Category: Google

Google today announced their new Daydream VR headset.  The $79 headset will be available in November and comes in three, soft fabric color options.  The headset is specifically designed to work with devices that have Google Daydream enabled such as the new Google Pixel lineup.  Google indicates that other Daydream enabled phones are on the way which will work with the headset.

Google designed the headset in software fabrics instead of hard plastics for a more comfortable fit.  They also designed it to work around eyeglasses to give more comfort.  The headset also comes with a controller that has a gyroscope built into it which allows you to point, click and interact within VR environments.

Google Maps has had a nice addition over the last few days which gives you a list of events you have coming up so you can quickly find them in Maps and navigate to them.  The new list is found under My Places in the app.  There you will find a new tap, Upcoming, where you will find events that you have coming up based on things Maps finds in your calendar and in Gmail.  If, for example, you have travel plans or dinner reservation confirmations emailed to your Gmail account, they will now show up in this Upcoming list.  Likewise, if you add an event to your calendar, it too will show up.

Once you have the event in the Upcoming tab, all you can tap on it and it will bring up the event’s location within Google Maps.  From there you can easily navigate to that event.

When the announcement came out a few weeks ago that Google would be holding an event on October 4th, it seems pretty straight forward.  This Google event, it seemed, would bring us a couple of new phones and that would be about it.  However, the much anticipated Pixel and Pixel XL are likely to only be the tip of the iceberg.  The event is shaping up to be huge with announcements across a wide swath of the Google landscape.

While everything to this point is purely rumor, there are strong indicators of what we will see or won’t see.  I’ve put together a list of things we are likely to see in the October 4th event and it is expansive.  Get ready for a really exciting day!

Google Pixel / Google Pixel XL – Probability:  100%

Fundamentally, this event started as a launch event for Google’s new phones, the 5.2″ Pixel and 5.5″ Pixel XL.  Both devices are expected to be launched with the new Pixel Launcher and with

Google Pixel

Android Nougat 7.1, the first maintenance release for the latest version of Android.  As for the details, both devices are expected to be powered by the Snapdragon 820 processor and both will have 4GB of RAM.  Both are expected to have a 12MP main camera, fingerprint scanner and sticking with Nexus tradition, will not have a MicroSD card for storage expansion.  They will however come with 32, 64 or 128GB of Storage.

The devices have been heavily influenced by Google and are built by HTC.  It is also expect that for the first time, Google will have their phones in carrier and retailers.  Pricing is still a bit of a mystery but something around the $450 mark for the Pixel and $650 for the XL (starting price) is likely.

Finally, don’t expect these phones to be available on the 4th.  It will likely be the end of the month before we see them ship if history holds true.  You will however likely be able to pre-order them on or around the 4th.

It is pretty clear with the advent of “OK Google”, Google Assistant and the soon-to-be released Google Home that the Mountain View company wants you using your voice to get information or to give commands to your devices.  All of these voice-enabled apps & services improve all the time and the latest to see big improvements is Google Maps.  You’ve been able to use limited voice commands in Maps but yesterday Google made some back end changes that gave it a slew of new ones.  Now you can use commands like “Mute Voice Guidance” or “Navigate to Starbucks” all by voice without ever having to touch your phone while you are driving.  That’s safer for you, those in your car, and those around you.  Distracted driving leads to serious accidents and deaths each year and these new commands, hopefully, will cut that down some.

Google is preparing in a big way for next Tuesday’s big Google Event.  Not only has there been a huge amount of advertising around the event, the company has already setup their YouTube channel for the event.  That means that you will be able to watch the event live for yourself.  I personally love the fact that they are doing this and making all of their announcements known to everyone.  And, given that it is on YouTube, that means you can watch it on-the-go from the YouTube app on any device.

Google today announced that what has been known as Google for Work has been rebranded as Google Cloud.  The new name encompasses many Google apps, platforms and services into one cloud-centric solution for businesses.

Google Cloud spans every layer. It includes all of Google Cloud Platform; our user facing collaboration and productivity applications — now named G Suite; all of our machine learning

tools and APIs, the enterprise maps APIs; and the Android phones, tablets and Chromebooks that access the cloud. All of this, built for the cloud from the get-go.

Moreover, Google Cloud has been engineered in an enterprise appropriate way, with integrated systems that include guarantees at the service level — all components integrated and meeting the SLA for whatever price point the customer chooses.

The change in name and direction of the solution isn’t just about products.  It is also the backend support that Google will provide to their customers to go through the digital transformation that Google Cloud can offer.  As they put it, “We are in it together”.  Customers won’t have to figure it out on their own and that, especially for smaller businesses, can be a huge relief and cost savings.