Audio Enthusiasts Should Tinker With HomePod, Echo

At WWDC, Apple largely rolled out upgrades to existing devices, with an emphasis on the iPad and its Mac lineup.

Opinions But likewise in the mix was the HomePod. It's like to the Amazon Echo and Google Home, though it'southward largely focused on music and more expensive than its rivals at $349.

Everyone loves these smart speakers, just I think they are somewhat useless. According to data from Experian Data Services and BI Intelligence, one of the nearly popular Alexa skills is "prepare a timer." A $200-plus device basically only replaces a $vi egg timer.

Alexa Skills Usage Chart (BI)

Next on the list of uses is "Play a vocal." Exactly why I'd want a song played in the middle of the 24-hour interval and out of the blueish is beyond me, simply most anybody does that. If I am going to play a song, I want to hear it through a finely tuned stereo organisation, not from some depression-end squeaky tweeters.

Meanwhile, 62 per centum of people enquire the device for the time. Cripes, put a clock in the room.

But my chief interest in these devices is whether or not they tin be used as hacking devices. Each of them uses a microphone assortment to option upwards sounds from great distances with incredible accuracy. The HomePod, for instance, "analyzes the acoustics, adjusts the audio based on the speaker's location, and steers the music in the optimal direction," Apple tree says. "Whether HomePod is against the wall, on a shelf, or in the centre of the room, everyone gets an immersive listening feel."

If you have ii of these things in the same room, they coordinate the sound like 2 Furby dolls chattering at each other, I gauge.

Recently, I played with various pairs of microphones while researching mutual techniques for recording stereo audio. In the process, I ran into commercial microphone arrays. These are advanced lash-ups useful for all sorts of recording applications, peculiarly in auditoriums or at concerts. They look like they would exist fun in an outdoor setting to record wildlife using a technique chosen soundfield recording. A moribund audio technology called ambisonics could besides be revitalized.

These pro-gear arrays cost betwixt $500 and $2,000 and are outside my budget. So I wonder why these cheaper smart speakers, with their inexpensive array of mics and processing power, are non beingness hacked. Audio recording engineers and amateur enthusiasts could accept a lot of fun tinkering with the HomePod and Echo.

When you look for sites talking nearly hacking an Echo, it's mostly about malicious hacking or finding some new way of exploiting the existing device. Someone used an Repeat to control a drone by vox, but that's but the tip of the iceberg. It seems that all these devices, if gutted and repurposed, can be exploited in new ways. Become your soldering guns out, and see if you can make whatever of these ideas work. And brand sure to allow me know.

Almost John C. Dvorak

John C. Dvorak

John C. Dvorak is a columnist for PCMag.com and the co-host of the twice weekly podcast, the No Agenda Show. His piece of work is licensed around the world. Previously a columnist for Forbes, PC/Computing, Computer Shopper, MacUser, Barrons, the Dec Professional as well as other newspapers and magazines. One-time editor and consulting editor for InfoWorld, he besides appeared in the New York Times, LA Times, Philadelphia Enquirer, SF Examiner, and the Vancouver Sun. He was on the beginning-upward team for C/Net as well as ZDTV. At ZDTV (and TechTV) he hosted Silicon Spin for four years doing 1000 alive and alive-to-tape Tv set shows. His Internet bear witness Cranky Geeks was considered a …