At its annual hardware event in New York yesterday, Google lifted the lid on a host of new hardware, as well as some new software smarts.
Here’s a quick recap of everything announced at the 2019 Made by Google event.
Pixel 4
Pretty much as expected, Google unveiled a duo of new smartphones, and the successors to last year’s devices. The Pixel 4 and Pixel 4XL feature notable upgrades such as gesture recognition and dual rear cameras.
As with most new flagship smartphones, the camera plays a pivotal part in the new Pixel 4 lineup, with Google even going so far as to having a not-so-subtle dig at Apple on the subject of computational photography. “It’s not mad science,” noted Google researcher and Stanford professor emeritus Marc Levoy, in response to a comment made by an Apple executive last month.
It’s also worth highlighting one particularly cool new feature that will be exclusive to these Pixel phones at first. A built-in voice recording app will be capable of transcribing audio (such as interviews) in real-time — completely offline.
The new Recorder app uses speech recognition and AI to transcribe lectures, meetings, interviews and more—and makes them easy for you to find later. (English only right now, with more languages to come.) #madebygoogle pic.twitter.com/fdKRItuS4b
— Google (@Google) October 15, 2019
As an aside, the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL do not support Android’s built-in virtual reality platform Daydream which, effectively, means that Daydream is dead.
The Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL are available in three colors, black, white, and orange. Preorders are already open, starting at $799 and going all the way up to $999 depending on your configuration, with both devices shipping on October 24.
Read more: Google unveils Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL
Pixelbook Go
Google introduced the next-generation of its the Pixelbook, a hybrid laptop-tablet first launched in 2017.
With the Pixelbook Go, Google has ditched the hybrid element of its predecessor, electing to go with a purely laptop-focused design. It also now has an all-metal body, 8th-generation Intel processors, and a screen resolution of up to 4K depending on the model. Google said that it focused more on fixing bugs rather than adding new software features this time around.
Shipping on November 15, the Pixelbook Go will cost between $649 and $1399, depending on the model.
Nest Home Mini
Google introduced a new miniature smart speaker going by the name of Nest Home Mini, which includes a wall mount, improved bass, and a dedicated machine learning chip for local processing.
Costing $49, the Nest Home Mini goes on sale globally from October 22.
Read more:Google debuts Nest Mini
Nest Wifi Router & Wifi point
Google also launched the next version of its own-brand router, which it first introduced to the market back in 2016.
The Nest Wifi Router is designed to bring smart Wifi to homes. Not only does it come with Google Assistant support itself, but it also has a companion Wifi point device (which also includes a built-in smart speaker) for extending network coverage throughout larger abodes. However, for the avoidance of doubt, the devices don’t support Wi-Fi 6.
In related news, Nest Aware — the company’s app for controlling Nest cameras — will soon have a simpler two-tiered pricing plan, while a new Home Feed for the Google Home app will display events and alerts from all connected devices.
Shipping on November 4, the Nest Wifi router and Point will cost $269 when purchased together, or $349 for a three-pack which includes two Point devices.
Read more: Google unveils Nest Wifi Router and Wifi Point
Pixel Buds
Above: Pixel Buds
Google announced the second-generation of its Pixel Buds, two years after the original set of earbuds were unveiled.
The new-and-improved Pixel Buds feature a dedicated chip for on-device machine learning, and they are no longer attached together by a piece of string. They also now support hands-free Google Assistant access.
Additionally, the earbuds also now use adaptive sound to adjust volume based on the wearer’s environment, meaning that the volume may rise on a noisy train or go down when walking along a quite street.
However, the new Pixel Buds won’t go on sale until spring 2020, at which point they can be bought for $179.
Read more: Pixel Buds with hands-free Google Assistant
Google Assistant
Above: Google Assistant
Google teased a new faster Google Assistant, one that operates in near real-time. It can be used to open apps and execute transcriptions from voice recordings automatically, while it also supports multi-turn dialog to respond to multiple commands or queries.
Read more: Next-gen Google Assistant works in near real time
Google Stadia
We knew it was coming some time in November, but at its largely hardware-focused Made by Google 2019 event, Google announced that its cloud-based gaming service — Google Stadia — will be launching on November 19.
Read more: Google Stadia is launching November 19