The most anticipated event held by Google has just got over. Held in New York City Google has launched a slew of devices. The event starts with some unusual videos in the soundtrack of ‘Help’ by the Beatles – well, that’s the hint for things to come, I guess.
Osterloh, Google’s Senior VP of Hardware then takes over the stage to talk about the team’s continued efforts keeping in mind about the future of Smart Compose. The devices launched by Google have undoubtedly marked its way to the users but it seems that Google has tried hard to match its event with the September Event held by Apple. Though the devices launched seemed to fascinate much of the audience but the overall event lacked its charm as in comparison to the Apple event that took place this fall, therefore, lacking to mesmerize its global audience.
While the annual fall hardware event proved to be not quite jam-packed, the company made its announcements big; the long-expected new phones, plus a tablet, laptop, smart home hub.
Let’s now get into the devices. The most anticipated launch of the event, the Pixels were widely and completely leaked before the event, so there were few surprises when it came to Google’s update to last year’s Pixel 2 and its big brother, the Pixel 2 XL. Google’s Pixel 3 smartphones comes in three colors – Clearly White, Just Black, and Which Is Not Pink. As for the top-variant, the company has not yet disclosed the price. However, the base-variant is priced at USD 799 (Approx. Rs 60,000) and will be available on October 18 before Diwali.
The Pixel 3XL retailed in Hong Kong before the official launch sports a 6.3-inch AMOLED display with resolutions of 1440 X 2960 pixels at 522 DPI. The new smartphone comes with the Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 SoC paired with 4GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage option. Also, the device carries a 3,732mAh battery, which supports fast-charging capabilities.
The Pixel set has an all-glass black and will be available in either black, clear white, or so-called not pink (it’s definitely pink) colorways. A six-month free block of YouTube Music will also be thrown in. Both models have a pair of front-facing cameras, wireless charging capabilities, and a new feature via Google Assistant that will assist in your ongoing battle against spam numbers. The fresh phones can also charge by way of the new Google Pixel Stand.
To get its first few feedbacks, the Pixel camera was put to use by seven top magazine photographers, who used the device to capture high-profile covers, including Cardi B’s recent W shoot.
Meanwhile, Hub will have no camera. This is part of Google’s stated purpose of allowing users to use Hub in the more private areas of their daily lives. Basically, it’s a tablet sequel 7-inch display put on a speaker base with a design similar to other Google Home products. “For life at home, we designed a smart display so you can hear and see the info you need, and manage your connected home from a single screen,” Osterloh said. Hub pre-orders start from today for $149.
Another brand-new style followed up by Google is the Pixel Slate. It’s Google’s first Chrome OS tablet, and it’s ready to take the shape of a great competitor to the iPad Pro and Surface Pros of the world. The device supports a fingerprint sensor at the top-left corner when using it in tablet mode, USB-C ports on both sides of the bottom of the device, and it will undoubtedly support both first-party and third-party keyboard accessories.
The base price will be $599 (about £455), and it will be available later this year in the US, UK, and Canada, but no Australian availability was mentioned. The Pixel Slate Keyboard comes in at an absurd $199 (about £150), which is even more expensive than Microsoft’s Surface Type Covers.
There has been a slew of devices launched at the event as was promised. The overall event was conducted by Osterloh making the debuts one after the other. The event might not have been as overstated as expected but the devices are hoped to really pull over the expectation of the users.
