Google Pixel 2 launch event – perhaps the last big smartphone launch of year – has commenced, with Google CEO Sundar Pichai taking the stage. Pichai has started the event by talking about the importance of machine learning and the AI-first world, along with the need to make interaction between AI and humans more natural. Rick Osterloh, Google's hardware lead took the stage after Pichai and started off with a mention of the recent HTC acquisition. He said the distinguishing feature of smartphones in the coming generation will be at a conjunction of software, hardware and AI.
The Google Home Mini, a smaller smart speaker has also been unveiled at the event. It is made almost entirely out of fabric, and can pause or play music with just a tap on the speaker. Priced at $49 in the US, the Google Home Mini will be available for pre-orders tonight and go on sale on October 19. It will be available in Australia, Germany, Japan, the UK, France and Canada as well. To recall, Google Home Mini had been leaked earlier.
Another new product at the Google Pixel 2 launch event was the Google Home Max, with Assistant baked in. The new smart speaker is 20 times more powerful than the original Google Home, and can work with Spotify, YouTube Music, apart from other music services. It has a new feature called Smart Sound that adjusts the sound to where you place the speaker in your home. Google Home Max will launch at $399 and will be released in December in the US, and will come with 12-month YouTube Red membership free.
Google Home is getting a new feature called Voice Match that allows Google Assistant to recognise your voice to provide personalised help to each member of...