The Apple Siri speaker has just been given the green light and is primed to duke it out with the Amazon Echo and Google Home real soon. A rumor speculating that Apple's venture into the smart speaker business is well on its way has recently surfaced as the tech giant has reportedly already found the company that will manufacture the yet-to-be-named Siri speaker.
BGR reported that a couple of sources privy to the development said that Apple is finalizing plans for its smart speaker. As a matter of fact, the tech conglomerate has supposedly already chosen Inventec to turn its Siri-enabled smart speaker dream into reality. The news came straight from "Economic Daily News", a Taiwan-based Chinese publication.
AppleInsider noted that Inventec is a long-time supplier of Apple. It has been involved in some capacity with some Apple products starting with the iPod. Recently, it was tasked to manufacture the AirPods for the company. This report, if proven true, means Apple decided not to team up with Foxconn, another long-time partner and exclusive Amazon Echo maker, for this project.
The Apple Siri speaker was first heard of in April and more rumors have surfaced since then. Among them is the possibility that the smart speaker will be powered by an ARM CPU similar to Apple's own A8 processor. It will also run on an operating system based on iOS and will be equipped with a W1 Bluetooth chip. The rumored Echo and Google Home competitor will also have facial recognition which will allow the device to know which family member is present and perform tasks according to his or her preferences. The Siri speaker will also feature Apple Beats technology in some way. As for the design, a source has described the smart speaker to be "fat" and covered in mesh. Sonny Dickinson, a popular Apple leakster, said the Siri smart speaker will resemble the Mac Pro which basically looks like a trash can. As mentioned, there's no word yet as to what Apple will officially call the Siri speaker.
Ming-Chi Kuo, KGI Securities analyst and prominent Apple insider, stressed that as many as 12 million Siri-enabled smart speakers will potentially be made each year once the smart device is launched which means the Amazon Echo and Google Home will have a capable rival in their hands. The Apple Siri speaker is expected to be launched at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference or WWDC 2017 in California this coming June.
