Apple’s imminent new device is even riskier than the iPhone Duo

Macworld This time next week, the Apple world could look very different. We may have received (and doubtless be obsessing over the artwork and tagline of) invitations to an event on October 13, when reputable sources say the company will unveil its next big thing. Or, based on other clues, namely the arrival in Apple retail stores of mysterious boxes to be opened on October 8, the information may have already emerged. Whether it appears this Thursday or next Tuesday, and whether it’s announced via a big press event or a humble press release, Apple’s next big thing will almost certainly be its first bona fide smart-home product: a hub, made up of a vaguely HomePod-like speaker topped by a vaguely iPad-like screen. We in the media have taken to calling it the HomePad, but if the recent launches of the MacBook Neo and iPhone Duo are anything to go by, Apple will probably call it something short and cute and random, ending with an O. The HomePod Echo, perhaps.