Google wrapped up its annual I/O keynote today led by CEO Sundar Pichai. Pichai talked about the new developments at Google and gave us a glimpse of what’s to come. Here’s a quick recap of what was announced.
Updates to the Google Assistant
Google announced Duplex back at I/O 2018, and it enables the Google Assistant to call businesses and make reservations or appointments for you. Now, Google is bringing it to the web. You’ll soon be able to use it for things like rental car reservations and movie tickets.
A new driving mode for the Assistant was also debuted. When it launches, you’ll be able to just say “Let’s drive” to your Assistant. However, this is another confusing move by Google, in my opinion. They already have Android Auto on phones and this seems to be just a replica with a rebrand.
A super-fast, next-gen version of the Google Assistant will be coming to “new Pixels later this year.” It uses Continued Conversation to provide “nearly zero latency” in queries. The demo showed the ability to jump through several apps and perform various tasks.
Some other smaller updates include Google Lens getting some new interactive features for translations and narrations of text, the Assistant coming to Waze, personal voice commands, and the ability to simply just say ‘stop’ without the ‘Hey Google’ to silence your alarms.
Live Caption
Live Caption is part of Google’s accessibility offerings. What it does, essentially, is provide real-time subtitles for any video or video call, and it works in any app, too. It’s also coming to phone calls to allow the user to read or respond with text to the caller.
https://youtu.be/YL-8Xfx6S5o
Android 10 Q
Android Q Beta 3 dropped today. It now has a fully functioning Dark Theme with a toggle switch. There’s also a new gesture control for navigation that’s very similar to an iPhone. Digital Wellbeing adds a new feature called “Focus Mode.” With Focus Mode, you can manually select which apps to deactivate if the feature is turned on. Family Link is now a part of Settings, so you can manage your child’s phone activity natively. “Suggested actions” brings up some Smart Reply options in notifications; for example, if a friend texts you an address, a Google Maps button will be displayed.
Android Q also brings “Project Mainline.” Mainline will allow Google to release device bug fixes or security updates through the Play Store, without waiting on OEMs or carriers. This is done by “modules” for specific parts of a device.
Nest Hub Max
Lastly, Google ended with some hardware announcements. Google Home and Nest are now being rebranded as Google Nest. The Google Home Hub is also being renamed as the Nest Hub and the price of it is dropping from $149 to $129.
The newly announced Nest Hub Max is basically a larger version of it. The Hub Max is a 10-inch Smart Display with a camera. The camera can even perform facial-recognition for personalized results, however, Google claims that all the processing is done locally and no data is transmitted to the cloud.
It will cost $229 and arrive later this summer.
Pixel 3a
Budget phones are officially here from Google, and it certainly feels like the Nexus days again. The Pixel 3a costs $399 and the 3a XL costs $479, and they’re pretty short on compromises. The 3a’s got the exact same camera as the regular Pixel 3 (minus the Pixel Visual Core Chip). This means you get Night Sight and Portrait Mode, too. However, unlike the flagship Pixels, Google doesn’t give you unlimited original-quality storage in Google Photos—only the high-quality, slightly compressed option.
https://youtu.be/vc7LlUtQgNw
Other features include a headphone jack, Active-Edge squeeze, all-day battery life with fast-charging, the Titan M security chip, stock Android, and 3-years of guaranteed software updates all for half the cost of a flagship.
It’ll come in three different colors—Just Black, Clearly White, and Purple-ish—and offered at major U.S. carriers like Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and U.S. Cellular starting today. It’ll also be sold in 13 other countries.
Below is a quick run-down of the specs:
| Processor | Snapdragon 670 |
| RAM | 4GB |
| Storage | 64GB |
| Display | 3a: 5.6″ 2220×1080 OLED 3a XL: 6.0″ 2160×1080 OLED |
| Battery | 3a: 3,000 mAh 3a XL: 3,700 mAh |
| Connectivity | 2x2MIMO 2.4 & 5GHz Wi-Fi (up to 802.11ac), Bluetooth 5.0 & LE (AptX, AptX HD), NFC |
| Headphone jack | Yes |
| Water and dust resistance | None |
| Camera | 12.2MP rear camera (f/1.8 aperture and OIS/EIS), 8MP front camera (f/2.0 aperture) |
| Software | Android 9 Pie (minimum 3 years of OS updates) |
| Measurements | 3a: 6.0 x 2.8 x 0.3″, 147g 3a XL: 6.3 x 3.0 x 0.3″, 167g |
| Colors | Just Black, Clearly White, Purple-ish |
| Price | 3a: $399 3a XL: $479 |
If you want to watch the event without all the extra fluff, The Verge has a great recap video below:
