Bcstevieb

Google had a lot of new hardware to show off at its October 4 event, but there are also a lot of new software features coming to Google Home that flew under the radar. Let's talk about them.

Google's been rather busy as of late with the announcements of the Pixel 2/Pixel 2 XL, Home Mini, Home Max, Pixel Buds, Pixelbook, and Google Clips. All of this new hardware looks very enticing, and while Google is doing its best to turn itself into a hardware company, its true prowess will always lie with software.

Quite a few software features for the Google Home lineup were announced alongside all of Google's shiny new hardware, and in case they slipped by you, here's a breakdown of what to expect:

Changing Google Home's voice

Since its launch this time last year, the Google Assistant on Google Home has only spoken in a female voice. It's one of the more natural-sounding AI voices around, but if you want to switch things up a bit, you can now change the sound of the Assistant's voice from a female's to a male's. This doesn't alter Home's functionality, but if you want to inject some more testosterone into your Assistant's pitch, you now have the option to do so.

Related: How to get the male Google Assistant voice on your phone and Google Home

Games and learning activities for families

Google recently made its Family Link service widely available for families in the United States, giving parents a host of services and tools for helping to manage their kids' time spent looking at screens. Children's accounts created with Family Link will soon be supported on Google Home, and along with this, a variety of new family activities will also be coming to the smart speaker.

More than 50 of these activities will be available, and by saying "Ok Google, let's play a game" or "Ok Google, let's learn", parents and kids can play through Micky Mouse and Justice League-themed adventures, learn about astronomy with Space Trivia, and even listen to classic stories like Snow White.

Related: Google Family Link is now invite-free for parents in the U.S.

Automated routines

Many of us find that we develop certain routines that we naturally do throughout the day, and soon, your Google Home/Assistant will be able to make your routines even more efficient. If you consistently turn on specific lights throughout your house and always set the room at a certain temperature, saying "Ok Google, I'm home" as you're walking through the front door will turn on your desired lights, warm up the house to just the right temperature, and anything else that you want to be triggered with that command.

Turning Google Home into an intercom

Although yelling downstairs for your kids to come up for dinner technically gets the job done, Google wants you to be able to be able to round up the family for quality time without straining your vocal chords beforehand.

Thanks to a new feature called "Broadcast", you'll be able to say "Ok Google, broadcast: dinner will be ready in 10 minutes" to have this message played throughout all Google Homes throughout your house. Broadcast will also work remotely from your phone, meaning that you can say something like "Ok Google, broadcast: coming home now" to let everyone at home know that you'll be back soon.

Deep integration with Nest products

Last but not least, Google Home is also getting some serious integration with Nest's lineup of smart home gadgets. Starting now, saying "Ok Google, show me the entryway on my TV" will cast a livestream of your Nest Camera onto your Android TV or television with Chromecast built-in.

As if that wasn't good enough, next year Google Home will work hand-in-hand with the Nest Hello's Familiar Faces function. When someone rings the doorbell on Nest Hello and the built-in camera recognizes who's at the door, all Google Homes will then broadcast an audio message to let you know who's there.

Find your phone

Trying to track down a lost phone is never fun, but this ordeal is about to get a lot easier if you have a Google Home. Currently rolling out now to all users, you can now say "Ok Google, ring my phone" or "Ok Google, where's my phone" to have Google Home play an audio tune on your device so you can quickly locate it. Better yet, Google Home will force your phone to ring as loud as possible even if it's on Do Not Disturb or the volume is turned down.

When will all of this be available?

Unfortunately, actual release dates for a lot of these features aren't very clear. Google says that the majority of them are "coming soon", but that's all we know for the time being. When they do eventually arrive, we'll be sure to let you know so you can start playing around with them as soon as possible.

Hands-free calling has expanded on Google Home, and will now use your phone number.

Google Home added hands-free calling earlier this year, and the company announced today that the feature is expanding to the United Kingdom.

Additionally, users will now be able to use their regular phone number to make calls. Previously, a call would be routed through a Google Voice number. This will be great for the majority of Google Home users who probably don't use Google Voice.

Do you use hands-free calling on the Google Home? Let us know down below!

A continuation of the Chromebook Pixel program, with a twist.

One piece of Google's October 4 hardware event that didn't leak much is the Google Pixelbook, which was announced ahead of the Pixel 2 and 2 XL. The new Pixelbook marks a continuation of Google's original two Chromebook Pixel laptops, now with a little change in the branding to better reflect where the product stands alongside the Pixel phones.

Unlike early rumors had suggested, the Pixelbook is once again built with a traditional laptop form factor, with the one big change being the addition of a 180-degree swiveling screen that lets it fold back into a pseudo-tablet device. It's a design we've seen used many times in lower-end Chromebooks, but this one is decidedly more expensive.

The Pixelbook is just 10 mm thick and weighs 2.2 pounds, but offers super high-end specs. You can choose between a Core i5 and i7 processor, and pair it up with up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.

Because of the Pixelbook's convertible form factor, Google is also introducing a highly precise stylus called the Pixelbook Pen. It has a 10 millisecond latency, 60 degrees of angular awareness and 2000+ levels of pressure sensitivity.

Note: This post is being constantly updated with new information.

What's inside the new Pixel phones? A lot of awesome.

The Pixels are back, and they're better than last year's models in every way. Manufactured by two companies this time, HTC and LG, there are substantial differences in the way the two phones look, but on the inside they're almost identical.

While Google hasn't overhauled the aesthetics of the smaller Pixel 2, it gains dual front-facing speakers (and loses a headphone jack), benefits from IP67 water and dust resistance, has an improved 1080p OLED display and an upgraded Snapdragon 835 processor, along with a 2700mAh battery.

The larger, tall-but-narrow Pixel 2 XL has a 6-inch 2880x1440 pOLED display with diminutive bezels that keep the overall chassis size to a minimum. Think LG V30 but slightly taller. Inside, there's a 3520mAh battery — bigger than the Pixel XL — along with the same CPU and RAM specs.

What could be the most interesting change from last year is the addition of optical image stabilization (OIS) to augment the existing electronic stabilization from last year. There's still a 12.2MP rear camera sensor, with 1.4μm pixels, laser and phase-detection autofocus, all with an f/1.8 aperture.

Finally, a built-in eSIM is interesting because it opens up the possibility of Google offering Project Fi to any customer who wants it, even without a carrier SIM card installed.

Google has announced its own pair of wireless earbuds, with Google Translate built-in.

At today's Pixel hardware event, Google has combined its translation know-how with its love of good audio to create the Google Pixel Buds, its first retail pair of headphones.

The $159 headphones themselves are like any standard wireless (though not truly wireless) pair of earbuds. Instead of having the controls somewhere on the wire, the right earbud has a gesture pad to control volume and playback. The Pixel Buds will be available in the same three colors as this year's Pixel phone, and will feature a five-hour battery built in. They also include a carrying case that can charge the earbuds, for a total of 24 hours of playback. The Pixel Buds also have Google Assistant built-in, as you would expect.

The most interesting feature of the Pixel Buds is the instant translator, which will let users understand each other without needing to speak the same language. If this works anywhere nearly as well as the demonstration showed, this could be revolutionary for headphones. The caveat here is that the real-time translation feature works only when the headphones are paired to a Pixel.

Are you interested in the Pixel Buds? Let us know down below!

Google Home can do a lot of things for us, but in no place does it excel quite like music.

Today, Google expanded the Google Home collection with both the Google Home Mini and the Google Home Max. The Mini aims to put Google Assistant in every room of your house, but Google Home Max is meant for music lovers who want to fill their rooms or their whole home with rich, beautiful sound. So, what makes the Google Home Max better for your home than the recently Alexa-upgraded Sonos speakers or Apple's upcoming HomePod?

Google Home Max is the largest of the Google Home devices, and there's quite a bit under the cloth speaker cover. Two 4.5-inch woofers and 0.7-inch tweeters will fill even the biggest rooms in your home with sound, but it's not enough to blast louder if doesn't acclimate to your acoustic space.

Smart Sound is Google's answer, a feature that calibrates the soundstage based on your room's dimensions and the kind of audio you're listening to. Smart Sound senses the room it's in and uses machine learning to keep your music sounding as good as it can. If Smart Sound sounds like Sonos's Trueplay, that's because they are similar. The difference is that Google Home Max will do it without having to dig into apps and tune it yourself.

Google Home Max, like all Google Homes, will feature Google Cast capability in order to stream a variety of music services, from Spotify to YouTube Music and Google Play Music, but this big beautiful speaker can also play music via Bluetooth and an auxiliary port, so you can plug in your old iPod or that fancy turntable and get the Home Max's beautifully smart sound combined with your hi-fi vinyl.

Google Home Max is 20 times more powerful than the original Google Home, and you can place it vertically or horizontally anywhere in your home, and reposition as needed. Because the base for the Home Max is magnetic, you don't have to worry about rubber feet sticking out when you rotate your Home Max the other direction. Google Home Max can link up with any other Google Cast speaker in your home and, of course, can be paired with each other, should you want two Google Home Max in your living room in order to rattle the rafters as you rock out.

The Google Home Max is coming this December at $399, which prices it around Sonos' Play3 and Play5 speakers, as well as Apple's HomePod, which will be hitting store shelves around that time. Google is hoping that by leveraging the Google Assistant's AI prowess, machine learning advancements, and the ease of a well-established Google Cast system will give it an edge this holiday shopping season.

Google's even throwing in a 12-month subscription to YouTube Red/YouTube Music/Google Play Music to get your jams flowing while you're starting out with the product. Considering Google Home's voice commands are currently the best way to control music in your home, it's not hard to imagine users buying in this winter.

See at Google Store

Google's second swing at self-branded phones promises more — and asks more of your wallet.

Years of experiments with the Nexus program culminated with the launch of Google's self-designed and self-branded Pixel phones in 2016. The promise was simple: a phone that offered the best possible way to experience Android and Google services, hands-down. In practice, it came with many compromises and a higher prices than many were used to paying for a Google-backed phone. There was room to improve.

Fast forward exactly one year, and Google is back at it again. Same approach, same branding, same message — and a pair of phones that once again ask a lot of your wallet, but in turn offer even more of what people are looking for in a top-of-the-line smartphone today. The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, though not actually manufactured by the same companies, are launching as a pair with the same goal once again: give you the best Android experience, exactly as Google intended, without the typical annoyances associated with the competition.

I have just spent a brief amount of time with the new phones — here are my first impressions of the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL from Google.

In motion

Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL Hands-on video

For the quicker, more condensed take on these two phones, be sure to watch our full hands-on video above! Once you're done checking out the pretty phones in action, read through the rest of the article for a full take and our first impressions.

Slight diversion

Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL Hardware

Google is very clearly trying to keep a visual similarity from the original Pixels to the new models, starting with their glass "visor" panel on the back and working down to the monolithic aluminum body. The body is coated in a decidedly different texture, though, feeling more like an actual rubberized soft touch coating rather than raw aluminum.

That should make the phones a bit easier to grip and keep the aluminum from getting dinged up, but right off the bat they don't feel quite as solid or high-end as the originals. You still get that cold sensation to the touch to remind you they're metal, but the finish gives off more a plastic-like impression almost like an ode back to the Nexus 5. The coating is most noticeable in the black models, which have dramatically more texture and depth that the white and blue colors.

The "kinda blue" color, which is exclusive to the smaller Pixel 2, isn't nearly the standout stunner than the "really blue" of last year — it's more of a soft shade that almost looks grey in some lighting. It's punctuated by a turquoise power button that stands out on the edge of the phone. The white version of the Pixel 2 XL (but not the Pixel 2) also has a statement power button, but it's a coral/peach/orange color — I think it's neat, even though it has absolutely no purpose or designation that you have anything special in your phone.

The first big design difference you notice between the two phones is how the aluminum case wraps around the sides and meets the front glass. On the larger Pixel 2 XL, the metal is more rounded and doesn't creep so far up along the edge — instead, it meets the 3D curved front glass part of the way down the side in a sort of waterfall effect. The Pixel 2, on the other hand, reminds me of the Nexus 5X: the metal reaches all the way up the side flat, and matches up with near-flat glass on the front at a tighter angle.

Then, you notice the biggest difference: the screen size and screen-to-body ratio. From the front, the Pixel 2 XL is a dead ringer for the LG V30. It has the same 18:9 aspect ratio, rounded corners and relatively small bezels all around as LG's latest flagship — plus stereo speakers, of course. Let's get one thing clear: the screen bezels are noticeable, and this is not a "bezel-less" phone. But it's way ahead of last year's Pixel XL ... and interestingly also the Pixel 2.

The Pixel 2's face is dominated by its large top and bottom bezels, as well as its contrasting 16:9 aspect ratio and square corners on the display. With a screen size of just 5 inches the bezels don't make this phone massive overall — it's the right size to nestle in your hand well, and you can reach all corners of the display without much fumbling around.

Despite the screen size differences both are AMOLED, with the Pixel 2 XL having LG's own P-OLED technology that's currently in use with the LG V30. Google quotes the same type of experience on both phones, with the main differentiators being the 2 XL's higher 2880x1440 resolution and 100% of DCI-P3 color space reproduction compared to the 1920x1080 and 95% on the standard Pixel 2.

In my time with the phones, both looked really good, and seemed like a marked improvement over the so-so panels in the original Pixels. The real question will be how that feeling holds up when using them in bright sunlight situations, where AMOLED panels typically do well but is a real test of how bright they can get.

We got this far and haven't even mentioned specs. That's not on accident — there's nothing inside of the Pixel 2 and 2 XL that you wouldn't expect, and subsequently it's hard to say they're missing any major features. A Snapdragon 835 processor, 4GB of RAM and 64 or 128GB of storage are par for the course in a flagship phone for 2017. I have no doubt that the internal specs are more than capable of making Google's software fly.

Also table stakes is IP67 water- and dust-resistance, which both phones thankfully now offer. Conversely Google hasn't added back in an SD card slot, and has chosen to make the irksome move to remove the headphone jack — you'll get a USB-C to 3.5 mm adapter in the box, and extra ones will cost you $20 a pop. Some people will never be able to live with a phone that doesn't have a headphone jack ... I'm not quite that opinionated, but I'm close. My biggest issue with the decision is that Google isn't making any sort of claim about what removing the 3.5 mm jack did for the phone — it's just removing it with no clear user benefit, while other phones of this size still have the port.

Snap

Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL Cameras

After absolutely killing it with last year's Pixels, Google is doubling down on the camera experience in 2017 — and it's doing so by sticking with a single camera lens while the rest of the industry is hitting dual lenses. The sensor is now a 12.2MP unit, which has slightly smaller 1.4-micron pixels but sits behind a wider f/1.8 aperture. It's also very surprisingly supported by optical image stabilization (OIS). Google's still doing its great electronic image stabilization that made the original Pixels such great video cameras.

These cameras are going to be fantastic.

Google's proprietary image processing is still the star of the show here, and Google thinks that its software is so advanced that it can even handle "Portrait Mode" shots that other phones need two physical cameras for. Using machine learning algorithms and its dual pixel auto focus system, the Pixel 2 and 2 XL can get an accurate depth map of an image and selectively blur the background. Google is so confident in the feature it even lets you use it with the front-facing camera.

The launch of the Pixel 2 and 2 XL is also the coming out party for Google Lens, which was originally shown off as a concept several months ago at Google I/O. Google Lens is built right into Google Assistant and the camera interface, and simply lets you scan images on your screen or take photos and pick out information about them. That could be grabbing an email address or name off of a document, identifying someone's face on a billboard, or finding out more information about a landmark you see in a new city. It's powered by the same knowledge graph that powers Google Search, and demos we saw at Google's even were very promising.

Light refresh

Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL Software

Once again, Google preempted much of what it has to announce in the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL's software with the long, drawn-out beta program and official release of Android 8.0 Oreo over a month ago. The release of new hardware instead marks a very subtle tweaking of the interface and the updating of many Google apps and services for the Pixels.

The Pixel 2 and 2 XL have a new launcher experience that puts the search bar at the bottom of the home screen so it's easier to reach, and reclaims that space at the top for a new calendar/appointment widget. There's also a super neat trick to be found on the always-on display when the phone is idle: the phones can constantly listen for music and identify it, showing the information on the lock screen without you even asking. Google says the process of identifying the sounds and words can happen locally to the phone, which shows how powerful they are.

The only truly new piece of software is the "Active Edge" function, which clearly comes directly from HTC's "Edge Sense" — basically, you can squeeze the Pixel 2 or Pixel 2 XL to make it launch Google Assistant ... and only launch Google Assistant. Just like on the HTC U11 the pressure required to activate Active Edge is customizable, and it's designed to both work in a case and also not accidentally activate when you don't want it to. Given that Active Edge on the Pixel 2 and 2 XL does less than Edge Sense on the U11 is a bit baffling, and doubly so when all Active Edge does is duplicate what you could already do by long pressing on your home button. We'll see if Google iterates on this with future updates.

The future

Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL More to come

There's so much more to discover with the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL that simply can't be picked up in just a handful of minutes using them. We still need to evaluate battery life, the cameras, screen quality in a variety of conditions and of course how the software holds up when we start using it in daily life.

Be sure to follow Android Central as we spend the coming weeks and months with these two phones.