World News – US – HomePod Mini supports low-power wire networking technology

As noted on the specs page for Apple’s new HomePod mini, the tiny speaker is Apple’s first to support Thread networking technology

Although Thread is essentially independent of the application layers running on it, it can support multiple layers and can play a role in Project Connected Home over IP, the alliance of Apple, Amazon, from Google and other companies looking to make it easier to build devices compatible with multiple ecosystems such as Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant

For now, however, Apple states in a footnote that ‌HomePod‌ mini’s Thread support is limited to HomeKit devices, so the technology cannot be leveraged across multiple platforms yet and it how Apple will adopt Thread forward remains to be seen

Apple is a recognized supporter of the Thread Project, with longtime Apple Engineer Stuart Cheshire, who developed the Rendezvous / Bonjour zero configuration standard almost 20 years ago, is Director of Thread Group

Apple’s ‌HomePod‌ mini will be available for pre-order from November 6 and will officially launch on November 16

If we take a close look at Apple’s hardware versions over the past few years, it’s possible to interpret their strategy and understand why Apple left the router game The answer is that every Apple device is its own part of the game. ‘a mesh network Every Apple device recognizes the Apple devices around it and seamlessly creates a network of all devices connected to the same Apple ID and known Apple IDs The reliability of file transfer via AirDrop has come to a point where this really works iCloud puts cloud storage where any device can access it, even outside of a traditional local area network Printers connect directly to each device, without having to configure them manually These functions are the majority of uses The obvious piece that is missing is of course Internet access iPhones connect to the Internet directly. nt via LTE and can even bring other devices like Macs and iPads online But LTE data is expensive and Macs and AppleTV consume large amounts of data This is where 5G will come in Speeds expected to overtake the internet terrestrial and the available bandwidth will allow ISPs to charge the same for wireless data as they do for traditional internet – with the added benefit that it is much cheaper to deploy 5G infrastructure than optical cabling under city streets. city ​​and on the polesSome people will probably say it’s not viable for offices Commercial networks have never been AirPort’s goal IT departments haven’t bought a bunch of AirPort to build networks It was always before a whole consumer device We have to see this from the consumer’s point of view and therefore for consumers, a direct internet connection through a 5G chip built into every device makes a lot more sense than setting up WiFi networks at homeMesh networks are around for a while, but I don’t think it will last as long as 5G rolls out and people start relying on their future iPhones’ 5G connection when data prices drop to the price of traditional home internet prices. Apple wasn’t looking at the short term when they decided to ditch AirPort They’re thinking ahead I fully expect Macs and even AppleTVs to have 5G chips built in in the coming years and watches and iPads come with standard cellular chips

MacRumors attracts a large audience of consumers and professionals interested in the latest technologies and products We also have an active community focused on purchasing decisions and technical aspects of the iPhone, iPod, iPad and Mac platforms

Apple, HomePod, iPod mini, smart speaker