smartphone-store-california-blog

[smartphone-store-california-blog]

Pixel smartphone upgrade highlights Google push into hardware

SAN FRANCISCO, US: Google last week unveiled new versions of its Pixel best smartphone store in california, the highlight of a refreshed line aimed at weaving artificial intelligence deeper into modern lives.

Google software and artificial intelligence were common threads in the gamut of new devices it unveiled to step up its challenge on the hardware front to rivals such as Apple and Amazon

The new Pixel 2 and larger Pixel 2 XL are the first Google-made phones to be released since the California tech giant announced the acquisition of key segments of Taiwan-based electronics group HTC.

The upgraded smartphones will be available for order as of Wednesday in six countries starting at $649 for five-inch display Pixel 2, and $849 for the six-inch Pixel 2 XL.

The new aluminium-body smartphones along with Google's upgraded connected speakers and new laptop computer all aim to infuse artificial intelligence to make the devices more user-friendly, built around the Google Assistant - the rival to Amazon's Alexa, Microsoft's Cortana and others.

Google vice president Rick Osterloh said Google's new devices "are simple to use and they anticipate your needs."

Osterloh told the product launch event in San Francisco: "You interact with your devices naturally with your voice or by touching them."

UNITED STATES

New Google earbuds offer real-time translation feature

SAN FRANCISCO, US: Google on Wednesday introduced new Pixel earbuds that the company says are capable of real-time translation of conversations in different languages...

3 days ago

Google, by bringing in a team of engineers from HTC, aims to emulate the success of Apple iPhones by controlling the hardware as well as the software used in the premium-priced handsets.

The revamped camera in the smartphone retains a single lens but seeks to improve images via "computational photography," an artificial intelligence tool that can enhance pictures.

Analyst Ian Fogg of IHS Markit said in a tweet that the new smartphone "adds incremental improvements on the great v1" while noting that "Google's challenge is to solve production limits which hurt the original."

Fogg said the use of computation to improve images with a single lens "is technically impressive."

Google announced a slimmed down version of its connected speaker called Google Home Mini starting at $49 in the United States, stepping up its challenge to market leader Amazon.

The new Google Home Mini is available for pre-order in the seven countries where the device is offered and will go on sale in stores October 19, the company said.

SOUTH AFRICA

#EntrepreneurMonth: Persistence propels businesses forward

Sabelo Sibanda and Thulisile Volwana are the founders of Millbug, an electronics manufacturing company, as well as Tuse, an Android app that tackles connectivity issues...

Ilse van den Berg 4 Oct 2017

The new speaker, which responds to voice commands using artificial intelligence, is less than half the price of Google's first generation speaker and makes this "more accessible to more people," said Google hardware designer Isabelle Olsson.

A premium version of the speaker - a $399 Google Home Max unveiled Wednesday - offers more power and audio quality for music aficionados.

The new Google Clips camera - one of the surprises of the event - "looks for smiles (and) moments, because the software is in the camera," said Google product manager Juston Payne.

"It's like having my own photographer shooting and choosing my best moments for me," Payne said of the $249 device.

Another surprise from the event was the wireless Pixel Buds, which can deliver audio from a smartphone and also include the Google Assistant and real-time translation.

A demonstration at the event included a two-way conversation with one person speaking English and the other Swedish.

"The camera and the earbuds were really held up as examples of what the company can do by leveraging the Google Assistant," said Ross Rubin of Reticle Research.

A new Pixelbook laptop was touted as a "high performance" computer powered by its Chrome operating system and designed as a rival to Microsoft's Surface and Apple's iPad Pro.

With a 12.3-inch display, the device is a convertible PC that can be used as a tablet and is sold starting at $999 for US customers.

GLOBAL

Amazon beefs up Echo lineup and Alexa skills

SAN FRANCISCO, US: Amazon has unveiled upgrades to its Echo speakers and announced that Alexa smarts will be built into BMW and Mini automobiles by the middle of next year...

28 Sep 2017

Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said the new devices showcase the tech giant's artificial intelligence.

"We've been working hard continuing our shift from a mobile-first to an AI-first world," he said.

"We are working on software and hardware together because that is the best way to drive computing forward."

The launch comes in the wake of Apple's announcement of a new line of iPhones, and Amazon's upgrades to its Echo speakers powered by its Alexa digital assistant

"It is a portfolio designed to take Google into more parts of your life, particularly in your home," Reticle Research analyst Ross Rubin said of the array of devices the internet giant unveiled on Wednesday.

"Amazon is focusing on a range of price points and designs; Google is focusing on a range of experiences."

Source: AFP

'California Typewriter' Is A Love Letter To The Outdated

The documentary California Typewriter is a love letter to the outdated — be it typewriters, thank you notes, mom and pop repair shops, or creativity that doesn't start with turning on a computer first.

Director Doug Nichol centers the film on an African-American owned shop in Berkeley called California Typewriter. Owner Herbert L. Permillion III, who worked for IBM for 20 years, opened the store in 1981 and has kept it running, with the help of his two daughters and repairman Ken Alexander, through the rise of home computers, smart phones, and tablets. After all, if turntables and vinyl can make a comeback, why not typewriters?

Several typewriter enthusiasts are also interviewed, though (maddeningly) none of them are identified in any way until the end credits. You'll likely recognize Tom Hanks, a collector with about 250 typewriters, who espouses the virtue of a typewritten "Thank You" note versus an email, something he'll routinely delete as quickly as the "seven seconds" it took to write and send. "Take 70 seconds to type me out something on a piece of paper and send it to me, well, I'll keep that forever," he says.

John Mayer, who never had to make the transition from typewriter to computer as he's not even 40, makes salient points about the built-in obsolescence of computers, and how all the material housed on all of our old hard drives is basically sitting in glorified garbage cans. Unless you printed that stuff out, it's as good as gone forever. So he bought probably one of the last new electric typewriters, and has taken to writing song lyrics with it, noting that there's nothing impeding his creative process — no spellcheck or blinking icon of distraction.

Writers Sam Shepard and David McCullough, neither of whom ever made the transition to tech, also talk about the typewriter's contribution to the writing process, with McCullough noting that without the visual proof of revisions, corrections, and changes, we're losing a valuable look into the thought processes of our creative thinkers and politicians. Shepard notes the tactile satisfaction of feeding paper into the typewriter and hearing and feeling those words slap onto the page.

We also meet a collector from Toronto who travels to San Francisco in hopes of purchasing one of the first typewriters made, based on original inventor Christopher Latham Sholes's design, and Oakland sculptor Jeremy Mayer, who uses typewriter parts — and ONLY typewriter parts — to craft figurative sculptures that include animal and human forms. To some, his work may seem blasphemous, but it's nice to see the symbiotic relationship he has with the California Typewriter shop. They give him the typewriters that are beyond redemption, and Mayer often ends up having a rare part the shop might need for a repair.

It's the scenes in that shop that are the film's most enjoyable. I wanted more of them. A tighter film could have been made with fewer segments on the enthusiasts and users (the Boston Typewriter Orchestra and Poetry Store poet Silvi Alcivar also make appearances) and more scenes showing the genuine love Permillion and Alexander have for their shop and their typewriters. It's infectious, and even a little thrilling watching their ingenious solutions to repairing items that have no replacement parts because, well, there are no replacement parts to be found.

When I was a kid, I had an old Smith Corona typewriter that weighed about 20 pounds, had an old ribbon that had been reused so many times it no longer typed in black but in muted grey, and whose keys had a tendency to stick together in certain combinations. But I loved typing on that thing. Sometimes I would type my own stuff, and sometimes I would just copy passages out of books, just because I liked typing; it made me feel smart.

Eventually I got an electric typewriter (a Panasonic) and I clung to that way into college. My friends had moved on to word processors and laptops (that also seemed to weigh about 20 pounds) by then, but I was convinced I wouldn't be able to write anything if the process didn't involve a first draft that was pen on paper, and a final draft that was typewritten. I'm not certain, but I think it was seeing how easy it was to edit something — removing and rearranging paragraphs and thoughts on the page — that eventually pushed me over to the dark side, and eventually I became convinced I couldn't write anything unless it was via computer.

But whenever I see a typewriter out in the wild — at a friend's, or a flea market — I can't resist going over and typing "the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy hound dog" on it. I just love to hear the clack of the keys, and feel the reverberation of those letters hitting that paper. California Typewriter understands that love.

California Typewriter is currently playing at the Opera Plaza Cinema in San Francisco, and the Shattuck Cinema in Berkeley.

Google ditched Gear S4 and Apple Watch rivals from Google Store (and no one even noticed)

GETTY • GOOGLE

Google Store underwent a redesign after the launch of the Pixel 2 – and no longer includes wearables

Google unveiled a slew of new devices during its annual hardware event last night.

The California-based company took the wraps off its new Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones, wireless Pixel Bud headphones, as well as a £999 ChromeOS notebook, dubbed PixelBook.

However, one device category was noticeably absent from the announcements on-stage – Android Wear.

Worse still, Google appears to have removed all mention of Android Wear smartwatches from its Google Store, which received a fresh coat of paint following the new hardware announcements.

It’s still possible to access the Android Wear section of the online store via a direct link.

However, Google does not list any models currently available to buy.

The LG Watch Style and LG Watch Sport are both appear on the landing page, however, both are listed as “No Longer Available”.

GOOGLE

Android Wear smartwatches designed by LG are currently listed as No Longer Available

It’s unclear what has lead to this decision – it could simply be that Google wants to focus on its own branded hardware in the Google Store.

But it could also be an indication of low sales figures for Android Wear devices.

Earlier rumours hinted Google might be preparing its own Pixel-branded wearable to launch alongside a new version of its Android Wear operating system.

However, these did not materialise on-stage.

Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro and Gear Sport – In Pictures Wed, August 30, 2017

SAMSUNG

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The Gear Fit2 Pro is an waterproof fitness tracker with heart-rate monitoring

Samsung is tipped to be working on its own next-generation smartwatch, Gear S4.

The smartwatch would replace the Gear S3 Classic and Gear S3 Frontier in the current line-up.

Samsung announced a number of fitness-focused watches during a press conference at the IFA consumer technology tradeshow in Berlin, earlier this year.

Samsung Gear S3 Brought to you by express.co.uk

Dubbed Samsung Gear Sport, the new watch has a 1.2-inch Circular Super AMOLED always-on display, powered by a Dual Core 1.0 GHz and 300mAh battery.

It’s also completely waterproof – certified 5 ATM1 for water resistance.

Apple also updated its Apple Watch smartwatch in September, bringing cellular data and resting heart rate monitoring to the wearable.