Google took to the state and announced a slew of new gadgets for geeks like us to drool over. In this episode of the Theotek Podcast, we talked about the new Google tools. We had some strong opinions about them so watch below or listen at the bottom of this post.
In all Google announced some phones, a new Chromebook, a few new Google Home devices and other accessories. Here’s the list of the products with links to the Google device store pages for each item.
New Google Products
- Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL Phones – $649 for the smaller Pixel 2 and $849 for the larger Pixel 2 XL
- Google Home Mini – $49
- Google Home Max – $399
- Google Pixelbook Chromebook – $999 for the 128GB drive model with 8GB or RAM and a 7th Gen Intel Core i5; add $200 for 256GB drive and $650 for 512GB and a Core i7 processor; also add $99 for the stylus.
- Google Daydream View VR Goggles – $99 for new version
- Google Clips Camera – $249
- Google Pixel Buds Bluetooth Earbuds – $159
In the podcast we talked about the above products. Most of us agreed that the new Pixel 2 phone looks like a great new edition of the pure Android experience. It has a great camera with nice form factor. The Home Mini voice activated speaker seems like a nice lower price option for those who are heavily invested in the Google ecosystem. The Home Max competes with Apple’s Homepod for a high-end music listening experience that also includes the Google Assistant like the Google Home and Home Mini.
We weren’t as excited about the Pixelbook because of the price. At $999 for the baseline model, that’s a high price for a Chromebook. My Samsung Chromebook Plus looks and feels like a premium Chromebook at less than half the price. However, people who love ChromeOS will love this Chromebook. It seems like a very nice piece of hardware.
We agreed that they announced a coolest new product called Google Pixelbuds. They offer a high-end music listening in Bluetooth form. The wireless earbuds look a little wired but include a great translation feature. You can talk to people speaking another language, like Chinese or Spanish. The Pixel Buds will listen and then translate. If it works like the demo showed, it will make a great option for people who travel or deal with people who speak another language.
