The $50 device does have a crap speaker but can be plugged/bluetoothed into something decent. I just say "Turn on Bluetooth" and it connects to my amp.
I'm not convinced that the Homepod will be a £350 speaker (it's not really an area where Apple are full of expertise and there are some established companies in at that point) and if it's voice controlled a slick Apple interface will be less apparent so it really needs to get the voice control right. Otherwise it will just end up as a glorified bluetooth/airplay speaker where there is a lot of competition.
The $50 device does have a crap speaker but can be plugged/bluetoothed into something decent. I just say "Turn on Bluetooth" and it connects to my amp.
I'm not convinced that the Homepod will be a £350 speaker (it's not really an area where Apple are full of expertise and there are some established companies in at that point) and if it's voice controlled a slick Apple interface will be less apparent so it really needs to get the voice control right. Otherwise it will just end up as a glorified bluetooth/airplay speaker where there is a lot of competition.