Whoa. Apple finally made a smart display, and it's square! One square screen. And one very big asterisk. It's Apple HomeView! 299 dollars, a seven-inch touchscreen on a speaker, for iPhone homes. This is Tech After Dark. We read six sources, Apple to Engadget to M K B H D. Zero hands touched. Three big things are new. Ready? I'm so ready. One: the all-new Siri, the kind that can hold an actual conversation!

English-only, and labeled beta at launch. So, a conversation with training wheels. Two: it knows your face. Up to six people each get their own screen! But personal info only appears when that person's unlocked iPhone or iPad is nearby. Three: a camera wall! Up to nine security feeds at once, plus HomeKit and Matter controls. Bonus: it listens for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and tells you when you're out.

Actually useful. And recipes turn into step-by-step cards with timers. I would cook. Allegedly. Specs. Seven-inch square screen, 200 pixels per inch. Sharp, like a small tablet. Square means videos get black bars. Movie night just shrank. But it goes up to 500 nits, sunny-kitchen bright, and down to nightstand dim! The chip's an A18, same as the 2024 iPhone 16. Older, but enough for on-device Siri.

And Engadget measured 87 decibels. That's fill-the-whole-room loud! They say it sounds between a HomePod mini and a HomePod. So what did reviewers find? Tell me they loved it. Engadget gave it 8.4 out of 10. Great design, crisp screen, but poor for watching video. And they called it, quote, "a very powerful option for iPhone users." Told you! Tech Advisor says basically no third-party apps are supported.

Spotify and Audible, that's about it. Okay, but M K B H D loved it, right? Right? Per MacRumors, he said: "I cannot figure any group that this is actually ideal for." Price: 299 dollars, on sale today in the U.S. U K, Canada and more. Not in the E U. The wall version's 299 dollar too! I'll borrow two. The wall mount's extra, 59.95 dollars to 129.95 dollars. Nova's Catch: setup needs an iPhone, so Android homes are shut out.

Versus Google! The Nest Hub is just 100 dollars! No camera, though, and Engadget calls HomeView's sound category-leading. And the 229 dollar Nest Hub Max? Macworld notes it can be a security camera. HomeView's camera can't. Verdict! I'm a 7.6. Great sound, it knows faces, and it's shiny. 6.6 from me. Great if you live on iPhones. Everyone else, skip it. After Dark Score: 7.1. That's number one in smart home, past the Echo Show 16!

Verdict: buy, if your house already runs on iPhones. And Rocco, stop pricing out wall mounts.