Apple has announced a voice-activated loudspeaker powered by its virtual assistant Siri.

苹果公司于近日推出了一款支持语音助手Siri的声控扬声器。

Like devices by Amazon and Google, Apple's HomePod speaker can respond to questions and control smart home gadgets¹ such as lights.

与亚马逊和谷歌的设备一样，苹果的HomePod扬声器能回答问题，控制如灯类在内的智能家居设备。

Analysts² say Apple has been slow to improve its Siri virtual assistant and launch a smart speaker, after Amazon launched its Echo in 2014.

分析人士称，苹果在升级Siri语言助手和推出智能扬声器上已经落后，亚马逊已经于2014年推出了Echo。

The company has pitched HomePod first and foremost as a music player. This does a great job of extending the tentacles³ of Apple services.

苹果公司将HomePod定位为一流的音乐播放器。其在扩大苹果设备的范围上做得很出色。

At more than double the cost of Amazon's Echo, the HomePod is a typical Apple move.

HomePod的成本是亚马逊Echo的两倍还要多，带有典型的苹果风格。

So - a cynic might say Apple has just launched the world's most-hyped bluetooth speaker - not much imagination there.

所以，一个愤世嫉俗的人可能会说，苹果刚刚推出了世界上最夸张的蓝牙扬声器，并且没有什么想象力。

But let's face it, before AI and machine learning really matures, most home assistant devices are essentially⁴ voice-controlled speakers, and so Apple dedicating its effort into making it sound great is probably a smart move.

但是我们不得不承认，在人工智能和机器学习成熟之前，大多数的家用助理设备基本都是由语音控制的扬声器，所以苹果努力让扬声器音效更棒可能是一步好棋。