Betting big on the best combination of artificial intelligence (AI), software and hardware, Google on Wednesday launched Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones and refreshed Daydream View virtual reality (VR) headset for India. Pixel 2 comes in just black, clearly white and kinda blue colours while Pixel 2 XL has just black and black and white variants. Pixel 2 will be priced at Rs 61,000 for 64GB variant and Rs 70,000 for 128GB. Pixel 2 XL 64GB will cost Rs 73,000 and Pixel 2 XL 128GB will be available for Rs 82,000. The pre-orders commence on October 26. The devices will be available in over 1,000 stores across the country and on Flipkart starting November 1 (Pixel 2) and November 15 (Pixel 2 XL).
Pixel 2 comes with a 5-inch and Pixel 2 XL with 6-inch Full-HD OLED displays with Portrait Modes on both rear and selfie cameras. Rated 98 by independent camera testers DXO, the rear camera comes with Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) and Electronic Video Stabilisation (EVS) technology to remove shaky photos and videos. The camera can also click "Live Photos" by recording up to three seconds of footage. It also has AR Stickers and Pixel users would get free unlimited storage on Google Cloud to store photos and videos in the original quality. The devices have IP67 rating making them water and dust resistant.
Both phones come with "squeeze" interaction technology called "Active Edge" that opens Google Assistant, USB-C charger and front facing stereo speakers. The company claims it has the fastest fingerprint scanner in a smartphone. The devices have Google Lens -- a new set of visual features that help you learn more about the world around you and get things done. Currently, in its early stages, Google Lens builds on Google's advancements in computer vision and machine learning, combined with Google knowledge graph which underpins Google Search.
At the start users can look up landmarks, books, music albums, movies, and artwork, right from Google Photos on your Pixel. Both phones have Snapdragon 835 processors and 4GB RAM. Though there is some bad news as the headphone jack is gone. The phone will support an Always On Display this year, to show the notifications and time. Pixel 2 devices will take advantage of the phone's always-on microphones to listen for music and display what you're listening to on the screen, even if it's something on the radio. And if you ever need a quick boost, it can give charge up to seven hours in just 15 minutes.
Google made it easy to switch to Pixel and people will be able to copy their contacts, apps, messages, photos and more from their old phone in 10 minutes or less. Further, Google also announced a refreshed Daydream View VR headset which can be paired with Pixel 2 or any Daydream-ready phone. It sports a premium fabric that makes the headset soft and light and will be available in Charcoal colour for Rs 7,999 on Flipkart. At its event in San Francisco, the company also launched smaller smart speaker "Home Mini", a larger version called "Home Max", high-performance convertible Chromebook called PixelBook and "Google Clips" action camera.
Google Home Mini is priced at $49. Reimagining the sound, it also launched Google Home Max, with 2-inch tweeters and 4.5-inch woofers for amazing audio with 'SmartSound' powered by Google Assistant that automatically tunes sound. It supports Chromecast, AUX and Bluetooth 5.0 and will be available in December for $399. The PixelBook is 10mm thin and weighs a kilo. It has 12.3-inch Quad HD LCD display, 512GB SSD, 16GB RAM and i5 and i7 processors. The device has multiple layers of security, automatic updates and it is the first laptop with Assistant built-in.
With USB-C charger, 15 minutes charge gives two hours of backup. It connects automatically to Pixel phones in absence of wi-fi. The Pixelbook Pen, priced at $99 can help users get information of whatever they have on the screen. Write and draw with Pixelbook Pen that has 10ms of latency and 2,000+ levels of pressure sensitivity. Available in three configurations, Pixelbook is priced at $999 and people can now pre-order it. Google also launched an action cam called Google Clips for $249.
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