Today, at its annual conference, Google announced a couple of new devices in the form of the Home Hub and the Pixel Slate.
First off, the Google Home Hub is a smart device that aims to help home productivity by blending seamlessly into the home’s ecosystem. It’s billed as a family device and it recognizes and reacts to different people’s voices in unique and tailored ways. The Google Home Hub features a display, but no camera and instead operates based on voice commands.
In the video that Google showed off, they focused heavily on it being a kitchen companion, helping with recipe tips and displaying schedules and alarms for everyday appointments and specific timers. While it is marketed as a voice command hub, the Home Hub also allows users to program downtime, for when they don’t want to be interrupted by notifications or any voice command prompts.
Home Hub also works with other smart devices and lets you control them all from one app. It marks the first time that Google has released a way to manage multiple smart devices and it has the potential to simplify one’s smart home experience. The Home Hub launches on October 22nd and is available to pre-order now for $149.99 USD
As for the Pixel Slate, the device is Google’s attempt at bringing a desktop experience into tablet form, without sacrificing performance. The Pixel Slate has a 293 PPI display and six million pixels overall. It comes complete with dual front speakers that according to Google, deliver “surprisingly big sound,” and make the device a “top tier entertainment experience.”
The Pixel Slate also comes with front and rear facing cameras, with the front one utilizing a wide-angle lens that has excellent low light performance. Internet surfing on the Pixel Slate will not feature mobile sites, and instead, have a full desktop browsing experience.
The Pixel Slate will retail for $599.99 USD when it launches later this year and users can purchase a special keyboard and smart pen for $199.99 USD and $99.99 USD respectively. Users who purchase the Pixel Slate before the end of the year will also receive three months of YouTube TV free of charge.
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