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Wyoming Area upends Nanticoke Area, forces playoff for WVC title Saturday

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School shooting suspect made ‘disturbing’ social media posts

<p>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &#8212; Apple&#8217;s new internet-connected speaker is proving to be more appealing to the ears than to the eyes, depending on where the device is placed.</p><p>Some people who bought the just-released $349 speaker, dubbed the HomePod, are reporting that it leaves a white ring on the surfaces of wooden furniture.</p><p>In an explanation posted Wednesday, Apple said the problem occurs with speakers that, like the HomePod, are equipped with a silicon base to minimize vibration. The company said the marks will often &#8220;go away&#8221; after a few days if you move the speaker somewhere else.</p><p>If they don&#8217;t, it recommends wiping wood tarnished by the HomePod with a soft or damp cloth, or cleaning the surface &#8220;with the furniture manufacturer&#8217;s recommended cleaning process.&#8221;</p><p>The marks left by the HomePod threaten to stain Apple&#8217;s reputation for designing iPhones, iPads and Mac computers that are frequently prized as much for how they look as for how they work. Though it&#8217;s still too early to tell whether the HomePod&#8217;s blemishes on wood will dampen the device&#8217;s sales. If so, that could hamper Apple&#8217;s efforts to catch up to less expensive internet-connected speakers from Amazon and Google that had a head start in the still nascent market.</p><p>Both Amazon and Google designed their speakers primarily to serve as digital hubs that manage peoples&#8217; homes and lives via voice-activated assistants. Apple, by contrast, is marketing the HomePod as a high-fidelity speaker programmed to learn listeners&#8217; tastes and automatically select songs from the company&#8217;s music-streaming library.</p><p>In the process, Apple hopes to build upon its 36 million Apple Music subscribers and to establish a toehold in people&#8217;s homes that will give it more opportunities to peddle its services. The HomePod also features Apple&#8217;s assistant Siri, which is still catching up to Amazon&#8217;s Alexa and Google&#8217;s eponymous Assistant in responsiveness and versatility.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">FILE - This June 5, 2017, file photo shows the HomePod speaker in a showroom during an announcement of new products at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, Calif. Apple's new internet-connected speaker is proving to be more appealing to the ears than to the eyes, depending on where the device is placed. Some people who bought the just-released $349 speaker, dubbed the HomePod, are reporting that it leaves a white ring on the surfaces of wooden furniture. In an explanation posted Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018, Apple said the problem occurs with speakers that, like the HomePod, are equipped with a silicon base to minimize vibration. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_119813175-c6782c594600419292df50ef75523353.jpg</photo0><caption0>FILE - This June 5, 2017, file photo shows the HomePod speaker in a showroom during an announcement of new products at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, Calif. Apple's new internet-connected speaker is proving to be more appealing to the ears than to the eyes, depending on where the device is placed. Some people who bought the just-released $349 speaker, dubbed the HomePod, are reporting that it leaves a white ring on the surfaces of wooden furniture. In an explanation posted Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018, Apple said the problem occurs with speakers that, like the HomePod, are equipped with a silicon base to minimize vibration. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>

Apple’s new speaker making an unwelcome mark in some homes