GOOGLE PIXEL AND PIXEL XL:
First ever truly smartphones designed by google and with in built google assistant.
The Google Pixel phone features a 5-inch AMOLED display with a 1,080 x 1,920-pixel resolution, plus 4GB of RAM and a 2,770mAh battery. The phone also runs on Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 821 chip, which includes a Kryo CPU (10% faster than 820), an Adreno 530 GPU, and the Snapdragon X12 LTE modem.
Meanwhile, the Google Pixel XL boasts a larger 5.5-inch screen with a 1,440 x 2,560-pixel resolution, and a larger 3,450Ah battery. It also runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 821 chip, and will charge up to 7 hours of its battery life in just 15 minutes – apparently.
Both handsets ship in 32GB or 128GB options, and feature an aluminium unibody and polished glass design. You can grab them in three different (and refreshingly named) colour options – Quite Black, Very Silver and Really Blue.
DAYDREAM VR:
Custom built virtual reality headset built by google.
On the software side, Daydream is built into Android 7.0 Nougat, and basically works as an alternative to Oculus Home. You’ll be able to browse apps and run VR content, all with the support of Google. Over 50 apps and partners will be bringing content to Daydream before the end of the year, as revealed at today’s event. Daydream will also support VR modes of YouTube, Google Photos, and Google Street View.
GOOGLE WI-FI ROUTER:
It’s poised as a companion device for Google Home, and is small and inconspicuous – about the size of an Amazon Echo Dot.
It’s an expandable system, which means you’ll stick a bunch of the Google Wi-Fi routers around your home.
GOOGLE CHROMECAST ULTRA:
Google also announced a new 4K-ready Chromecast, which is the first of the series to support Ultra HD video. It’s called Chromecast Ultra.
Previous Chromecast devices used Marvell chips based on ARM architecture, specifically the Armada 1500 Mini and Armada 1500 Mini Plus. What’s interesting is that Marvell has another two chips that are more powerful than the ones used in Chromecast so far – the 1500 Pro4K and the 1500 Ultra. Both of these support UHD video, and are likely candidates to appear in the Chromecast 3/Chromecast 4K.
Chromecast is 1.8x faster to load content, supports HDR, and Dolby Vision too. It will be available in November for £69/$69 – in the UK, try Google, Currys PC World, and Argos. Google Play Movies will be rolling out 4K movies and TV shows in November, too.
GOOGLE HOME:
Google finally dropped new details about its long-awaited Google Home smart speaker. For the unaware, Home is Google’s voice-controlled Amazon Echo rival, and features Google Assistant integration.
It’s basically a small, minimalist cylinder with an angled top. The bottom part of the casing is modular, and can be swapped out for other shells of varying colours. And the top portion is white, with four LED lights built into the slanted surface that will tell you when Google Home is turned on. The top surface is capacitive, and features a microphone that utilises machine learning to separate speech from noise. And the speaker is boasts a full-size excursion driver, plus two passive radiators.
Overall, it looks very pretty, and would look just fine as an ornament sitting on a side-table, cabinet, or mantlepiece. That’s good news, as Google wants you to have several of these dotted around your home à la Sonos.
Today, Google confirmed that Home would be offer support for Nest, Samsung SmartThings, Philips Hue, and IFTTT. It will also allow you to control your Chromecast with your voice – huzzah! Netflix support is also coming, so you’ll be able to tell Home to play Stranger Things, and it will start streaming on your TV. Just make sure to shout at Philips Hue to turn down the lights first…
Sonos will also be upset to learn that Google Home will work in sync like a multi-room speaker system, so you can play multiple songs in different rooms. There’s also intelligent responding, so if you ask a question and have multiple Home speakers, only one device – the one that hears you best – will respond.
