but now the Cupertino giant has confirmed (go.macworld.com/conf) that it is buying the company outright for a cool $400 million, a relative bargain in today’s tech dollars. On the surface, a Shazam purchase ensures that Siri will always be able to recognize the song you’re listening to and will provide a boost to Apple Music, but I think Apple has much bigger plans for the service. Like everything else Apple seems to be doing now, it’s about augmented reality and machine learning. And it could be the thing that finally puts Siri back at the front of the pack.
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feature that’s all done locally, and I use it far more often than I thought I would. A similar feature would be great on the iPhone, and with Shazam’s massive library at Apple’s disposal this kind of feature would be far superior to Google’s version. But where Shazam could really help Siri’s ears is with the HomePod. Apple wants its new home speaker to “reinvent home music,” but if all it does is sound good, that’s hardly revolutionary. If Apple could leverage its Shazam acquisition to build some serious smarts into the HomePod, it could be a difference maker. We will already be able to ask Siri to play things like the most popular song in 1986, but Shazam could amplify its knowledge considerably. It would be great to tap your AirPods and ask “Play the song that goes like this …” or “Play that Ed Sheeran song about Ireland.” Shazam might not be able to do that now, but the groundwork is certainly in place, particularly when paired with Apple’s own AI musical capabilities. And it could go beyond simple song identification too. Apple could use Shazam to create personalized playlists right on the HomePod, based on your
Shazam’s main strength is music identification, and that fits well into Apple’s current strategy. It’s not just Siri on our phones: AirPods (go.macworld. com/a1rp), the HomePod (go.macworld. com/h0me), and the Apple Watch (go. macworld.com/apwa) could all benefit from Shazam’s uncanny ability to name that tune. And we might not even have to ask. On the new Pixel phones (go.macworld.com/ pxel), Google has implemented a feature Apple wants its new home speaker to that displays the name of “reinvent home music,” but if all it does is a song playing nearby sound good, that’s hardly revolutionary. even if Assistant hasn’t been asked. It’s a neat
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