Latest HomePod update hints at imminent launch in Norway and Sweden

Apple this week released HomePod Software 15.6 along with iOS 15.6 and other updates. While iOS 15.6 isn’t exactly a major update, the latest HomePod Software enables voice recognition support for more languages. But more than that, the update hints at imminent launch of HomePod in Norway and Sweden.

As we previously reported, HomePod Software 15.6 enables Siri voice recognition for Mandarin Chinese (China mainland, Taiwan), Cantonese (China Mainland, Hong Kong), and Japanese (Japan). With this feature enabled, Siri is able to learn and identify the voice of different people so they can make personal requests based on their own data.

HomePod’s multi-user feature works with up to six different people and lets them access their own playlists, messages, and calendar from the same HomePod or HomePod mini.

However, one thing that wasn’t mentioned in the HomePod Software 15.6 release notes is the addition of Norwegian and Swedish languages for Siri. Previously, these languages weren’t available at all to HomePod users, but now they’ve been quietly added with the 15.6 update.

Right now, HomePod is not available in Norway and Sweden, which means that Apple is probably getting ready to launch its smart speaker in those countries. In the past, every time Apple has added a new language to HomePod’s Siri, the product has hit stores in that country a few weeks later. Apple has yet to confirm the launch.

Last year, the company expanded the availability of the HomePod mini to multiple new countries, including Germany, Italy, Austria, New Zealand, and Ireland. Earlier this year, the device was also launched in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.

A previous version of HomePod Software also added support for the Russian language, but since Apple suspended its operations in Russia due to the events of the war with Ukraine, HomePod was never made available there.

More about HomePod mini

For those unfamiliar, HomePod mini is Apple’s smart-speaker with built-in Wi-Fi, so it offers access to Apple Music, HomeKit, and a few other apps through Siri. Apple also had a larger version of the HomePod, which was discontinued in 2020. According to rumors, Apple will announce a new HomePod in the coming months.

In the United States, HomePod mini costs $99 and is available in five different colors: black, white, yellow, orange, and blue.

H/T: Kristoffer Blix.