Report: Apple’s smart home ambitions include “tabletop robot,” cameras, and more

Apple has purportedly been working on new smart home devices for years now.

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[Hap]

You mean, you're a typical Ars reader...

Not sure if you're the kind of 'old' whose children have grown up and left the nest. But for some of us old and cranky people, our children are still very much around and a device that serves up calendar and entertainment in the kitchen, answers questions about the weather and basic questions that might help with homework, show recipes, and play video and music would be the most optimal use case. The kitchen is where we now all congregate when we're not in our separate sleep/work units.

I'm not saying I would buy one of these, but a HomePod with these extra functionalities is something I could see having a use case in the family home. Especially if you didn't want to give Amazon any money.

No kids, but my wife and I added a "house" AppleID to our Apple Family - an iPad signed into that account sits on the counter with shared calendar info and a few house things - like home automation (not HomeKit - although it does use a HomeKit Bridge to allow Siri integration).

Siri is hot garbage and honestly HomeKit is not much better.