While Apple’s HomePod doesn’t yet feature a public or developer beta, the tech giant, reportedly, has been seeding a private beta to corporate and some retail employees for a few months now.
The latest rumours surrounding HomePod OS 12 indicate that there are some major new features coming to Siri and Apple’s smart home speaker, according to French tech blog iGeneration.
The beta reportedly includes phone call functionality, allowing the user to start and answer calls directly on the HomePod. Other upcoming features include a ‘Find My iPhone’ Siri command, as well as support for multiple timers.
If these new features do get a public release, this is another example of Apple playing catch up with the Google Home and Amazon Echo devices given both platforms already support similar functionalities.
Currently the HomePod isn’t capable of launching a phone call independently. A call must first be launched on the iPhone, with the audio output switching to the HomePod when the call begins. Further, if someone calls you, the HomePod isn’t capable of ringing. You must first answer the call on the iPhone and then transfer it to the HomePod.
It’s likely that Apple plans to release HomePod OS 12 along with iOS 12, macOS Mojave, watchOS 5 and tvOS 12 this coming fall.
Source: iGenerationĀ Via: MacRumorsĀ
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