MEET YOUR NEW BEST BUDS
EARPHONES THAT CAN TRANSLATE 40 LANGUAGES AMONG IMPRESSIVE TECH UNVEILED BY SEARCH ENGINE GIANT GOOGLE
CHANGE has been in the air for quite some time at Google. When Sundar Pichai became CEO a couple of years ago, he had a job on his hands in setting the tone for the company’s development from a search engine with sidehustles, to a consumer technology behemoth.
This week we saw another huge step in that direction with the release of a collection of products under the banner Made by Google.
Google says it’s committed to its device-making future, and now sees a world in which its software and hardware work together, with artificial intelligence as the glue, to make Google services “radically helpful”.
Here’s what Google gave us.
THE PIXEL 2
A NEW smartphone, which Google claims has the “best camera of any smartphone”.
It runs Android 8.0 Oreo and is optimised by the Google Assistant, which is invoked by squeezing the side of the phone. The Assistant learns as you use it. The camera is the big news, though, with all kinds of software trickery to help make it impossible for you to take bad photos. Almost.
Another addition is the new Google Lens software, only available on this phone, which allows you to search Google with the camera point it at something, and it’ll use augmented reality to tell you what it is.
It comes in two sizes, 5in and 6in, and two colours, ‘just black’ and ‘black and white’, for the big one, and an additional ‘kinda blue’ colour for the smaller one. It costs from £629 for the 5in, and from £799 for the big one. Order now for delivery this month.
GOOGLE CLIPS
A NEW stand-alone camera wasn’t high on the list of things we were expecting from Google, but nevertheless, Clips is with us.
It’s not just any old camera, though, as you can imagine. It takes the photos and videos for you. Google says you can just clip it somewhere it can see a scene (a party, a family gathering… that kind of thing), and it will use artificial intelligence to monitor the action, and capture anything it thinks you will be interested in. Google Clips is “coming soon” and UK pricing has yet to be announced.
PIXEL BUDS
GOOGLE’S first foray into headphones is an interesting one – they’re bluetooth in-ear buds which Google is pitching on two great features. One is, you guessed it, the ability to interact with the Google Assistant via voice controls, and the other is the neat trick of translating spoken word on the fly between 40 different languages. That’ll be a killer feature if it works.
Pixel Buds will cost £159 and you can sign-up for the waiting list at the Google Store now.
GOOGLE HOME
ADDED to the line-up this year are large and small versions of the Google Home smart AI-powered speaker system.
Google Home Mini is a tiny puck which is designed to bring Google Assistant to more places in your home. There’s the Home Max, too, which packs a much more powerful speaker and is aimed firmly at the music lovers among us.
Google Home Mini costs £49 and ships later this month, while Google Home Max is not available yet and pricing has not been revealed.
PIXEL BOOK
GOOGLE’S new laptop is also a touch-screen tablet, and features access to the Assistant, and there’s also a Pixelbook Pen, so you can draw naturally on the screen.
The Pixelbook costs from £999 and is available for order now, as is the Pixel Pen at £99.
DAYDREAM VIEW
GOOGLE’S redesigned its VR headset (into which you have to slip your phone), and says it’s more comfortable with an ultra-simple set up. It’s certainly the best and most compatible way of turning your Pixel 2 into a smart VR machine. Daydream View costs £99 and will be in shops later this month.
These devices signal Google’s intention to become a hardware and software giant just like Apple. As the companies’ goals continue to align, how they develop and use AI will be a telling factor.