first list of countries.
Apple announced HomeView on 13 October, a home device with a 7-inch screen mounted on a hinge above a round speaker base. It comes as a tabletop model and as a separate wall-mounted model, and plays music, podcasts and video, makes FaceTime calls and controls connected lights, locks, blinds, thermostats and cameras by touch or voice.
The screen recognises up to six people in a home by face and shows each one their own home screen, so personal messages, calendars and reminders appear only for that person. It runs a new version of Siri, can show up to nine home camera feeds at once and listens for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. The tabletop model comes in silver, starlight, rose pink and space gray; the wall model in space gray and silver.
Both models cost $299 in the US. Pre-orders opened on 13 October in Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, the UK and the US, and on 15 October in Singapore, with sales starting on 13 November there and in South Africa. Apple says the new Siri works in English only for now.
The UAE is not among the launch countries, and Apple has not announced a UAE price or date, nor Arabic support. Setting HomeView up needs a compatible iPhone or iPad on the latest software. Anyone in the UAE who wants one should wait for Apple's UAE store to list it rather than import one, since the voice features and some services depend on the country.