Google is now joining the smartphone battle and and releases a new phone as a rival to Apple and Samsung - the new "Pixel" by Google.
While Google had previously released Smartphones under the name Nexus that were produced by different manufacturers, the Pixel's Hardware and software are produced by them.
The Highlights are probably the camera that takes pictures in high quality, and Google's new AI Assistant, as well as the Virtual Reality Glasses that are compatible with the phone.
Features
The Pixel comes in 3 colors, black silver and blue, and in 2 sizes - 5 inch and 5,5 inch ("Pixel XL").
You can choose between a 32 GB or 128 GB version (and there is no slot for an external memory card).
The phone is dust-proof and water-repellent, but not entirely waterproof.
It features a fingerprint sensor on the back, rounded corners and a full-HD display with 1920x1080 resolution.
The screen offers greater contrast and colors compared to the iPhone 7, but can't quite reach the level of the Galaxy S7.
A feature that most users will be very excited about is the Quick charging feature - only 15 minutes of charging are supposed to give the phone up to 7 hours of additional battery life (while the battery already lasts 11 hours to begin with).
Camera
Google claims that the Pixel has the "highest rated smartphone camera ever". Is that true?
The phone offers a back camera with 12,3 megapixels that can record in 4K quality, and front camera with 8 megapixels.
There is also a 'Smartburst' mode, which takes a series of pictures and automatically selects the best one.
You can also use HDR+ , which combines multiple pictures to achieve the perfect lighting.
So the camera offers some amazing quality in daylight, it takes pictures quickly and also saves them quickly.
But it might not be the best smartphone camera of all time - because the picture quality in low light is not the best.
What's missing is an optical image stabilizer, because the pictures blur too easily in dark situations.
Google also mentions a "never ending storage for photos and videos" in their commercial - how does that work?
The phone automatically deletes photos that are very old or haven't been looked at for a long time from the phone - but not from the google cloud.
So this keeps the phone memory clear, while users can still access their pictures at all times if they want.
This way, even multiple large 4K videos can be recorded and stored!
AI Assistant
"Think of the assistant, we think of it as a conversational assistant, we want users to have an ongoing two-way dialog" - Sundar Pichai, Google CEO
Google's new Assistant is supposed to be much more than the usual voice assistants we're used to.
Instead of just an answer to our question, google wants to create a real dialog between the AI and the user.
This means that you can now ask several questions that are linked to each other - for example:
"Where is the closest bank?" and then you can ask "Until when are they open" or "How do I get there?" without repeating your initial question again.
And it goes even further - if you tell the assistant that you want to go to a cinema close by with your kids, it will search for available kid-friendly movies, ticket prices, close cinemas and the route there.
The assistant can be started either by saying "Ok Google" or by long-pressing the home button.
The assistant will also note your questions and answers, and will get smarter over time.
You can even play a Trivia game with your new virtual assistant!
Virtual Reality
Yes, you heard that right!
With "Daydream", a new virtual reality platform to go with the Pixel Phone, you can easily dive into the virtual reality world, wherever you are.
This is the next generation of Google's 'Cardboard', it's much more advanced and gives the actual feeling of high-end virtual reality glasses.
You put the Pixel Phone into the front pocket of the glasses, and can then start your adventure with the Daydream controller.
The glasses itself are soft and light, making it a comfortable experience.
Daydream will be available for around €70 and Google has launched 40 Apps already that are compatible with the new VR glasses.
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