Taking cues from Apple, Google has finally stepped down to designing its own hardware, but not limiting itself to smartphones only. The company believes it can take full advantage and the capabilities of hardware by using its artificial intelligence and machine learning. Apple has long been designing operating systems for its own hardware. Now Google is doing the same with its Pixel phones running company’s Android system. The Google keynote event at San Francisco on October 4 highlighted a series of new hardware, but the primary focus was on Google’s products rather than the device itself. With the five new devices announced, Google is preparing for its own eco-system and the base controller is Google’s own artificial intelligence — Assistant. Let’s take a quick glance at what Google has to offer.
Pixel, Pixel XL Google announced its much anticipated smartphones, the Nexus successor Pixel (and Pixel XL), in a small event in San Francisco. The company ditched the Nexus branding for the new name Pixel, which will now be manufactured by Google themselves under the tag ‘Made by Google’.
Both Pixels are powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 chipset with 4GB of RAM with a unibody design made from a combination of metal and glass and will be sh-ipped with Google’s latest And-roid version 7.0 Nougat. Google has renamed its Nexus launcher to Pixel Launcher and included Assistant, apart from bringing a slew of new features to the table.
Google claims that the Pixel sports a 12.3MP rear camera and is one of the best ones out there. The came-ra also clubs with Goo-gle Photos to offer users unlimited online storage, for life. As for the hardware specs, the sm-aller Pixel will sport a 5-inch display with a full HD AMOLED panel, 2770mAh battery, 8MP front camera, USB Type-C USB 3.0, single SIM, and 32GB/128GB storage. While the two smartphones are almost identical, the Pixel XL only differs by display with a 5.5-inch qHD (2K) AMOLED display and a larger 3450mAh battery.
The Google Pixel is priced at Rs 57,000 for the 32GB variant, while the 128GB variant will be selling at Rs 66,000. The Pixel XL on the other hand is priced at Rs 67,000 for the 32GB variant and the 128GB variant will be selling for Rs 76,000. The device will be up for pre-orders starting October 13.
Daydream VR Google also unveiled its Daydream View, a Virtual Reality (VR) headset at the event. The VR headset will come with a companion motion controller, a feature missing from other conventional VR headsets till date. The new wireless motion controller for Daydream can fun-ction like a fishing rod, a steering wheel or a pointer to permit more sophisticated VR experiences. Google also plans to share design guidelines with other manufacturers to make Daydream headsets and contro-llers. Daydream View and the controller will be out in November for $79 and will be available in three different colours.
Google Home Google Home is company’s answer to Amazon’s smart home speaker ‘Echo’. Google Home will be able to perform many of the same tasks similar to Amazon’s Echo. However, Home will have Google’s AI Assistant, which can connect and control many of Google’s hardware in the same network. Voice commands from the user can be used to completely control the other hardware, for example, play music, field questions, search for information and control home appliances. Google Home will be available from November, pre-orders have already started. Price starts at $129 with a 6-month free subscription of YouTube Red.
Chromecast Ultra Google announced the next iteration of its media streamer Chromecast, dubbed as the Chromecast Ultra. The new video-streaming Chromecast Ultra will now support 4K resolution videos for larger displays. It will challenge Amazon’s Fire TV, which also supports 4K resolution, but is fairly cheaper than the latter. The Amazon Fire comes at a hefty price of $100, while the Chromecast Ultra is priced at a mere $69.
Google Wi-Fi Google also aims to improve Wi-Fi networks in homes by offering its own home-brewed wireless router — Google Wi-Fi. The company believes that people use the internet differently now, with games, video chatting and more on various devices throughout the entire space of the house. The new routers can beam to a farer distance by clubbing each other’s powers in combination to create a broader range of operation. The new Google Wi-Fi system will cost about $130 for a single unit, while a three-pack option for larger homes will come in at a cheaper cost about $300.
