Beats Hi‑Fi

Pre-Amazon Echo / Apple HomePod smart speaker concept; the world's first Apple × Beats collab.

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[Scraps of] a yet-to-be-completed personal project initiated before Amazon's first Echo hit the market, Beats Hi-Fi is a portable, Siri-powered smart speaker, modeled after the aesthetics of the first-generation ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜ, delivering audio far superior to iPhone, iPad, iPod, et al.

The name Beats Hi-Fi is an homage to Apple's short-lived (only sold for 18-months), but ahead-of-its-time 2006 iPod Hi-Fi home stereo product, as well as an allusion to Apple's May 2014 acquisition of Beats Electronics LLC.

I mocked up various static interfaces, drawing heavily from those of ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜOS apps, but for a larger display. I also created an interactive prototype for an app switcher that would be triggered by a long-press anywhere on the display.

Beats Hi-Fi can be used on a desk or countertop, but is also waterproof, enabling users to listen to music in the shower, on a boat, while camping, etc. — and its portless MagSafe-like power adapter can be magnetically attached to either side of the device for charging.

Despite the age of this personal project, I'd love to see Apple add a display to a HomePod product.

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Apple unveiled Apple Watch "Series 0" in September 2014. Amazon's first-generation Echo product debuted in early November of 2014, making it the world's first voice-assistant-powered smart speaker.