Google held an event earlier today and introduced a suite of new hardware:
- A phone called Pixel that works with Daydream their new VR headset;
- Google WiFi router;
- And an Amazon Echo like device called Google Home, that will work seamlessly with existing Chromecast devices
Google Assistant is the culmination of Google’s software strength in the area of search and machine learning. The event is peppered with a plethora of examples on how your daily life will be improved and facilitated by the Google Assistant through the use of Google’s new hardware. The hardware and software combination makes for a compelling and attractive offering to join the Google ecosystem.
I think Google is finally seeing the light of Apple’s philosophy of building solutions with full control of both hardware and software design. Apple still has two other areas where Google is still lacking:
- A retail presence with a second to none personable support experience;
- And its devotion and practice in personal privacy
It will be interesting to see if a future Google will make ways to close the remaining gaps. Of course, I’m also worried about how Google will serve you ads through these devices once they’ve trapped you into their ecosystem.