Google introducing Pixel 3, Pixel Slate tablet and Home Hub, focusing on features with AI enhancements

New “Made By Google” products in 2018

At the “Made By Google” hardware media event held in New York City on Tuesday, Google unveiled the Pixel 3 smartphones with larger screens, along with a new Chromebook tablet called the “Pixel Slate” and a smart screen called the “Google Home Hub”.

The Pixel 3, the third generation of its flagship Android smartphone, comes in 2 sizes and 3 colors. “Pixel Visual Core” imaging chip and AI in the phone improve camera functions, speed and quality.

Let’s take a closer look at the Pixel 3.

• Edge-to-edge OLED display offers 5.5-inch “Pixel 3” and 6.3-inch “Pixel 3 XL“
• Pixel 3 XL has a notched screen, while Pixel 3 does not
• 12.2MP single camera in the rear like iPhone XR (no optical zoom), while 8MP dual front-facing cameras for wide-angle selfies enable to capture 184 percent more than the iPhone XS
• “Portrait Mode” – change the blurriness of the background, or change the part of the picture in focus, after the fact
• “Top Shot” – automatically detect and select the best HDR+ pics from motion photos
• “Super Res Zoom” – create sharper zoomed image from multiple photos by using on-device machine learning without optical zoom
• “Photobooth Mode” – automatically snap photos when you smile or making a funny faces in front of the camera without pressing the shutter button
• “Screen Call” – deliver control to protect against spam and block the number, or respond by tapping a quick reply
• “Playground” – mixing the real with the virtual with features by adding reactive characters and captions to photos and videos
• “Motion Auto Focus” – stay in sharp focus automatically
• “Night Sight” – improve low light performance without a flash (will come later this year)
• “Search what you see” – point the camera to find products online, identify landmarks, plants and animals, add events to the calendar
• No support for 60fps 4K recording
• “Titan M” security chip to secure passwords and operating system
• Improved dust and water resistance (IP68 up from IP67)
• Slightly larger battery capacity than last year’s
• Dual SIM functionality
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, 4GB of RAM, Bluetooth 5.0
• Support fast Qi wireless charging (at up to 10 watts)
• $79 Pixel Stand wireless charger to bring the Google Assistant
• “Duplex” app helps you complete real-world tasks over the phone (begins rolling out in November)
• 40% louder front stereo speakers than last year’s
• Android 9 Pie out of the box
• Pixel USB-C earbuds in the box
• Pixel 3 – $799 (64GB), $899 (128GB) and Pixel 3 XL – $899 (64GB), $999 (128GB)
• 3 colors come in black, white and “Not Pink”
• Launching in 10 countries including Japan, France and Taiwan to begin shipping on Oct. 18th in the U.S., in other countries on Nov. 1st

The Pixel Slate, a Chrome OS–powered detachable tablet, competitor to iPad Pros and Surfaces will launch later this year in the U.S., starts at $599. Five models are ready, powered by Intel processors and built-in “Titan M” security chip, ranging from the entry Celeron model to the high-end 8th-gen Core i7 model with 256GB of storage and 16GB of RAM at $1,599.

It has dual speakers, 8MP cameras on both the rear and front with Portrait mode, 12.3-inch Molecular Display with 293 ppi, two USB-C ports, fingerprint sensor, support for up to 4K external display, comes in just one color of midnight blue with up to 12 hours of battery life.

The Pixel Slate also brings GSuite apps, Google Assistant and apps from the Google Play Store, moreover capability runnning Linux. As accessories, backlit keyboard called “Slate Keyboard” is $199, while Pixelbook Pen is $99.

It will be available in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.

The Google Home Hub, smart speaker with a built-in screen and Google Assistant, competitor to Amazon Echo Show and Facebook Portal will launch on Oct. 22 for $149. With voice control including Voice Match (up to six people) brings Search, YouTube, Google Photos, Calendar, Maps and more. It also enables you to control smart lights, pause the TV, monitor Nest camera feeds, adjust thermostats etc. But not include a camera. Google points out that you feel comfortable placing it in the private spaces of your home, like the bedroom.

It has 7-inch LCD, Ambient EQ light sensor, with four colors of Chalk, Charcoal, Aqua and Sand, will be available in the U.S., Australia and the U.K.