IDC: Google shipped 3.9 million Pixels in 2017, Essential Phone sales under 90,000

During its earnings call earlier this month, Google revealed that its device shipments doubled in 2017 compared to 2016, but as usual the company didn't give us any hard numbers. Thankfully, that hasn't stopped IDC, one of the big analyst houses, from releasing its estimates.

According to Francisco Jeronimo, IDC's Research Director, Google shipped 3.9 million Pixels last year. The analyst also confirms Google's own report saying that shipments have indeed doubled.

That said, Google is still very far from being anywhere near a market leader in this regard. Given that its distribution strategy for the Pixels blatantly ignores most of the world, we'd say the company is adamant about taking things slow in this hardware project.

Compared to Essential Phone shipments, Google's seem huge, however. Andy Rubin's name recognition can only apparently take you as far as 88,000 units shipped in 2017, according to the same source.

That's definitely nothing worth celebrating, but it helps to remember that Essential is basically a startup in this world and the PH-1 was its first product. Not only that, but it had its fair share of issues, which surely didn't help in the sales department. Hopefully its next effort will do better than this, though. Otherwise we're not sure Essential is going to be around in a few years.

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Android Pistachio Ice Cream to embrace the notch, integrate Assistant even more

This year's Android update is reportedly codenamed Pistachio Ice Cream internally, though Google may choose to go with another moniker when it launches. Android P is expected to better accommodate handsets with an iPhone X-like notch at the top of the display, according to "people familiar with the situation".

Google Assistant will be even more integrated into the OS and emphasized by it, as developers will be able to use it inside of their apps. The Google search bar widget may also finally integrate with the Assistant, but apparently these two features are so complicated to implement that they aren't finalized for introduction this year.

The notch that started it all

Android P should come with further improvements to battery life, and support new smartphone designs, like multiple screens and foldable displays. This is interesting because it means Samsung may finally out the much-rumored Galaxy X with a foldable screen by the end of the year.

The report goes on to claim that one of Google's key goals this year is "to persuade more iPhone users to switch to Android devices by improving the look of the software". We're going to assume this refers to the Pixel line, because the software on Samsung and Huawei phones looks pretty different from Google's vision, so it's likely that any such improvements won't make the jump anyway.

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Get $200 off a Pixel 2 XL for Verizon from Best Buy

There’s a new deal for those looking to get a new Pixel 2 or Pixel 2 XL. If you’re looking at Verizon, you should head over to Best Buy to take advantage of the following deal.

Save $200 when you purchase a Google Pixel 2 XL on Best Buy’s website with a monthly installment plan on Verizon. You can also save $100 if you purchase the smaller Pixel 2.

The 64GB Pixel 2 normally goes for $27.08 per month. With the $100 off, the payment goes down to $22.91. Meanwhile, the Pixel 2 XL with 64GB of storage normally goes for $35.41 per month, down to $27.07 per month after the discount.

The discount applies to either storage configuration of the Google Pixel 2 or Pixel 2 XL. Just so you know, this deal is only valid at Best Buy in-store or online when you purchase and activate a Pixel 2 on Verizon with an installment plan to pay it off, you won’t be able to buy it in full.

Offers like these are normally for a limited time and the deal can be called off at the retailer’s discretion. Even with the first Google Pixel (XL) last year, Verizon always offered discounts throughout the year. Chances are if you miss this deal, there will likely be a new one rolling around soon enough.

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Google doubles its devices shipment in 2017, revenue goes up 38%

The parent company of Google, Alphabet, posted Q4 2017 and fiscal year 2017 results. The report said the 2017 revenues were $110.9 billion, which is a 23% increase year over year. The October-December period accounted for $32.3 billion, $4.69 billion of them coming from Google other revenues that include Pixel phones and Play Store sales.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, while not disclosing any numbers, said in its earnings call that shipments of devices doubled in 2017, including “tens of millions” Chromecast, Chromebook and Google Home speakers.

Other revenue category posted 38% increase in Q4 on a yearly basis. Back in October-December 2016, Google snatched $3.40 billion from hardware and app-related sales.

Aside from the earnings announcement, Alphabet introduced John L. Hennessy as the new Chair of the Board at Alphabet, replacing Eric Schmidt who stepped down at the end of 2017.

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Lenovo and Google unveil first stand-alone Daydream VR headset - the Mirage Solo

Lenovo is the usual suspect when Google wants to try out new hardware. Project Tango did not work out, but stand-alone Daydream VR headsets may be better. The first of its kind is the Lenovo Mirage Solo.

The brain that powers this headset is called WorldSense. It tracks your movements without needing external sensors, similar to other stand-alone headsets. The familiar Daydream controller will let you interact with the virtual world.

Lenovo is mum on the screen resolution but promises 110° field of view – matching the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. The headset is powered by the Snapdragon 835 VR platform with 4GB of RAM, so it has a performance edge over the Oculus Go/Mi VR Standalone.

  
Lenovo Mirage Solo stand-alone VR headset with Daydream support

The Lenovo Mirage Solo should last up to 7 hours on a single charge – much longer than the average VR play session. Lenovo touts the ergonomics of the headset and claims it should work fine with glasses.

Lenovo has not nailed down the price yet, but said it will be under $400. The headset is competing against the $200 Oculus Go (Snapdragon 821) and $600 Vive Focus (Snapdragon 835).

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Google is killing off Project Tango, come March 2018

The road to progress, especially in the tech realm, is almost never a straight and smooth one. Few companies actually understand this better, in practice, on a grand scheme than Google - an innovator, startup adopter and visionary for many breakthroughs, but also a cold executioner for many others. It seems Project Tango - the ambitious AR platform, is officially getting the latter treatment as well and heading towards the discarded idea pile. Pretty fast at that, with an expiration date set for March 2018.

Still, as sad as this news is for AR enthusiasts, not to mention early adopters and ow ners of devices, like the Lenovo Phab2 Pro or the Asus Zenfone AR, there is an upside to the story as well. Unlike many other ideas, like the oh-so environmentally-friendlyProject Ara, at least Tango is getting succeeded by Google's own ARcore. While the latter might not be nearly as precise in its spacial mapping capabilities as Tango, the online giant naturally sees more potential in this approach, over the heavily hardware-reliant Tango. Plus, the industry seem to be collectively moving towards a software solution to AR - case and point, Apple's ARkit, which single-handedly transformed iOS into the largest AR platform in existence.

Just like the latter was retro-fitted to older Apple hardware, Google is already proving the ARcore can work reliably enough without the need for costly hardware investments - a potentially make or break adoption aspect for any quirky, futuristic tech concept. If you are rocking one of the original Google Pixel devices, or the new second generation ones, the latest Android 8.1 release already has augmented reality stickers up on offer in the camera app. Placing these freely in a three-dimensional space within the viewfinder seems to work surprisingly well already. So, with a little luck, we could potentially get an OS-wide implementation to seed throughout the Android realm, at one point or another.

Bottom line, Google's current AR roadmap appears to be aimed at the greater community good. And on a side note, if this new development brings the Asus Zenfone AR's price tumbling down, we could be in for a great hardware deal pretty soon.

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Google Assistant finally arrives on Android tablets, also expands to phones running Lollipop

The Google Assistant started life as an exclusive to the original Pixel phones. It then got rolled out to every Android handset that runs Marshmallow or a newer version, and now it's finally time for it to expand some more.

First off, it's in the process of being rolled out to even older phones, the ones that still run Lollipop. This rollout is ongoing for users with the language set to English in the US, UK, India, Australia, Canada, and Singapore, as well as in Spanish in the US, Mexico, and Spain. You'll get it if you're in Italy, Japan, Germany, Brazil, and Korea too. Once you receive the relevant (yet invisible) Google Play Services update, you have to opt-in, and then you'll have an Assistant app icon in your drawer.

The Assistant coming to tablets is probably the bigger news of the day, even if Android slates are slowly disappearing from the market. For starters, only tablet users with the language set to English who are in the US will get it. Hopefully it will make its way to more tablets in more languages in more places soon, but Google hasn't announced anything regarding that yet. Despite now being available for phones on Lollipop, if you have a tablet it will only work if it runs Nougat or Marshmallow.

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Google's AR Stickers now available for the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL

Google has released its AR Stickers on the Google Play Store for the Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 XL. Users of these devices will have to go to the My Apps section and find them under Updates. Once installed, these will appear in the main Camera app after you swipe from the left edge.

AR Stickers is a new feature on the Pixel phones that was demoed back in October during the Pixel 2 launch event. This isn't anything new to anyone used to Snapchat; you get a bunch of animated 3D 'stickers' that work together with the camera and be dropped around in your environment. You can move them around and change their size. You can then take their picture or, ideally, record a video of them moving around your environment.

The app currently includes three genetic sticker packs as well as Star Wars and Stranger Things packs. The cool thing about these is that when you place more than one sticker at a time, they also acknowledge each other's presence and interact with them.

The feature does quite well and all the stickers animate smoothly. It's likely Google held off on these till the Android 8.1 update was released, which unlocked the Pixel Visual Core. I did notice that the phone turned insanely hot within minutes of using the feature, especially when two or more stickers were on screen at once, which means it's also burning a lot of power. But for occasional use, it's a nice, fun feature to have, especially if Google keeps adding new packs regularly.

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Deal: 128GB Google Pixel 2 XL down to $900

There’s a face we didn’t expect to see this Black Friday – the Google Pixel 2 XL. The phone is so hard to find that eBay units usually cost more than the original asking price rather than being offered at a discount. And yet here we have a deal that lets you have the 128GB Pixel 2 XL for $899.99 with sales tax charged only to those living in Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey and Texas.

Even if you do live in one of those four states, however, you will be saving $50 compared to what you’d need to pay if you ordered from the Google Store. Just as with Google though, you only get the Just Black version of the phone with the Black and White one unavailable.

The seller also offers international shipping, but transport and import costs will probably make it all too expensive to be worth it. Anyway, if you feel like treating yourself to Google’s latest and greatest follow this link to check out the deal.

Google Pixel 2 issue makes Assistant unavailable with Bluetooth headphones

Of the two new Google handsets this year, the Pixel 2 XL has certainly had the more troubled launch with new display issues appearing every other day. Yet today it’s the smaller Pixel 2 that gets in the spotlight for the wrong reason.

The smartphone is experiencing issues when you try to operate the Google Assistant via Bluetooth headphones. The handset seemingly mutes its microphone after the Assistant is invoked meaning you are unable to use the functionality at all. Given how important its AI helper is to the Pixel experience this is a pretty big deal and unsurprisingly the issue has been widely reported on the Google support forums.

Yet, the company is yet to issue a fix, despite pushing a firmware update to the Pixel 2 earlier this week. This means the wait for the patch will take at least a few more weeks long as Google is unlikely to deliver a firmware specifically for it and will likely include it in the next larger update.

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Google Pixel 2 XL charging reportedly capped at 10.5W

Add one more to the list of complaints regarding the LG-made Google Pixel 2 XL. According to some in-depth analysis the Google Pixel 2 XL charging speed is capped at 10.5W and does not actually utilize the full 18W that the supplied charger is capable of providing.

According to user Nathan K., the power draw tops out at 10.5W and because the charging is usually non-linear, the power draw drops even further than 10.5W after 65%. This results in a total charge time of around two and a half hours.

The general understanding here is that Google and LG may have taken a more conservative route to prevent strain on the battery and thereby increasing its longevity. Yet ma have been complaining about slow charging on the Pixel 2 XL, despite the fast charging claim, which is what prompted this test in the first place.

We are not sure if this is true for the smaller Pixel 2 as well.

Google hasn't commented on this yet.

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HDR videos in YouTube mobile app now capped at 1080p

Google has made a change to the resolution options in the YouTube mobile app for HDR videos. The resolution now maxes out at 1080p, regardless of the display of your phone.

Resolution options on the Galaxy Note8

Previously, the resolution options went all the way up to 4K, provided you had a Sony Xperia XZ Premium. For most other flagship it was going up to 1440p.

The limit is likely being put because of how bad HDR video performance is in the YouTube app. Even on flagship devices, including Google's own Pixel 2, playing HDR videos over 720p caused massive frame drops and a generally unusable experience.

The YouTube app is alone in this, as other apps with HDR support, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, have no issues with HDR videos up to 4K resolution.

Google's solution is rather strange, where instead of improving playback performance the higher resolution options are now simply obscured from the user.

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Google Assistant rolls out in Italian

Earlier in 2017 Google promised that Assistant will learn more languages and now Italians can finally talk to it in their native language. Following the last update, now Assistant can answer all questions and actions with a deep soothing Italian voice.

According to Italian media, the update will reach all Android users in Italy by November 1.

   
Google Assistant in Italian

Google already said the incorporation of new languages happens after working with natives and collecting speech samples. After that the machines train themselves to improve accuracy when exposed to more examples.

Our initial tests reveal that Google understands dialects both from Northern and Southern Italy. To allow the Assistant to speak back, the language must be added as primary on the phone for Google to work.

Via 1 (in Italian) • Via 2 (in Italian)

Google Assistant gets over 50 new games, activities, and stories for families with kids

Google Assistant has become smarter today, this time incorporating more than 50 new games, activities, and stories all designed for families with kids. The new functionality is available today in the US through Assistant on Google Home, other smart speakers, and eligible Android phones.

Thus you can play musical chairs, trivia, freeze dance, and do even more with your kids with the Assistant's help. Google points out that talking to your Assistant instead of staring at a screen is "an easy way to be there, in the room, spending time with loved ones".

You can ask the Assistant to tell you a story, play Jungle Adventure, play Strangest Day Ever, play Mickey Mouse Adventure, or even to help you learn and do your homework.

The last two of those things should work for every child in your household now that kids under 13 can also have their own personalized Google Assistant experience when they log in with their own account. This requires parents' permission and is powered by Family Link, which helps parents manage their children's Google Account. As before, Google Assistant can be trained to recognize up to six different voices, so it always knows who it's talking to.

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HTC and Google announce a $1.1 billion agreement for the future of Pixel

HTC and Google have officially announced that the companies have reached a deal. Google will pay HTC $1.1 billion in cash in exchange for some of its employees and Google will have access to HTC’s intellectual property. So what does this mean for the future HTC and the Pixel lineup?

Certain HTC employees, many of which are currently working with Google to develop the Pixel phones, will join Google. In addition, Google will receive a non-exclusive license for HTC’s intellectual property. This means that Google will have access to HTC’s manufacturing patents and designs for its future Pixel devices.

HTC has been a longtime partner of Google and has created some of the most beautiful, premium devices on the market. We’re excited and can’t wait to welcome members of the HTC team who will be joining Google to fuel further innovation and future product development in consumer hardware. - Rick Osterlog, Senior VP of Hardware at Google

The transaction will help HTC to excel with its upcoming flagship smartphone (which is already being worked on), and HTC will continue to expand its VIVE VR platform as well as invest in IoT, AR, and AI.

In turn, this shows Google’s commitment to the future of the Pixel lineup, and the deal will help to strengthen and streamline the Google Pixel portfolio. The transaction also introduces Google to a new technology hub in HTC’s home country of Taiwan.

The transaction is still waiting to be approved by regulatory officials as per usual, and is expected to complete in early 2018.

This is a huge step for Google in solidifying its foundation of building its own hardware and a firm first step into 2018 for HTC.

Google in talks to buy HTC's smartphone business

HTC hasn't been financially successful for awhile now and it seems it's now fully in danger of being consumed by a bigger company. In this case the rumors point to Google as the interested party.

Apparently talks are being held between Google and HTC about a possible acquisition of HTC's smartphone business (leaving the Vive VR business) but the information is strictly unofficial and there are no specific ammounts mentioned.

The news is made plausible for two reasons - Google needs a hardware manufacturing arm for its Pixel smartphones and HTC has just suffered its worst financial month in 13 years - August 2017 saw a year over year decline in revenue of 54% and a 51% decline over the previous month.

Rumor has it that Google got LG to make the Pixel XL 2, which would further decrease HTC's profits (HTC made the first generation Pixel phones).

It remains to be seen if Google is interested in buying HTC's smartphone business but the topic brings back flashbacks of the time Google paid big money for Motorola's smartphone business and sold it for much less just 2 years later.

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Android 8.1 is the next version of the OS, Google app reveals

Android 8.0 Oreo has only been out for a couple of weeks at this point, and hasn't actually made it to every single supported Nexus and Pixel device out there yet. Not to mention how long it's going to take for it to land on any other phone or tablet.

Even so, maybe you'd like to know what the next version of the OS will be? It's Android 8.1, by the way. This has been revealed by a teardown of the latest iteration of the beta Google app. The SDK used internally by the company to build said app outright says so.

As for the name, it makes most sense for Google to keep using Oreo - it would be a shame to switch from such a well recognized brand so soon, and it's also how it did things last year with 7.0 and 7.1 both being Nougat. If you're wondering when 8.1 will hit, remember that in 2016 Android 7.1 debuted with the Pixels only a couple of months or so after 7.0 updates started going out. So we assume that this year the second-gen Pixels will be the first devices to launch running Android 8.1, when they land in October.

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Deal: Google Pixel from $549.99, 128GB Pixel XL for $719.99, 32GB refurb Pixel for $355

While they may have been priced exactly as Apple's iPhones at launch, Google's Pixels aren't as good at keeping their prices intact and deal-free. We've already seen quite a few price reductions for the duo, and now that we're ever closer to the rumored October 5 unveiling of the next generation of Google's smartphones some new deals have popped up.

If you visit the first Source link below, you'll be able to snag a brand new 32GB Pixel for $549.99, or the 128GB model for $649.99. In both cases you save $100 compared to the recommended retail price. The 128GB Pixel XL is on offer too, and you can buy one for just $719.99 (saving $150 in the process). All of these prices appear after you've used the promo code THRFTPXLN at checkout.

If you want the cheapest possible Pixel, a 32GB refurbished unit can be yours for only $355, provided you hit the second Source link and use the promo code THRFTPXL.

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Google Chrome will soon allow permanent muting of websites

The development team behind Google Chrome for computers is working on a neat new feature. In the future, the browser will let you permanently mute any specific website. The switch making this possible is currently being experimented with in Chrome's Canary branch, which is the most cutting edge of them all. At the moment, the toggle can be found inside the Page Info bubble, as evidenced by the picture below.

Once you mute a domain, it will remain so until you undo the action. That's in stark contrast to how muting works in Chrome's more stable channels at the moment. Muting is done on a tab by tab basis, and it's canceled the second you close that tab or the browser itself. The new implementation should be very useful for those who frequently encounter the annoyance of autoplaying videos, especially on some (worst offender) sites.

If the Chrome team decides to make this a feature for the stable branch of the browser, expect it to show up there in a few months. In the meantime, if you like living on the (cutting) edge you can install Chrome Canary and give the new muting behavior a try by using the flag "--enable-features=SoundContentSetting". If you don't know what any of that means, it's best to hold off and participate in the waiting game instead.

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Google Assistant for iOS arrives in the UK, Germany, and France

Do you have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and hate Siri? Do you happen to live in the UK, Germany, or France? Well then you're in luck, for starting today you get an alternative to Apple's own virtual assistant. The Google Assistant app for iOS that launched in the US back in May is now finally expanding to more countries, though only the aforementioned three at the moment. As always with Google services and software, trying to anticipate if (or when) the rollout might include other territories is a losing game. Or, for that matter, figuring out why such things never make it to certain locales.

Anyway, for iOS device owners in the UK, Germany, and France, it's time to celebrate by downloading the app and asking Google Assistant the one question that's truly important: what it thinks of Siri, of course.

You do have to keep in mind that because of Apple's API restrictions, the Google Assistant is more limited in what tasks it can perform on iOS compared to Android. So you won't be able to set the Home button shortcut to invoke it instead of Siri, for example. To somewhat alleviate that issue, Google's app offers a widget that can be accessed through the iOS notification center.

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