Rick back on stage. "We're taking an end to end approach to consumer technology."
I guess... I feel a dreamlike sense of wonder?
This is the least dour, most chipper Terrence Malick video ever.
Now a short film shot on Pixel 3 by Terence Malick.
$799 -- I was hoping it would be cheaper tbh, but it's not out of bounds. I wonder what the fully specced-out XL costs.
Pixel 3 preorder now, $799, Verizon on October 18th and unlocked on Project Fi. Stand is $79.
(because that would be silly, there's no reason Google can't offer these features for any .... lol jk, it works with "any Chi compatible device."
It can also be a photo frame.
It turns into an alarm clock and baby Google Home, basically.
So my question with the Pixel stand: will it let you do all these stand-features like a gentle alarm work with any wireless charger or just with Google's custom stand?
"Pixel Stand isn't just a charger, it changes the UI of the entire phone."
Pixel Stand, "the smartest wireless charger ever."
Titan Security Chip, which seems to be a theme.
There's Titan security again.
Flip to Shhh feature turns on do not disturb when you flip it over. This is a classic HTC feature, good to see it here.
"This all happens on device," an important point. It would not be great to have Google logging calls on its servers.
"This all happens on device, powered by Google AI." Arrives on Pixel 3 today, comes to entire Pixel family next month.
Wowww. A "screen call" button that answers for you with a robot, and you can watch the conversation happen. That is wild!
Pixel phones can now screen calls for you. Phone will answer for you and ask who is calling and why. Transcription appears in real time on your screen. That is super cool.
Pixel phones will get the new Duplex feature that can call a restaurant for you when it arrives city-by-city next month.
Okay yay, better autofocus in video. I was waiting for that.
"I'm sure you don't want to sit through a two-hour keynote." More shade at Apple as they run through more camera features quickly.
You can point Lens at sunglasses and shoes to find them online and find similar styles.
Back to the camera: Google Lens now integrated directly into the camera. Lens works instantly in the camera and doesn't need data connection for many things. Possible because of Pixel Core.
(I hope Google doesn't forget to talk about video improvements. Especially microphone quality.)
Okay, Google landed Childish Gambino AR stickers.
This is the part where they show us AR stuff and AR partnerships with Marvel. It's also the part where I check Twitter for jokes.
More branded camera features! "Playground" for AR stickers. Everything gets a brand. I'm shocked they didn't put one on those group selfies.
It works with an on-screen slider -- you just zoom out.
Huh, you actually have to zoom out to use this mode.
184 percent more of the scene than iPhone XS.
That was the most hype I've ever seen for a wide angle lens.
It's called "Group Selfie Cam."
Talking about the wide angle selfie cam now -- cute video of bad selfies.
Night Sight is so bright it looks... unreal? I might want to have a slider to adjust it, maybe. Also, it's not launching with the phone right away?
Night Sight makes Pixel the best low light camera. Coming to Pixel 3 next month... and other Pixel phones! Neat.
Google is also very much unafraid to put its low light photo up against the iPhone XS and name it.
New feature called Night Sight. "Night Sight works so well, you'll never use you're flash again." Comparing to iPhone XS, which, of course, it beats easily.
Top Shot. Super Res Zoom. Night Sight. Google is really going in on a bunch of branded camera features.
"Phone cameras have terrible zoom." yes they do -- that's why a lot of them have a second telephoto lens. Google's new zoom algo had better be super good to justify saying they don't need one.
Zoom now uses burst photos and merges them to create extra resolution.
"Top Shot automatically captures alternate shots in HDR+." You can pick the one you want.
I will say that Google is not hiding the notch as much as I expected in some of these images on-screen.
"Pixel 3's camera is smart enough to know a great photo when it sees it."
Looks like it buffers constantly and selects the best frame for you. Neat!
Honestly, all these ugly "I don't know how to smile for the camera" faces are me. It me. I can't smile.
Top Shot -- as rumored -- a way to slide to get the shot you actually want. Starting with a fun montage of bad photos and missed shots.
New feature called Top Shot that picks the best photo for you. Cute video of bad photos playing now.
Now talking about HDR+ and the Pixel Visual Core chip inside the phone.
"We're still the only ones to use this method" of HDR+. Hmmmm, I wonder how they distinguish their method from Apple's to justify that claim.
This was controversial, of course: https://wwd.com/business-news/media/google-said-partnering-with-conde-nast-for-november-covers-1202788159/
Google gave Conde Nast Pixel 3s to shoot magazine covers in November. Allure, Bon Appetit, GQ, W, Conde Nast Traveler, Architectural Digest, and Glamour all shot on Pixel 3, on newsstands this week.
Shooting magazine covers with a phone is cool. But also a lot of lights and rigs for these shoots.
New partnership with Annie Leibovitz. She's using PIxel 3 to take photos around the country.
Okay, so YouTube Music for six months. But HONESTLY. One device gets YouTube Premium. Another gets YouTube TV. A third gets YouTube Music. It's almost like you have a CONFUSING VIDEO STREAMING LINEUP here YouTube.
Camera time!
New YouTube Music streaming experience, free for six months to Pixel 3 owners.
40% louder speakers makes me happy, as loud as Pixel 2 got but it was a little blown out at max volume.
Both phones have better screen-to-body ratio. Front-firing speakers with custom sound profile.
Notch confirmed.
Pixel 3 XL goes edge-to-edge. Flexible OLED with adaptive color profile.
You know what? Call it pink. Don't be shy. Calling it "not pink" is winky in just the wrong way.
5.5-inch Pixel 3 and 6.3-inch Pixel 3 XL.
Matte finish on the glass back is "the first of its kind" somehow? Apparently, because it's a single piece of glass. But I get nervous about matte finish; they can be slippery!
Three colors: black, white, not-pink.
Matte finish on the all-glass black. A new etching process y'all.
"It's a phone that can answer itself, a camera that won't miss a shot, and a whole new experience while it's charging."
Liza Ma and Brian Rakowski onstage now. Liza: "Finally, it's time to talk about the phone!"
The big question on $599 is what the processor will be.
You know what I didn't hear (besides the mention of a headphone jack)? Any mention of an LTE option. I get it, but also I has a sad. I love LTE versions.
That's a lot but not a lot if you think the competition is the iPad Pro or a reasonable laptop!
Pixel Slate: $599, Keyboard $199, Pen $99. All available "later this year."
$199 is not cheap for a keyboard!
"Full desktop Chrome browser." I mean this is The Thing for this device.
Talking about all the apps in the Play Store. New version of Adobe Acrobat for Chrome OS and Pixel Slate.
Damnit, Nilay.
Hey Dieter, Google just released a Foleo.
Infinitely adjustable hinge via that little flap, which they are calling "the folio."
Ha, "hushed keys," little shade thrown at "clackety keyboard" on the Mac.
Full-sized backlit keyboard with round (?) keys.
There's a keyboard connector and a custom keyboard called, uh, Pixel Slate keyboard. The keys are round. Like circle round.
Pixel Slate keyboard. Connects via bottom connector, holds screen up with a little flap.
Titan security chip -- told you we'd see more of this! This is Google's version of "Secure Enclave," I guess.
Power button is a fingerprint sensor.
Talking security now: built-in virus protection, automatic updates, Titan security chip.
The new Google Assistant interface is bigger than it was on Pixelbook. Hopefully, it's also way faster because it's been Dog Slow for me on Pixelbook.
"Google Assistant is even more deeply integrated into Chrome OS." Little bar at the bottom of the UI.
New launcher has machine learning to suggest apps you need at the top.
The UI now defaults to a Big Grid Of Apps home screen. Which is fine but also, sigh. I would love to see that get pushed forward a little more.
"It's a Chrome OS experience that's meant to be held in your hands."
Front cam is "perfect for video chat." Wide-angle lens and bigger sensor for better low light.
Do you want Portrait Mode on your tablet camera?
Three months of YouTube TV with purchase. I would like to know why that's coming to Slate and Pixelbook and NOT Google Home Hub. Because... that's what I think they should have done, to make it a kitchen TV.
Both cameras on Pixel Slate have machine learning and portrait mode.
Three months of YouTube TV free with Slate and Pixelbook. Google leaning hard on owning these key services.
Front-firing speakers are the best kind of speakers.
Low Temperature Polycrystalline Silicon. LTPS. It's LCD tech that hasn't been used much. IDK about electrons moving "100 times faster," though. That's a weird spec to tout.
Speakers on the side deliver "surprisingly big sound."
Talking about the custom display of the Slate: low-temperature polysomthing LCD. Basically, faster response times and brighter colors.
Google is doing a "Filmmakers react" video. But it's just a gauzy voiceover of filmmakers talking about how much they like the screen. I wish they had done a PROPER YouTube-style react video.
It's a computer, trying to make you buy new headphones.
Where... where is the headphone jack.
293ppi display.
Hey uh, I don't see a 3.5mm headphone jack. Nilay, please don't throw your laptop at the stage.
Talking about design now. Third callout of "rounded edges" at this event. Google: loves rounded edges.
"Or a tablet that's really a phone pretending to be a computer." If that's an iPad burn, it's a little out of date. But still, respect the attempt.
"Google Pixel Slate is a completely new experience. It isn't a laptop trying to be a tablet, or a phone trying to be a computer." Lots of shade there!
The Pixel Slate looks like a huge, squarish Pixel phone, right on down to the dual speakers flanking the screen.
Trond Wuellner to talk about Pixel Slate.
Pixel Slate time!
People love the Pixelbook, says Rick.
"Last year, Chrome OS took a big step forward with the introduction of apps from the Play Store and helpfulness from Google Assistant."
Going through the history of Chrome OS. "Chrome OS brings together the best of Google: search, AI, and apps and services all in one place."
More history lessons with Rick Osterloh. Built search for speed. Built Chrome for speed. Built Chrome OS for speed (and security).
Rick Osterloh back onstage. To talk about... web browsers.
Google, the web company that sells a kitchen appliance without a web browser.
Honestly, pulling the camera and setting the price low AND including six months of YouTube Premium all add up to Google wanting to make this the Default Google Home (after the Mini, anyway).
I guess this is the year we all buy tiny proprietary computers with locked-down ecosystems for our kitchens.
$149 is a pretty good price for this, I think? It's super competitive with the Echo Show for sure.
$149 is a hell of a price.
Google Home Hub: $149. Preorder today online, retail on October 22nd.
Google Photos and Hub use machine learning to filter out bad photos, blurry photos, and weird shots of receipts and things. Neat.
I never update my albums anymore, so this is a thing I would actually use... or I would if I could convince my family to switch over to Google Photos instead of iCloud photo sharing. The sense of privacy in Apple's photo sharing is very real.
New feature called Live Albums. Just pick some people, and Google will automatically create albums with every photo of those people.
Google Photos is up to 1.2 billion photos uploaded per day. That is a lot.
"We designed Hub to be the world's best photo frame ... we do this with deep integration with Google Photos."
"Many people have connected devices in their homes, and they don't even know it." ... This does not make me feel better!
Hub can show you Nest doorbell video feeds. This is all pretty much the same territory as the Echo Show, although the interface looks much nicer.
It will be part of the Google Home app.
"It's not all in one place for the very first time," Diya says, as millions of Crestron and Control4 owners scream out as they vanish into a puff of smoke.
This is a place where Apple's Home App is significantly better than what's been available on Android. I dearly hope that it's not exclusively available to the Google Home Hub. Give me a better app.... Yep! It's like they are hearing my thoughts. It's coming to phone, too.
"Home View was designed to be super easy and intuitive to use."
Hub has Home View, which is a dashboard for every smart home gadget.
Google is talking about controlling smart home devices. DEAR GOD, I hope it fixes its interface for this because it's been a disaster to date on both home and Google Displays. Yep: home view.
Diya back onstage. "We want to build a thoughtful home for our users. It's easy to set up and manage your devices."
This is soon not going to be a competitive advantage but stiil, yep:
Hub also has parental settings to block explicit lyrics in music.
Hub has "downtime mode" that prevents it from interacting with anyone, apart from alarms.
Six months of YouTube Premium is not a small flex.
Hub comes with six months of YouTube Premium through December.
Google should have just had somebody come onstage and say "ours works with YouTube" and drop a mic and leave.
Google, of course, blocks Amazon from a proper YouTube integration on the Echo Show, so, yeah.
"The YouTube experience has been optimized so I have access to a ton of how-to videos with just my voice."
There's a "clean out my fridge" button. I will hit that button and then tell it I have half a stick of butter and some olives and see if it just shows a crying emoji.
"Hub gives me access to a huge library of recipes, including some great dishes from Tasty."
"Google Home Hub is the best display made for the kitchen."
Mark says "Good morning," and it spits out his schedule, the weather, and to-dos.
(Including me, a nerd)
Somebody onstage says "Hey Google" and a hundred nerds check their pockets to see if their phones got set off.
Mark Spates coming onstage to demo Hub.
I'm still stuck on the fact that Google chose not to put a camera on this thing. Everybody else (Facebook Portal! Echo Show!) has been leaning hard into these things having a video chat feature.
"We also wanted Hub to be a communal device." Hub can recognize who is speaking to it and provide a personalized experience for every user. 85 percent of Google Home users using voice match already.
Screen automatically turns off at night.
No camera! Interesting move! I am definitely more likely to put this in my bedroom, assuming it has a good night mode.
New feature called Ambient EQ: dedicated sensor and imaging also that fine-tunes color and brightness of the display.
"We also consciously did not put a camera on the Hub so that is comfortable to use in private spaces like the bedroom."
The Home Hub really does look like a little tablet leaning on a speaker.
Four colors to complement any room.
"We obsessed about what a display designed specifically for your home should do. We spent countless hours on the design of the Hub."
It's sort of remarkable how high-level this presentation has been so far. This is the opposite of a spec rundown.
"Now imagine not just hearing a response, but being able to see a response. That is the power of Google Home Hub." Maps, search, and Photos have all been redesigned for Hub.
"The number of queries to Google Home has gone up 400 percent in the past year."
Diya Jolly coming out to talk about the smart home.
"Nest defined the thoughtful home with the Nest Learning Thermostat, which is the #1 product in its space." Talking about the rest of Nest's products.
Hey, look at that. Google is finally starting to talk about a "shared vision" with Nest. Better late than never, but it's hard not to think about there being a lost couple of years there, years Amazon definitely took advantage of.
"You might have heard we're bringing together Google and Nest. The right way to do this is to start with the basics. The smart home in 2018 is too complex."
Talking about other products: Google Home Mini and Google Wifi. None of these are getting updates, though.
"It will eventually be invisible, the design challenge is to make that transition natural and inevitable. Our job is to figure out what it means to hold Google in your hand."
"As technology progresses, it needs to be closer to us. Soft circles and curves evoke something natural and familiar."
Doing a design video is an Apple move, but Ivy Ross is a LOT less pretentious than Jony Ive.
Design language for Google is bold and optimistic, human in forms and shapes.
Video with Ivy Ross now. "Aesthetics is about igniting our senses."
"Over the past year, Made by Google products have won more than 45 of the industry's top awards."
Shout out to Ivy Ross "and her wonderful design team." Bring her onstage, Rick!
"This year's new devices fit perfectly with the rest of the family." Shouting out Ivy Ross and the rest of Google's designers, who cheer.
So I guess they're going to talk about all these things sort of jumbled up instead of one by one now. Starting with design.
Ha the image of the Pixel 3 on-screen has a dark background to obscure the notch. Everyone always hides the notches!
Now the devices are going away. That was hilarious.
Pixel 3. Pixel Slate. Google Home Hub. They're even bringing stuff up in real time onstage. This is a very weird way to introduce products! No context, no nothing. I guess they figured they had all leaked anyway?
"If you break them, you have to buy them," says Rick.
The products are rising up from pedestals in the middle of the room. We have 30 seconds to grab quick photos.
"And for life at home: introducing Google Home Hub."
Well, Osterloh is just announcing everything. Pixel 3. Pixel Slate. Just announcing stuff right at the top is quite a move.
"And for life at work and at play, we're bringing the power and productivity of a desktop to a tablet." Pixel Slate!
New products time. "We designed the world's best camera and put it in the world's most helpful phone." Pixel 3!
Shoutout to The Verge's Pixelbook review on the screen there. We... liked the PIxelbook.
A lot of this stuff Osterloh is talking about is sort of flowing by -- the goal is to pin these features to specific things, and instead, they're just sort of out there. All these are good features, but it's hard to wrap your arms around these ideas if they're not attached to something more tangible.
Google Home daily active users have grown 5x year over year. No hard numbers, though.
"We feel a deep responsibility to provide a helpful, personal Google experience, and help them with their digital wellbeing."
Third: Digital Wellbeing. App limits and parental controls.
Titan combined across data center and device provides a "closed loop" of security. "We know people want to hear more about this, and you'll be hearing more throughout the day." Reference to that G+ breach there.
Google is really leaning into this "Titan" brand for its security stuff. I think we're going to see it everywhere soon.
Second: "We're committed to the security of our users." Talking about Google Play Protect and Titan Security. New dedicated chip for Titan Security that secures lock screen and disk encryption.
Three ways this plays out: Google can organize your own information. "Google Assistant is the best expression of this."
"When we think about artificial intelligence in the consumer context, it isn't artificial at all ... our guiding principle here is the same as its been for 20 years: to respect our users."
"Our deep investment in AI is an opportunity to go forward in many areas at once. The big breakthroughs you'll see are not in hardware alone." AI, software, and hardware working together.
I do not know if I buy the idea that you can draw a "direct line" from Google image search to the Pixel camera's image quality, but I will buy an indirect line.
"We've invented a new type of camera and put it on a fleet of cars to build a map of the world.... when we see the opportunity to help people, we go the extra mile."
It's interesting that Google is starting with lots of software features as a way into hardware. Stuff like Smart Compose in Gmail. As Nilay just mentioned, it's definitely how it wants to have a conversation about its software instead of talking about data (and, ahem, G+).
"We're getting better at recognizing objects and faces and even concepts within a scene."
"Many of you in this room say last year's Pixel 2 still takes the best photos even after a year with so many amazing phones."
"These incredible technologies you'll hear about today are built on this 20-year history of making information more accessible."
Osterloh going through Smart Compose in Gmail, real-time translation. "Smart compose is saving people a billion characters a week of typing each week."
(I would argue that this is really the heart of the Google / Facebook difference when it comes to data breaches like the G+ breach that just hit: Google provides actual utility to people, and the company knows it.)
Osterloh's little monologue about delivering information and making "life easier for people" is storytime. He's going to do some looks at various Google technologies. (e.g., translation).
"We love working on really hard problems that make life easier for people in big and small ways. We're constantly working to shave as many milliseconds as possible off of our search times."
The front row here is all sales associates from Verizon and Telus.
Rick Osterloh is onstage now. "Good morning, everyone! You're going to hear a lot more about help today."
It's just a ton of little Google features. Which, okay. Google has also packed the room with people to cheer.
It's focused on Google Assistant stuff — and search and AI a little.
Now a fun video of Assistant set to "Help" by the Beatles.
Self-own.
Starting with a supercut of YouTubers saying they know everything about the Pixel 3. Cute.
Ah, the screens are closing in like barn doors. Pretty cool.
And the two screens are MERGING TOGETHER in the middle of the stage.
Here we go! Starting with a little video animating the Google colors.
T-minus 2 minutes.
I did it
just for you.
I am going to stand up
hey everybody watching the live stream....
High Horse by Kacey Musgraves. Another good song for a slideshow.
Music now Sunny Duet by Noname followed by 2018’s hottest tech company jam, Stir Fry by Migos.
Music is now Navajo by Masego. A real sunset jam.
Anyway I am very excited to get a new phone. Because lol.
Google definitely going for that Banana Republic vibe, music-wise.
(Btw having a Pixel 2 for these pre-liveblog hangs is the best because it just tells you the music on the lock screen and you don't have to hit that Shazam button. the_more_you_know_dot_gif)
I realize none of this screen talk matters because only the couple hundred people in the room will ever see them but it’s so interesting to me how these companies try to solve the problem of showing off cameras and phone screens that look wildly better than any screen this size.
Music right now is Wildfire, by SBTRKT. It is chill.
The screens are not projectors, by the way - they are giant LCD panels. Still not doing these photos any favors - they look pretty gritty and the colors are banding.
They are.
While you wait, catch up on how Google chose not to disclose a security vulnerability to Google+ users.
A quick scan of these IG accounts seems to indicate that we're looking at Pixel 3 photos, since none of these photos are on those accounts right now.
As you can see, it's pretty small venue!
Here's one of the accounts they're posting photos from https://www.instagram.com/s.ilver/ ... Here's another https://www.instagram.com/kennethbedwards/ ...here's another https://www.instagram.com/black_soap/
One thing that hasn't kept up with the pace of improvement in phones: the projectors used at these events. Even in its own theater, Apple can't really show HDR and other screen improvements, and whatever has Google installed here is not doing these photos any favors.
The screens are just rotating through Pixel photos. Presumably Pixel 2 photos but who knows!
Look at our adorable trio on their first day of school.
Google is showing us #teampixel photos on the screens right now. Pretty clear we're going to hear a lot about the camera here.
We've seen custom sweatshirts with cartoon people taking group selfies and cartoon people using a tablet.
I don't know why the staff is wearing overalls but I am here for it.
Hi there, you're a little early. The event will kick off at 11AM ET on Tuesday, October 9th. In the meantime, here's Jake Kastrenakes with the nine things we're expecting from the event and a rundown of the most credible Pixel 3 rumors.
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