OpenAI Speaker

Rumor has it OpenAI’s first hardware device will be a portable speaker. I love using voice mode to quickly talk with an LLM and make better use of time while driving or doing chores. Yes, a smart home speaker is always on and plugged in, but I think there’s room for an AI speaker that’s less about smart home control, and more something you take with you.

I find the rumor that it's centered around Wi-Fi at home as puzzling. I’ve been using a JBL Flip 7 Bluetooth speaker more and more to listen to podcasts. While I have Sonos and HomePod speakers, the convenience of portability, combined with the simplicity of Bluetooth is still a real benefit.

A Bluetooth speaker is already a product category. Adding AI voice mode to it for conversations could be a compelling new angle. Compared to Bluetooth, using home Wi-Fi bypasses the smartphone, but could introduce more complexity and limit the speaker's practical uses. We'll see as more rumors surface and if this product eventually launches.

Apple Music and Apple One Price Increases

Apple Music and the Apple One bundles just got more expensive. It seems this is due to rising licensing costs for music as well as rising datacenter costs. As a classical music fan myself, I love that Apple has a dedicated Apple Music Classical app for browsing and listening to classical music. It even works in CarPlay!

No customer wants to see prices go up, but it’s understandable in my view. Hopefully this is the last time for a while. When you look at all a family gets for the Apple One Premier bundle for $40 per month, I still think it’s a phenomenal value. It includes Apple TV, Apple Music, Apple Music Classical, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, iCloud Storage, and HomeKit Secure Video to name a few.

Apple suing OpenAI

I’m not a lawyer, and neither are Ben Thompson or John Gruber, but I think they had some great, succinct takes on what we know about this lawsuit so far. I pay for this podcast as part of the Stratechery Plus Bundle and love every episode, but this episode was released for free. It’s only 15 minutes if you want to just listen in your web browser.

The Schedule

Last week I finally posted my Schlage Sense Pro review. This one was a labor of love and I think it turned out well. It’s also the first video where the talking part is filmed in my new home studio. More on that coming soon.

On Friday we had a live stream with wide ranging topics about Homey and nerdy details with Thread and the chat helping see an obvious setting on an IKEA temperature sensor.

I also published a quick guide of stuff I enjoy in my home town of Chicago if you are headed to the city and wondering what I like. It also includes food details if you are just connecting through Chicago O'Hare Airport.

I hope you have a great rest of your Sunday,

Eric