Hi, it is Samantha from BrightTitan, an artificial voice that speak on our videos on YouTube and in BrightTitan Cast.

It is yet another week with BrightTitan Cast and we have many things to talk about.

To start with, Google had a technology event on the 4th of October. It was full of hardware or more truly, full of Google’s own products. Yes, they had few hardware in the past, but their primary purpose has always been software. In other words, they trusted other companies to run Google’s softwares. Not anymore though. They still mostly ask other companies about this, but least, now, they offer their own products including two new phones, a new smart router, improved streaming device and a device to compete with Alexa. I feel like though they try to be exactly like Apple which, as you know, makes both the software and the hardware.

Anyway, let’s start with the pixel phones, probably most interested device among all hardware that Google announced in this week.

First of all, they carry the name Pixel, a name that we are actually familiar with although it is the first time that we have seen mobile devices carrying this name. Also, it is the first time that we have seen a phone fully made by Google. In the past, we have seen Pixel which actually focused more on developers than the normal users. But they were great phones. They had a great design and smooth user experience. With Pixel, Google tries to deliver mostly same things after all.

They really want its design to shine out among the current phones. Besides, they want Pixel to be special. The only thing that made Nexus phones special was the speed of the upgrades. However, now, there is much to say about Pixel.

For example, it does not come with stock Android. Instead, it uses a special version of Android. Still, it is Android ( Nougat ), but it is different than the stock android exactly like how HTC Sense is different. I am talking about extra features. In this case, that is the Android assistant which can be accessed from the home screen or by holding the home button for a few seconds. Now, it is smarter and according to Google, it is really close to a real human although still there is a gap between humans and artificial intelligence. In my opinion though, Google Assistant seems like it lacks many features. Yes, it can answer your questions, remember things and continue to your conversation, but I feel like Siri or Alexa is a better assistant. In the past, Google Now’s purpose was to show cards and answer simple questions whereas Siri has always been about being your assistant. Google Assistant still able to show your cards but now, it tries to be like Siri. So that is why the activation way is exactly same with Siri or even the fact that it does not have a text box to write the thing in your mind. It is based on voice control, but I wish the Google Assistant on the Pixel phones could just like the Assistant in Allo. It looks mostly same expect one big difference. In Allo, you have to write whereas on the Android on Pixel, you have to use your voice. Why Google cannot combine both of the entry. Or I think the better question would be why none of the big companies cannot combine those. For example, you have spotlight plus Siri on MacOS. I feel like personal assistant would be way more useful if they not only had a voice support but text support as well. Anyway, back to the Pixel and Pixel XL, they are flagship phones which cost as much as iPhones. Because Google really sees Apple as its competitor; not any other companies. That is why Pixel works mostly same with iPhone. You have a simple user interface with search feature on the first page of the home screen and personal assistant on the long press of the home button. Like the iPhone, it is also metal, but with a awful glass panel on the top back of the phone. I can’t say I like any of the details of the design of the Pixel. They look really ugly. If this is what happens when Google designs a phone, then can Google continue ordering phones from other companies because Nexus phones were always, beautiful whereas Pixel, at least in my opinion, is the answer of how not to design a phone. It is thin and light, but it looks like cheap toy. It lacks the elegance that iPhone has or the modern look that latest Samsung devices have. But I am not in the position to judge its design because different people have different ideas about how a phone should look like. So I will stop complaining about its design and will start talking about its hardware.

As it is a flagship phone, it comes with SnapDragon 821, and as you would expect with a 4 GB of RAM. In terms of main storage, you are given two options. You can either get the base 32GB option or the high-end 128GB. But that does not affect any other feature of the phone. Even if you get the base option, you will still have all the features. You can say why I am specifically telling this. The answer is that in the past, we have seen companies putting less RAM with less main storage and more RAM with more main storage. I believe that is a stupid thing to do and I really appreciate if the main storages does not affect the amount of RAM. Back to its specs, of course, it has Android’s latest version, Nougat 7.1, but with extra nice features such as Google Assistant or new home screen. Yes, it really comes with a new launcher. The launcher itself looks like iOS as Google didn’t put the icon for app launcher. Instead, you have to swipe from down to up in order to see all of your applications. You still have a home screen and app menu though unlike iOS. On the home screen, Google also removed the search bar. Instead, they put a little white box with colored “G” logo. In terms of usage though, the new G button works same with the previous search bar. It opens a small box above the screen, so that you can easily search something. Google also decided to use round icons, but keep in mind, the applications that you will download from Play Store will not be round. I mean you can use a round icon pack downloaded from Play store, but Google only made the icons of some apps round on the Nexus Launcher. Even the app icons of Duo and Allo stay same.

Pixel and Pixel XL also come with same cameras. Both of them use 12 megapixel shooter with dual flash. In theory, they are the best mobile phone cameras but Apple convinced me more about 7 Plus’ camera. In real life, I don’t think you will see any difference after all, but 7 Plus gives you better tools and features such as optical zoom that doesn’t require lens to move at all. In anyways though, the camera of the Pixel is great. It is sharp, fast and clear as you would expect from iPhone’s camera. Yes, I said iPhone because Google tries beat iPhone. I also believed that Google failed to prove how good is Pixel’s camera. I mean just compare the presentation of Pixel with the presentation of iPhone 7. Apple actually talked more about iPhone 7’s camera that Google did with whole Pixel. As a result though, Apple really inoculate the idea that iPhone 7 has a great camera that cannot be told by simple words. That is the difference between an effective event and ineffective one. I am not saying either of those have a bad camera. They are both great, but if you only watched the Google’s and Apple’s event and not experience those devices in the real life, I think you will think iPhone has a great camera. In my opinion, it really does.

Also, with Pixel, Google gives your the privilege of unlimited storage for your photos and videos at their original quality. That is different than what you get with the Google Photos on other phones. With Pixel, Google stores your content on cloud even if their resolution is very high. I mean like 4k. It is good especially when you think that Apple only gives you 5 gb of free storage on iCloud. On the other hand though, It doesn’t sound right for the security.

Pixel phones also come with USB Type-C port and headphone jack. If you watched Google’s event, you would see how Google sniped Apple. They specifically emphasized that Pixel phones come with lovely headphone jack. I am quoting a sentence from Google’s official trailer about Pixel, which is, by the way, can be found on Google’s own YouTube page. In the trailer, It says “3.5mm headphone jack satisfyingly not new”. Also, I need to say that Google really copied Apple in its new Pixel Trailer. In the same trailer, Google says “Blue so Blue” to describe the new bright blue color option for Pixel. Does it sound familiar to you? It does to me, because Apple said “black so black” in its short summary about iPhone 7’s event. Even though Google criticized Apple for many things, they copy Apple a lot, and they actually care to do better applications on iOS then on Android. But that is another subject so we should return to talk about Google’s event.

That was Pixel. A phone built by Google but not made by Google. Didn’t you understand the meaning of it? Okay, let me explain it. Nexus phones were designed and manufactured by other companies whereas Pixel and Pixel XL are designed by Google but actually made by HTC. But in any case, you won’t see any HTC or even Pixel logo on the Pixel phones. There is just a letter “G” on the back.

There is also a new VR headset to be used with Pixel. It is named as Google DayDream View and based on Google’s DayDream platform. This means it supports any phone as long as the device comes with DayDream. So far, Pixel and Pixel Xl are the only devices to support this platform meaning you can only use those two phones with DayDream View so far. But in the future, this number will surely rise.

DayDream View is, by the way, not a second generation of Cardboard VR. It is not even made out of cardboard any more. Instead, it uses foam and soft fabric on the main body with plastics to hold your phone. This way, it is more comfortable to wear it and this way, it is way lighter than its real competitors, which is so far, is only Gear VR.

It also comes with a remote controller. It is not like a regular gamepad, but instead, it is like a minimized TV remote. Let me explain the remote shortly. Basically, take Apple’s new Siri remote, which comes with 6 buttons, touch surface and ability to recognize movements, and then, remove all the buttons but just leave two of them. Also make the controller plastic and a little bit thicker. You just designed the remote controller of Google DayDream VR Headset. It is not bad though. It is definitely better than using a gamepad with remote controller and definitely, proves that all the mobile VR headsets need to have some kind of remote controller that is based on movements.

Anyway, I think we should start to talk about other devices as well. The second device in our list is Google Wifi. Again, yet another attempt from Google to make its own devices. In the past, there were OnHub routers which stand out with its app so that you didn’t necessarily have to connect your PC to the router. Now, Google has its own router simply named as “Google Wifi”. The stand out feature of this device though is the fact that you can pair few of them together so you would get a better range without compromising the quality of the network. However, we don’t know if there is a limit for the number of devices that you can connect. I believe it is 3 though because Google sells you its router as either in a one pack or in a three-pack.

In any case though, it has a mobile app like OnHub routers. You can make changes through the app and see the information about both router and the network. It will be priced at $129, little cheaper than its competitors. Also, you can grab three of them for $299.

In other words, Google tries to be in our life more than ever. Their operating system is already being used by many users and now, they try to take over the hardware world as well. It has its own benefits for the users, but it raises serious questions about security especially with Google’s smart home devices including Google Wifi and Home.

By the way, Google Home was another device that was being talked about in the event. It is not exactly a new device, but we got more information about it.

For the ones who don’t know the purpose of Google Home, it is basically a white Google Echo with Google Assistant. It is aimed to bring personal assistant to your at home. This way, you don’t have to open your phone and activate the assistant on your phone. You just need to connect the Google Home to the plug and then, Google Assistant will be ready to serve you. It is able to do everything Google Assistant on the phone can do. Plus, it supposedly able to control your smart home.

It costs $129 as well, and again cheaper than its competitors which is, in this case, only Amazon Echo. In my opinion though, Google Home has a better potential than Amazon Alexa, because it is based on Google’s services. Amazon has great services but most of those services are designed for professionals. On the other hand, Google does both. They serve normal users as well as professionals. However, without any doubt, their normal services are huge in terms of sizes. Just forget everything. They have google search. A service with which the Google Home can answer all of your questions. Furthermore, it has a potential to reach your Google account. Yes, it has a security side, but beyond that, it may get really useful thanks to those services. You are probably using Gmail, then Google Home may help you to send a mail or answer to the current one. Or with YouTube Music, it can play you millions of songs and you don’t have to worry if the song you like is available on YouTube, because well, we are talking about YouTube. One of the largest library for videos in the world, which also, includes many musics.

As you can see, Google owns a lot of great services and if the Google Assistant can use those properly, it has a great potential. And if the Google Assistant is capable as we want, then Google Home would be capable as well. In any case though, it is not enough. Google may have huge services but there are many more services. What I am saying is that it is critical for a personal assistant to have a support for third-party apps even if the artificial intelligence is made by Google, largest software company in the world. Google Assistance is not there, but definitely, it will at some point.

However, Google Assistant is important in any case. If it wants to be our main personal assistant, it not only needs to be great at voice recognition, but also at delivering the decent content. Beyond that, it also needs to reach more device. Siri is available on millions of devices especially when you consider the fact that it just became available on the Macs  as well. On the other hand, Google Assistant is so far, only available on the Pixel phones and also on the Google Home. Yes, it will come with Android Nougat, but the question is when the 7.0 will be able to pass the usage of other Android versions.

To sum up, Google is on the right track after all, but they definitely need to work on their services to make their physical products better.

And that was the end of the BrightTitan Cast. I am Samantha, the artificial voice of BrightTitan Cast and see you on the next week.