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Over the weekend, I posted about the great deal the Google Store is running on the Google Pixelbook.  Now it seems they have put together a great deal on the Google Pixel 2 XL phone too.  Right now at the store you can pick up the flagship Pixel device for regular price but you get $150 in store credit to use later plus a Google Home Mini.  All you have to do is add both the Google Pixel 2 XL and the Home Mini to your cart and the price will be discounted.

While we all know that the Google Pixel 3 lineup is going to be coming later this year, that is no reason not to give the Pixel 2 XL a serious look.  It will be updated to Android R when it is released and you still get free Google Photo storage for two years too.  Oh, and it is a seriously awesome phone.

In what could prove to be the clearest sign yet that the personal assistant race is coming down to two horses, Microsoft appears to be set to allow both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant on the Xbox One.  The news, along with a supporting screenshot, came from the team over at Windows Central and points to users having the option to leverage the personal assistant of their choice on their Xbox One for controlling the device from their phone.

The news of this falls in line with other news that Microsoft is fundamentally shifting Cortana, their digital assistant, away from the consumer market and more toward the productivity side of things and not necessarily a personal assistant.  It appears that Microsoft is conceding to Alexa and Google Assistant.

If you have been waiting to pick up the Google Pixelbook for yourself, now is the time for action.  Right now at the Google Store, you can pick up the entry level Pixelbook powered by the Intel i5 processor for $749.  That is a savings of $150 and represents the lowest price ever for the premium Chromebook.  As you may recall, this entry level model comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

The discount only applies to the entry level Pixelbook and not the i5 with 256GB of storage or the i7 powered version at the Google Store.  To be fair though, having used that entry level model for almost all of 2018, it is more than powerful enough to do anything you would want or need from it.  If you haven’t read my review, you can read it here.

Update – The tablet section of the Android.com site has returned.   Maybe it was a mistake but tablets are still in trouble I suspect.

It what is the clearest indicator yet that Android on tablets is dead, Google has removed Tablets from the menu on the official site for the platform.  Up until yesterday, if you visited Android.com, you would see an option for Tablets where you could get information on the smattering of tablet devices that are out there for purchase.  Now that is gone, with the menu reset to include Phones, Wear, TV, Auto and Enterprise.

While the move isn’t completely shocking, it is more-or-less the official final nail in the coffin for tablet form factors running the platform.