Here’s Everything You Need To Know About The Recent Google Event

During Google’s Made by Google event, the company revealed a ton of new products, including the Google Pixel 4 / Google Pixel 4 XL, Google Pixel Buds and a new Google Home mini, now called the Nest Mini. Here’s everything you need to know.

The Google Pixel 4 and the Google Pixel 4 XL and they both are the first smartphones to feature radar capabilities with Google's Motion Sense. This allows users to use their phones without touching them by sensing through materials and improving the gesture experience. It will know when you are reaching for your phone and can initiate face unlock, it can turn off your screen if you are not near the phone, swipes can skip music for you, and you can even wave your hand to snooze an alarm.

The Google Pixel 4 features 2 cameras and a new telephoto lens. Night Sight can now also be used for taking shots of the night sky. The Pixel 4's new Recorder app also "simultaneously transcribes speech and identifies sounds like music and applause." Google Pixel 4 features 6GB RAM, a 90hz display, and Pixel Neural Core, and Google's custom-built Titan M security chip. Google Pixel 4 will be available for $799 USD and the Google Pixel 4 will be available for $899 USD in three colors: Clearly White, Just Black, and the limited edition Oh So Orange. Both devices are available now.

Google Pixel Buds give its user instant access to Google Assistant and it features translations to foreign languages, Adaptive Sound that will adjust the volume depending on how loud the surroundings are. Google Pixel Buds also pair with Bluetooth 4.0+ laptops, tablets and iOS devices, and feature 5 hours of listening time on a single charge, with "up to 24 hours with the wireless charging case." They are also sweat and water resistant.  Google's wireless Google Pixel Buds will be available in Spring 2020 for $179.99 USD and arrive in four colors: Clearly White, Oh So Orange, Quite Mint, and Almost Black.

The Google Home Mini is now the Nest Mini and features a few upgrades from 2017's Home Mini. The Google Nest Mini has improved sound and bass that's "twice as strong as the original Google Home Mini." The Nest Mini also has LED lights that will only show when your hand gets near to indicate where you need to tap to adjust volume. Nest Mini will also dynamically adjust the volume of Google Assistant depending on background noise and can connect to other Nest speakers to build a whole home audio system. Stream transfer is also available and will allow users to move their music, audiobooks, and/or podcasts with them as they move around the home. The Google Nest Mini features the same design as the Google Home Mini and comes in four colors: Chalk, Charcoal, Coral, and Sky. Google Nest Mini is available now for $49.99 USD.

Google Unveils Their Own Smart Display, Google Home Hub

Google has unveiled the Home Hub, which adds an Assistant-equipped smart speaker with a 7-inch touchscreen display. You can use to both get visual feedback for searches, as well as finding photos and videos. The Home Hub is available for $149 and will ship in the US, UK and Australia on October 22nd.

The Google Home Max Is Coming To Australia

Google's Home Max speaker is coming to Australia. The smart speaker, which boasts sound 20 times more powerful than the standard Google Home, will be available in the country starting August 9. 

Home Max launched in the US in December 2017, and Canada earlier this year - international availability of Google's products is notoriously slow, although the regular Google Home and Home Mini are already available in the Australian Google Store. If you’re in Australian you’ll be able to pick up a Google Home Max for $549 from JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, David Jones, The Good Guys, Officeworks and as previously mentioned The Google Store. 

Walmart Accidentally Leaks Google Home Mini Ahead Of Google Event

Thought it was only up for a few minutes before being pulled, Walmart briefly offered preorders for the Home Mini, a new smartspeaker expected to be officially revealed during the Google announcement on Wednesday (October 4). The hockey puck like speaker is a little over 4 inches wide, with 4 lights on top presumably matching those on the full-sized Home, according to photos and text from the product page by Gizmodo. The device should weigh less than a pound, and cost $49. The device appears to be a direct competitor with Amazon's Echo Dot, which costs $49.99 and likewise serves as a cheaper alternative to a full-size speaker as the regular Google Home costs $129. Thoughts ? Looks like a nice entry point for a Google assistant device. I wonder if it’ll have different features from the regular Google Home ?

Google Assistant Is Coming To More Speakers, Washers, Dryers And More

Back in May Google opened up its AI Assistant's software development kit to third-party smart devices, including blenders, smart locks and web cameras. Now Google has just announced that even more gadgets will be able to integrate Google Assistant. You'll soon see the digital assistant in more speakers, various appliances and home automation systems. Google Assistant is already part of the Google Home smart speaker, now Google is looking to enable it on various other upcoming devices, like Anker's Zolo Mojo, Mobvoi's TicHome Mini and Panasonic's GA10. Google has also announced partnerships with companies like LG for smarter, voice-controlled washers, dryers and vacuums. You'll make your request via an Assistant-enabled speaker or mobile phone and your smart appliance will take it from there. There are also a bunch of home automation systems connecting up with Assistant, including Honeywell, Netatmo and TP-Link. Soon you’ll be asking you Google Assistant to do everything in your home. Thoughts ?

Google Home Now Has Bluetooth Audio

Google has added Bluetooth audio to Google Home, after teasing it back at I/O in May. This is perfect if your app of choice doesn't support Google Cast. Thoughts ?

You Can Now Use Your Google Home To Make Free Calls

Google has announced that its Home smart speaker can now make voice calls. Home users will be able to call anyone in their contacts or any business over Wi-Fi free of charge. To make a call, just use dry ”Hey Google" and the name of the caller. Google Home uses Google Contacts, so if you’re using a different service it won’t work. The feature is rolling out initially in the US and Canada. For now, the person on the other end of your call will see "Unknown" or "No caller ID," but Google says that will be fixed by the end of the year. If you're a Google Voice or Project Fi user, you can choose to display your cell number instead by going into the Assistant settings in the Google Home app. Google announced voice calling for Google Home at its I/O developer conference back in May.

Google Home Is About To Get A Whole Lot Better

During Google’s I/O keynote the company announced that a number of great updates are coming to its smart speaker. First will soon be able to give you proactive notifications, like alerting you to traffic delays ahead of upcoming appointments. Google Home will light up to let you know it has an alert for you, so it thankfully won't just start talking without any prompting. Also, you'll soon be able to see visual responses to your Home queries on all of your devices. So, for example, if you ask for directions somewhere, you'll get that routed straight to your phone. Second, Bluetooth connectivity is coming to Google Home. This means you'll be able to play music and other audio from any device, including those running Android and iOS. Google also revealed that Spotify's free tier will be available on Home. What's more, support for SoundCloud and Deezer is on the way too. Last but most certainly not least, users can make hands-free calls on their Google Home as long as they're to anyone in the US or Canada, they'll be absolutely free. The hub recognizes your voice commands and automatically finds the right number from your contacts but differentiates by your vocal tone, so asking to "call mom" won't accidentally call someone else by mistake. Google Home's feature ostensibly makes standard calls to any phone and will use a private number by default, but users can link it to their personal one. It will roll out to Home devices in the US over the next few months. Thoughts ? I’m a Google Home user and i’m extremely excited about these updates. More specifically using my Google Home to make calls. 

Here’s Everything You Need To Know About Googles Latest Press Event

During Google's press event, the company revealed a number of new devices, including its new smartphone, Pixel. Google is saying that Pixel has the best rated cameras in a smartphone. If you pre-order one now, Google will also throw in its new Daydream View VR headset for free. Pixel is the first smartphone to have Google Assistant part of the device, using voice prompts and a tap of the home button to get information, schedule appointments and more. Google Photo functionality will help free up storage space by automatically syncing pictures to the cloud. The Pixel smartphones is said to have 7 hours of battery life on only a 15-minute quick charge, due to USB-C connectivity. The Pixel will feature a 5-inch display and starts at $649 USD while the 5.5-inch Pixel XL starts at $769. Both are available for pre-order now. 

Next up is The Daydream View VR headset, which is designed to fit smartphones compatible with the company's Daydream VR platform. The Daydream View is covered in a cotton fabric that looks like soft sweatshirt material. According to Google, using the headset is extremely simple, it just requiring you to open a simple hinge and drop in your smartphone. A wireless remote is also packed in, allowing for motion detection for applications and games. The Daydream View VR headset will release in November for $79. 

Google also announced its own home automation/assistant, Google Home. The device is similar to Amazon's Echo, it allows you to access music, weather, and yes even Google searches by voice. Multiple Google home bases can be connected throughout your home for easy voice access and even seamless music in any room. Google Home is available now for $129.

Also announced were the new Google WiFi routers, featuring total coverage for your living space with smart "Network Assist". The routers are available solo for $129, or as a 3 pack for $299. There's even a companion app for easy management.

Last but not least, the Chromecast Ultra with 4K streaming capability will launch in November for $69. Google has added an ethernet port on the device, just in case your wifi can't handle a 4K stream, Google also claims that the Ultra is 1.8X faster than the regular Chromecast. At launch, you'll be able to stream 4K content from Netflix, YouTube, and Vudu. Thoughts on all these new Google products ? Google Wifi seems the most interesting to me.