Buzz
It’s Google Day! The tech giant revealed a range of fresh devices, including the latest Pixel Buds, the powerful Pixel 4 smartphone, and a refreshed Nest Mini.
Although I couldn’t make it to New York for the event, I caught the livestream. Here’s a rundown of the most important announcements you may have missed.
Rick Osterloh, Google's Senior VP of Devices and Services, opened the event by sharing his thoughts on how amazing it is when all your devices work seamlessly together in your home, helping you every step of the way. He also announced that Stadia, Google’s cloud-gaming platform, will officially launch on November 19. That was the first big announcement!
Introducing the Pixel Buds
Google has teased new earbuds set for release in spring 2020, priced at $179. They feature five hours of battery life on a single charge, and with the included wireless charging case, you can get up to 24 hours. The earbuds are designed to sit nearly flush with your ear, incorporating a hybrid design to enhance bass and a bottom-facing vent to allow ambient sounds to enter.
The Pixel Buds will automatically adjust the volume based on the surrounding noise, while beamforming microphones ensure your voice is clear and easy to hear during calls.
Pixelbook Go
This sleek, 13mm-thin Chrome OS laptop, priced at $649, delivers an impressive 12 hours of battery life and weighs only two pounds. It features ‘ultra-quiet hush keys,’ which are claimed to be quieter than any other Google laptop keyboard, with specs that hold their own for a Chrome OS device.
The 'Just Black' version of the laptop is available for preorder now, while the 'Not Pink' model will be available soon.
Nest Mini
Launching on October 22 for $49, the Nest Mini comes in a new 'Sky' color and features a fresh wall-mountable design. Google claims that the Nest Mini delivers twice the bass of the original Home Mini, offers clearer and more natural sound, and now includes a third microphone to capture your voice better.
The Nest Mini is equipped with a dedicated machine-learning chip, offering 1 TeraOPS of computing power. This means it can process tasks locally, without needing to rely on Google's data centers.
Nest Aware
Regardless of how many devices you own, you can now subscribe to Google’s Nest Aware service with a single monthly fee. Google is also offering two different pricing plans for the service:
Nest Wifi
Introducing 'Nest Wifi' – a system that includes a router to connect to your cable modem, plus a 'wifi point' that extends coverage, creating a new wifi bubble around your home. Google claims 25% more coverage and double the processing speed compared to Google Wifi (note: this refers to processing speed, not wireless speed). The router is a 4x4 MU-MIMO device, which may be overkill for most, and the additional access point is a 2X2 MU-MIMO AC1200 unit.
The Nest Wifi now includes a built-in Google Assistant speaker, which means you can skip buying both a wifi router and a smart speaker. Not bad at all. You can preorder it now, start picking it up on November 4, and the two-pack is priced at $269 (the three-pack will cost $349).
Pixel 4
Here it is: Google has finally revealed the Pixel 4. Let's dive into what makes it stand out. The specs are straightforward: launching on October 24 for $799 ($899 for the XL), available across all carriers and in three colors. Preorders are open today.
Here are the details: The Pixel 4 features a built-in radar sensor, enabling super-fast facial recognition for unlocking your phone. Google calls this 'Motion Sense,' which also lets you control your device using simple gestures. (This is pretty cool.) Everything related to Motion Sense is processed locally on your phone, so none of it gets sent to Google services.
Google has also brought more processing power for Google Assistant directly onto the Pixel 4, which will speed up the interaction between you and the Assistant (no more constant reliance on Google’s data centers to process your commands).
A new 'Recorder' app on the Pixel 4 will offer super-convenient real-time transcription of whatever you’re listening to—perfect for lectures and meetings. You can easily search for specific words or phrases within your recordings, and every instance of that word or phrase is highlighted on the timeline for quick reference. As a journalist, I’d find this feature incredibly useful.
The Pixel 4 boasts an OLED display with a smooth 90Hz refresh rate. This refresh rate dynamically adjusts based on your activity, conserving battery life when high performance isn’t necessary.
In terms of photography, the Pixel 4 is equipped with rear, wide, and telephoto cameras, alongside a 'hyperspectral sensor' and a microphone. However, Google prioritizes the software behind the camera over the hardware itself.
Google enhances zoom capabilities by blending optical and digital zoom for sharper, clearer images. Interestingly, Google suggests zooming in rather than capturing a distant scene and cropping it later—the more you know.
At the event, Google unveiled four notable computational photography enhancements for the Pixel 4:
Live HDR+: Machine learning simulates HDR+ in your viewfinder, giving you a preview of the final shot. Dual Exposure Controls let you fine-tune brightness and shadows as you compose.
White Balancing: AI-driven white balancing is now applied across all photo modes, ensuring more accurate colors, especially in challenging lighting.
Portrait Mode: Machine learning enhances depth mapping, making portrait mode more precise and effective at varying distances and with additional objects.
Night Sight: Improved astrophotography capabilities allow for capturing breathtaking starry skies and other low-light scenes with longer exposures.
