A prototype of Apple's new HomePod is displayed during the 2017 Apple Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) at the San Jose Convention Center on June 5, 2017. Picture: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

IT’S the company’s first completely new kind of product in more than two years but that doesn’t mean it’s original.

Apple unveiled its new home speaker at its annual developers’ conference overnight confirming expectations that it would follow rivals Amazon and Google into the smart home speaker market.

The speakers are imbued with a type of artificial intelligence known as machine learning and are designed to respond to requests and answer questions for you while being the focal point of your connected living room.

Amazon debuted its Echo home speaker in 2014, while Google followed with its Google Home version in 2016. But just because Apple is late to join to emerging market — with a more expensive offering — doesn’t mean the company can’t win the battle.

Apple has a history of releasing influential products that weren’t themselves firsts. The iPod wasn’t the first digital music player, yet it changed how the masses listened to music.

By US pricing, the Amazon Echo costs $US180 (about $A250 plus postage) while the Google Home sells for $US129 (likely around $A199 when Australian pricing is announced).

Apple’s Siri-powered HomePod speaker will debut in Australia in December and comes with a price tag of $US349, so it could be around $450 in Australian stores.

It costs significantly more, but Apple is promising a product that could justify the price.

New Apple HomePod smart speaker on display. Picture: Josh EdelsonSource:AFP

SOUND

The HomePod speaker is similar to its competitors though Apple says it’s giving more emphasis to sound quality, not just smarts. After all, it is a speaker.

With a seven-tweeter array and a four-inch subwoofer, the HomePod should deliver substantially better sound that its rivals.

Apple says it has engineered the speaker with “spatial awareness” so it can automatically adjust its acoustics to suit the room — a seriously cool feature if it turns out to be effective.

You can also link the device with other HomePods or speakers in the house that are AirPlay 2-compatible to get surround sound.

“Just like with portable music, we want to reinvent home music,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said during the conference.

Unsurprisingly there’s integration with the Apple Music online subscription.

Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller speaks during the opening keynote address the 2017 Apple Worldwide Developer Conference. Picture: Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesSource:AFP

PRIVACY

Besides playing music, HomePod will help people manage their lives and homes. Theoretically, Siri will be the voice assistant responding to requests for information and other help around the house.

It is only listening when you prompt it awake by saying: “Hey Siri” and a light will appear on top of the speaker. When you do that, it records it, encrypts it and sends it anonymously to the cloud so you’re not identified. Apple, which has been a staunch supporter of encryption, has clearly gone out of its way to mitigate concerns over privacy.

“Our team cares deeply about your privacy,” Apple senior vice president of marketing Phil Schiller said. “It has that magic phrase, ‘Hey Siri.’ Until you say it, nothing’s being sent to Apple.”

When Amazon’s Echo debuted it was met with trepidation by privacy advocates over concerns Amazon was storing all the conversations customers were having with the device. Currently data stored on Amazon’s servers is not anonymised.

THE APPLE FACTOR

Apple has a history of making products slightly more luxurious that work well with each other.

The company’s game plan has always been to lure you into their closed ecosystem and with a product designed to sit at the centre of other connected devices, this could pay dividends.

According to US market research firm eMarketer, more than 35 million people in the US — where the home speaker market has really emerged — are expected to use a voice-activated speaker at least once a month this year. That is more than double the previous year.

It’s clearly a growing market, and one that Apple is primed to capture.

Apple CEO Tim Cook kicked off the five-day WWDC with announcements of a new operating system, a new iPad Pro and a the HomePod, a music speaker and home assistant. Picture: Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesSource:AFP