Smart home
Apple HomePod Mini Adds Hands-Free Music Streaming on Gaana
Gaana’s service is available in both free and paid tiers, and support for hands-free streaming on the HomePod mini works regardless of whether you’re on the free or paid plan. Gadgets 360 was able to successfully test the feature on the Apple HomePod mini on a free plan.
The service needs to be activated on the Gaana app on iOS first, and has to be done on a device which is linked to the HomePod mini using Apple’s Home app. To set up Gaana to stream on the HomePod mini, users need to go to the Settings > Connect with HomePod, and then follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process.
Once complete, users can have the HomePod mini play tracks from Gaana using voice commands, such as “Hey Siri, play (track name) on Gaana”. This is a notable change, as the HomePod range earlier only supported hands-free music streaming from the company’s own Apple Music streaming service.
It is possible to stream music from other services such as Spotify and Amazon Music, but this requires the use of a smartphone as the controller, with an AirPlay connection between the smartphone and the HomePod mini.
Unlike smart speakers from Google and Amazon, the Apple HomePod and HomePod mini are fairly limited it their support for third-party services, with a focus on Apple Music as the default service for hands-free streaming. And although the speaker is Bluetooth enabled, you can’t directly pair it to play music from your phone or other devices — the only way to stream other services and content is through Apple AirPlay.
However, the introduction of direct hands-free streaming of Gaana on the HomePod mini suggests that Apple could be opening up its ecosystem for the smart speaker, and other services could similarly support hands-free streaming going forward.
A free-to-roam metaverse ecosystem, Wilder World is primarily a competitive racing game that launched for alpha testing in December 2023 and will begin a wider rollout this year. The team behind the game announced its partnership with Samsung via an official post on X on Wednesday.
In Samsung’s next sale of exclusive Web3 TV bundles, fifteen select buyers will get Wilder World NFTs as rewards. Through this partnership, the metaverse game expects to add new players to its ecosystem.
Samsung, catching up with the advancements in emerging technologies, is essentially looking to connect with a newer generation of customers. The Seoul-based company is hence integrating Web3 elements like the metaverse and NFTs with its newer range of products.
Samsung has long maintained its lead in the television market. In 2023, the company reportedly occupied a 30.1 percent market share of televisions sold globally, which was slightly higher than the previous year’s 29.7 percent. With its new initiatives, Samsung could directly bring Web3 technologies to its vast user base.
This is not the first time that the tech mammoth has taken a Web3-friendly approach. In April 2023, for instance, Samsung teamed up with Crypto.com to bring asset trading services on devices from the Galaxy Z fold series.
In 2022, Samsung tied up with partners Theta Labs and Nifty Gateway to get NFTs to its smart TV and smartphone ecosystems.
In fact, the same year Samsung introduced the world’s first TV-based NFT explorer. Later that year, the company started rolling out smart TV models that came with features like NFT buying and management.
According to the report, the iPhone maker is reportedly working on two potential products. The first one is a robotic device that sits atop a table and moves a display around using robotics. The second product, which is also in development, is a mobile robot that can follow a user around their house. These products are not ready to be launched, but the former is said to be in a more advanced stage than the mobile robot, as per the report.
Development of hardware for the robotics project was reportedly overseen by Matt Costello and Brian Lynch, Apple executives who work on the company’s home products. The company is said to be looking for its next product to generate additional revenue, following the launch of the Apple Vision Pro earlier this year.
The Bloomberg report also states that Apple was planning on a three-pronged approach for new products in the coming years. One of these — a autonomous car said to be in development for over a decade — has been cancelled, while the company continues to focus on smart home and mixed reality products, such as the first-generation Apple Vision Pro.
The rumoured robotics-enabled products from Apple would likely compete with existing products from companies like Amazon’s $1,599 (roughly Rs. 1.33 lakh) invitation-only Astro robot that is available in the US. There’s currently no word from Apple — the company is known for keeping its products and services under wraps until they are ready to be announced — on plans to develop or sell smart home products equipped with robotic features, and it is possible that these initial devices might never be sold by the company.
Comments
For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who’sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.
About three dozen women and men who filed the suit alleged that Apple was warned of the risks posed by its AirTags and argued the company could be legally blamed under California law when the tracking devices are used for misconduct.
In the three claims that survived, the plaintiffs “allege that, when they were stalked, the problems with the AirTag’s safety features were substantial, and that those safety defects caused their injuries,” Chhabria wrote.
Apple had argued it designed the AirTag with “industry-first” safety measures and shouldn’t be held responsible when the product is misused.
“Apple may ultimately be right that California law did not require it to do more to diminish the ability of stalkers to use AirTags effectively, but that determination cannot be made at this early stage,” the judge wrote in allowing the three plaintiffs to pursue their claims.
A spokesperson for the company didn’t immediately return an email requesting comment on the ruling.
Apple was accused in the case of negligently releasing the AirTag despite warnings by advocacy groups and others that the product would be re-purposed for surveillance. “With a price point of just $29 it has become the weapon of choice of stalkers and abusers,” according to the complaint.
Apple developed a feature that alerts users when an AirTag might be tracking them, but that and other safety measures aren’t enough, according to the suit.
Tile Inc. is facing similar allegations that its tracking devices connected to Amazon.com Inc.’s Bluetooth network lack adequate protections against stalking.
The case is Hughes v. Apple, Inc., 3:22-cv-07668, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).
© 2024 Bloomberg LP
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
-
Camera3 years agoCharles ‘Chuck’ Geschke, co-founder of Adobe and inventor of the PDF, dies at 81
-
TOP SCEINCE6 days agoInherited predisposition for higher muscle strength may protect against common morbidities
-
world news5 days ago
Jewish diaspora expresses concern as Iranian drones launch toward Israel
-
TOP SCEINCE6 days ago
Stellar winds of three sun-like stars detected for the first time
-
TOP SCEINCE6 days ago
Brightest gamma-ray burst of all time came from the collapse of a massive star
-
world news5 months ago
Gulf, France aid Gaza, Russia evacuates citizens
-
Camera2 years agoSony a7 IV sample gallery
-
TOP SCEINCE2 days ago
Plastic pollution can kill variety of ocean embryos
