According to survey results from Business Insider Intelligence, Apple’s HomePod was hotly anticipated but not hot off the starting line.

We ourselves dumbfounded once again with Apple’s late response to a consumer electronics boom. The difference between iPad and the Apple Newton was evident, and though Apple may be late to the party, this time we think it may be onto something.

“The HomePod got off to a rocky start after demonstrating strong early potential at its June 2017 unveiling,” stated Business Insider’s Peter Newman of the year-old Siri-enabled smart home speaker. “An early Business Insider Intelligence survey showed high consumer awareness of the product, as well as an excited audience.”

The world’s most valuable company has joined the party on what we agree with other tech analysts may well be a wireless home audio revolution. We also think, however, that Apple will have to shape up to more realistic consumer demand if people are more willing to adopt HomePod over less expensive solutions.

Amazon and Google had their solutions out in time for last Christmas, but even after Apple’s fancy waste bin-sized meshed nest egg called HomePod was out of the bag, the tech giant’s device was not available in Canada.

For months it was a #fail for Apple north of the 49th parallel, but now that HomePod has hit stores in Canada, we are thrilled to be able to test it, and give Apple the benefit of the doubt, but not without acknowledging a couple road bumps along the way.

Siri worked well, but not quite as well as we thought it might. We had many people around with various levels of audible volume to their voices, and Siri picked up just my voice very well, but not once playing music. The usual Siri inquiries were answered effectively, and from a distance HomePod also did well on recognizing voice commands even when distanced far enough away that the user’s voice begins to blend in with their background.

According to Apple, here are a few other things you can do with HomePod, thanks to a recent software update:

• Siri Shortcuts: Shortcuts opens up a world of apps to work on HomePod. As Siri learns routines and suggests ‘shortcuts’ on iPhone and iPad, these same shortcuts are now accessible on HomePod. Personalizing shortcuts for HomePod with a series of tasks is easy with a new Shortcuts app. For example, “Hey Siri, good morning” could run a morning routine and order coffee from a coffee shop’s app, turn on the kitchen lights from the Home app and share the first few calendar appointments for the day — all with one simple, customizable command.

“HomePod delivers an even more immersive listening experience when two HomePod speakers become stereo pairs, delivering high-fidelity sound with a wide soundstage,” states Apple. “Using spatial awareness to sense their location in the room, each HomePod automatically adjusts the audio to sound great wherever it is placed and sound great together.”

Siri built into Apple’s HomePod smart speaker device appears whenever called upon with the usual activation command, “Hey, Siri.”

The wireless fidelity is also changing to allow more practical features for consumers. Apple states, “with AirPlay 2, it’s easy to create a wireless multi-room audio system to play music in any room from any room, move music from one room to another or play the same song everywhere using HomePod, an iOS device, Apple TV or by asking Siri.”

We didn’t get the opportunity to test the pairing capability between two HomePods, but this is a pretty awesome concept given the amount of rich sound emanating from just one HomePod. However, At over $1,000 for two after tax, we’re not sure this will be viable for most people, unless you’re a geek with a deep pocket.

Many of us have found at one point in our cell phone’s life an inability to sustain a charge. At times, you may plug in your charging cable and find that it is disconnecting every few seconds, reconnecting, and you can’t figure out why. The answer may be simpler than you think, and require only a paperclip.

Often this condition is due to lint trapped in your pocket invading the charging port. Shining a light into the port may reveal a grey shade of material packed near the back of the port, usually caused by the cable jamming the material farther into the port, leading to a misalignment of pins in the port.

Note: illFixit Wireless assumes no responsibility for any damage incurred as a result of the following procedure. Please treat your cellular devices with care.

1. Fold out the end of a paper clip either 90 degrees or 180 degrees.
2. Insert the paper clip into the charging port until you feel it hit the back of the port
3. Gently scrape the paper clip to the left or right, and up one side, without lifting the end of the paperclip from the inside of the port.
4. This ‘lifting’ motion may result in some debris emerging with the tip of the paperclip

Let us know if this helped you!

Google Maps automatically geopins your parked car when you turn off your vehicle and bluetooth disconnects.

Luckily, Google Maps has us covered. We are still testing this feature’s effectiveness, but so far we are impressed. As soon as your mobile phone disconnects from your car’s Bluetooth, Google Maps will be triggered to perceive your car as parked. Moving away from the vehicle, you will receive a notification on your mobile phone that Google Maps has geotagged your parking spot.

Apple has a similar feature, and even allows you to snap a picture to connect your car to its surroundings.

Not only can you get directions back to where you misplaced your parked car, Apple Maps allows you to snap a picture so you recognize its surroundings.

What’s your favourite map app, and what would you swear by?Not only can you get directions back to where you misplaced your parked car, Apple Maps allows you to snap a picture so you recognize its surroundings.