There were way too many things announced during Google’s event a few days ago. There were way too many announcements made on that day – so much that Google left out some details too. Here’s a quick summary and highlights of what the event was about.
Google Pixel & Pixel XL
We’ve heard about it way too much for the past few days. It’s Google’s latest and greatest smartphone yet, and potentially a farewell to the entire Nexus family. It’s expensive. The prices in the US for both Pixel and Pixel XL is identical to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Just imagine how much it’ll be when grey imports and scalpers start selling the Pixel/XL here.
The Pixel and Pixel XL comes a total of 3 colours – Really Blue, Quite Black, and Very Silver. I suppose we all know the specs right now too – with the only difference between each other being the battery capacity, screen size, and resolution.
| Category | Google Pixel | Google Pixel XL |
|---|---|---|
| Operating System | Android 7.1 with Google UI | Android 7.1 with Google UI |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 |
| RAM | 4GB | 4GB |
| Display | 5-inch AMOLED 1920×1080 | 5.5-inch AMOLED 2560×1440 |
| Rear Camera | 12MP f/2.0 1.55-micron pixels PDAF |
12MP f/2.0 1.55-micron pixels PDAF |
| Front camera | 8MP | 8MP |
| Battery | 2,770mAh non-removable | 3,450mAh non-removable |
| Charging | Fast charging | Fast charging |
| Connectivity | USB Type-C, Bluetooth 4.2 | USB Type-C, Bluetooth 4.2 |
| Fingerprint sensor | Yes | Yes |
| Storage | 32GB/128GB | 32GB/128GB |
| IP rating | IP53 | IP53 |
| Colors | Quite Black, Very Silver, Really Blue | Quite Black, Very Silver, Really Blue |
| Price | $649 | $769 |
Now, what Google didn’t explicitly mention is that there are features on the Pixel that’s not coming to any other Android smartphones – essentially making these features proprietary. Some of the features that will be proprietary are listed here by Android Police.
Pixel product-specific
- Pixel Launcher – swipe up for all apps, new Search Box, date/weather header on home
- Google Assistant
- Unlimited original quality photo/video backup to Google Photos
- Smart Storage – when storage is full, automatically removes old backed up photos/videos
- Phone/Chat support (new support tab in settings), screen-share functionality
- Quick switch adapter for wired setup from Android or iPhone
- Pixel Camera:
- Electronic Image Stabilization (“video stabilization”) 2.0
- Pro Features
- White Balance Presets
- Exposure Compensation
- AE/AF Locking
- Viewfinder grid modes
- HW-accelerated (on Qualcomm Hexagon coprocessor) HDR+ image processing
- Smartburst
- Sensor Hub processor with tightly integrated sensors (accel, gyro, mag) + connectivity (Wi-Fi, Cell, GPS)
- Cosmetic
- Solid navbar icons with home affordance for Assistant
- SysUI accent color theming
- Wallpaper picker with new wallpapers and sounds
- New setup look and feel
- Dynamic calendar date icon
So should I be worried? Should you be worried, being a Nexus Pixel fan? I think it’s a solid yes, Google’s direction with Pixel is entirely not open-source. I mean some of them are expected to be Pixel-exclusive, like the Phone/Chat support and also unlimited Google Photos storage.
Google Assistant however got a very different treatment. It will be a Pixel-exclusive feature for now, and Google spokesperson highlighted that it will be a slowly released for other Android users as well.
Our goal is to make the Google Assistant widely available to users, and we’ll continue to launch new surfaces over the course of the next year.
That means we’re stuck in a limbo state for now – there’s Google Assistant and also Google Now co-existing at the same time.
I understand that Google needs to give their own device some exclusivity, but there are just a few things that I don’t think should be Pixel-exclusive. Also, this means that the full AOSP build for Android 7.1 Nougat would be hella different compared to Pixel’s own build.
Will Google ever upload the Pixel’s stock images? If they do, developers can technically reverse engineer the whole thing and bring all of the exclusive features to other custom ROMs.
Either way, a change is coming to Android, and the future looks like haywire.
Google Home
Probably not for us here in Malaysia, but worth a mention. If you know what the Amazon Echo is, then you’ll be very familiar with the Google Home. It’s technically Google’s answer to the Echo.
For us here in Malaysia, I think the Home can be dismissed for now. I mean, even Google Now can’t be used fully here in Malaysia yet. Many features just aren’t fully utilized – like asking Google “what song is this?” and it tells me that this feature isn’t available in Malaysia yet.
Chromecast Ultra
This is one of the most exciting news so far. It’s Google’s latest upgrade to their streaming Chromecast, with support for 4K now. That’s pretty much it. ¯(ツ)/¯
Do you need it? Probably not right now. Malaysian internet is still pretty bad for 4K streaming in my opinion.
Google VR: Daydream
Ah, virtual reality. It’s pretty common to see phones with VR compatibility these days. Samsung has their own proprietary platform called the Gear VR, Oculus and HTC/Valve both have their own VR hardware too. Google however, is staying true to their Cardboard platform. However, the latest Daydream VR “headset” is obviously much more expensive than the Cardboard, since it comes with one simple controller too.
There might be a lot of grey imports of the Daydream soon, so stay tuned for that.
Google WiFi
Last year, Google suddenly released their own Google OnHub router. That was a surprising step forward for Google towards their goal for smarthomes, but they didn’t stop there. This year, Google released another router – this time it’s creatively called Google Wifi.
I personally like this idea a lot. You can get one of these routers for $129, or get a total of 3 in a pack for $300. The idea behind getting 3 of them is for houses with bad WiFi signals throughout the premise where you’ll need a repeater to fix the internet. With a pack of 3, it seems like these routers can work together through WDS.
I myself have a total of 4 different routers – 3 different types, and two of them are D-Link DIR-615 routers from TM Net themselves. You can flash DD-WRT on them to convert it to a repeater, but that’s a hassle and quite difficult to maintain.
If the Google Wifi routers is available in Malaysia, then it surely is a compelling option for those who are just too tired of setting up internet connections.
Wrap up
So what do you think of the entire event? Are you interested in anything at all? I personally think the Pixel is too expensive, and for Google to create an ecosystem of their own feels like a betrayal to Nexus fans. I would like to give the Daydream VR a try, and also to own the Google Wifi myself. As for the Chromecast Ultra though… I can’t say much about that.
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