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Enlarge ImageJames Martin/CNET
Unless you’ve been living under a rock — or just don’t care — you’ve already seen the leaks for most of what Google announced at press event September 29, 2014. And there really weren’t any surprises. But there was a little more detail.
Here’s a recap of everything you missed.
As usual, part of what we saw here today recaps the updates to version 6 of Android’s operating system — now dubbed ” Marshmallow ” — announced at Google I/O in May. Features like its Now on Tap personal assistant, aka Google’s Siri competitor, and the rollout of Android Pay at the beginning of September are joined by essential improvements like supposedly longer battery life with a Doze mode, more finely-grained application permissions, fingerprint-scanner support and an in-phone app search.
Google Nexus event: The latest from San Francisco (pictures)
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Plus, we heard the usual
, including a total of 1.4 billion active devices around the world, many first timers and from emerging economies, boatloads of Chromebooks in the US educational system and 10,000 companies working with Android for Work.
Marshmallow update
Have a Nexus device? You’re in luck. Google will be making Android 6 available next week, but unless you’ve got a stock Android phone, you’ll have to wait until your carrier puts it through the grinder and delivers it to you.
Phones: Nexus 5X and 6P
Google expands from a single Nexus launch to two stock-Android flagship phones from different manufacturers. Of course, they’ll both ship with the latest version of Android, and Google spent time recapping how these phones take advantage of it.
The LG-manufactured Nexus 5X incorporates a 2,700mAh battery. It has dual front-facing speakers, a USB Type-C port for connecting and fast charging, and a fingerprint scanner (dubbed “Nexus Imprint”) on the back. It has a 5.2-inch display, uses a 64-bit processor and comes in Carbon Black, Quartz White and Ice Blue.
Take a closer look at the Nexus 5X (pictures)
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Its bigger brother, the 5.7-inch Nexus 6P with a quad-HD (2,560×1,440) resolution AMOLED screen, comes to us from Huawei. It’s 7.3mm thick, made of anodized aluminum with a sculpted back, and comes in Frost White, Aluminum and Graphite.
Nexus 6P is a big, all-metal phone from Google (pictures)
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It incorporates a 12.3-megapixel rear camera with a 1.55-micron-pixel-pitch Sony sensor (that’s pretty big for a phone) and an 8MP selfie camera.
Google claims that the larger pixels, which allow for faster shutter speeds in low light, eliminates the need for optical image stabilization. (Sorry, no. The lack of image stabilization is a big miss to me.)
The camera uses laser-detection autofocus and has improved processing with an automatic HDR mode in low light. The camera also gets 240fps slow motion and 4K video; in contrast, the 5X does 120fps. It shoots 30fps bursts with a best-image selection capability, and in Marshmallow, double-tapping the power button launches the camera. We compare the 6P’s specs with the iPhone 6S and Galaxy S6.
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Google announces the new Nexus 5X
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Both phones have a sensor hub processor for managing all the sensor-data input (such as activity recognition and gesture recognition) to manage power. Nexus Imprint works for Android Pay, security and authorizing Play store purchases. It basically adds an application programming interface so that all apps can take advantage of it. Google claims the fingerprint scanner has a low false-rejection rate, learns over time, and is relatively speedy.
You’ll be able to buy the phones in the online Google Store. Both are available for pre-order now in the US, UK, Ireland and Japan. The 5x starts at $380; the 6P, $500. They’ll both ship in late October ship, unlocked. In the UK, the 32GB model is £449, the 64GB costs £499 and the 128GB is priced at £579. In Australia, the 32GB version is AU$899, the 64GB runs AU$999, and the 128GB will cost AU$1,099.
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Google unveils 6P, the first all-metal Nexus
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They come with 90-day free subscription to Google Play Music. In the US, there’s also a $50 Google Play credit. Nexus Protect adds a year to one-year manufacturer warranty, which covers mechanical breakdown and accidental damage, plus one-business-day device replacement. It costs $69.
Both will be available on the Fi network. Project Fi is Google’s wireless service, whose secret sauce is the ability to hop between cell carriers and Wi-Fi to deliver the optimal (and cheapest) signal, all for a lower price than the typical carrier’s.
Home theater: Chromecast 2.0 and Chromecast Audio
James Martin/CNET
Google puts the phone at the center of your living room experience. Google foreshadowed today’s Chromecast announcements at its developer conference in May along with its Channels programming feed for Android TV, and today we saw not just the update to its HDMI-connected TV streaming stick, but the addition of a new device for streaming audio from any Android device to your Wi-Fi-connected speaker system. Both gain Spotify support.
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Chromecast now works with Google Photos
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The original Chromecast shipped about two years ago and has sold more than 20 million. Chromecast 2.0 gets a physical redesign with an HDMI cable (for more flexibility) and colorful, small puck-shaped chassis. It levels up to casting games and photos from your phone. Google updated its wireless to dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) 802.11ac Wi-Fi and three antennae for a longer reach and stronger signal.
New Chromecast partners include Showtime and a variety of sports apps.
There’s a new Chromecast app with a “What’s On” discovery feature, turning your phone or tablet into couch-potato central. It will also tell you which apps on your device support Chromecast. A device tab in the app allows multiple devices to control casting. And there’s improved, voice-capable, cross-app search. It will be available over the next few weeks.
New Fast Play allows developers to prefetch content when the app is launched for faster launching. For gaming, it uses the remote-display API in Marshmallow to cast the game to the TV from your phone and use the phone’s accelerometers for control. Facebook, Flickr, 500px and Getty backdrops will also be available.
The second-generation Chromecast will cost the same as the first-gen model, $35, and will be available starting today in 17 countries.
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Chromecast Audio connects any speaker to your smart device
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Totally new, Google revealed Chromecast Audio. It looks similar to the other device, but comes with a 3.5mm, RCA or optical colored audio cable instead of HDMI. It works with existing Chromecast-capable apps and operates similarly to its video sibling. It streams “the highest-quality audio”, mutes notification tones and works with Android Wear. A guest mode allows friends to cast without connecting to your Wi-Fi and it can mirror any audio — including podcasts and audible books.
It will also cost $35.
Android tablet: Pixel C
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See Google offer a sneak peek at its new Pixel C tablet
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The goal of the Pixel team is to guide “aspirational” device development. Google previewed the Pixel C, a 10.2-inch Android tablet — that’s slighly larger than the iPad Air series — which looks like Google’s entry into the tablets-for-work crowd. The “C” stands for “convertible.” Rather than a Nexus-branded model, which are manufactured by third parties, instead it’s part of the Google-grown Pixel line, heretofore consisting of just Chromebook laptops.
Google Pixel C is a sleek tablet with a slim detachable keyboard (pictures)
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Specs include a 308 pixel-per-inch display — that’s higher resolution than Retina — with an Nvidia X1 quad-core processor (the same CPU that drives the Nvidia Shield line of products) and Nvidia Maxwell graphics processor, 3GB of working memory, and it has an optional magnetically attached keyboard (with an 18mm key pitch) that connects via Bluetooth and which charges inductively when it’s closed and attached to the tablet.
It has stereo speakers on either side as well as four microphones for far-field voice input. The Pixel C will be available by the end of the year starting at $500, plus $150 for the keyboard.
Services: Project Fi, Google Play Music, Photos
Following in the footsteps of many competitors, Google announced a family plan for its all-you-can-eat music service, Google Play Music. Six family members with individual accounts will be able to share for $15-per-month fee.
Google Photos gets three new features: shared albums with update notifications, the ability to privately label photos and search the labels (available this week), and the ability to display photos to your TV via Chromecast (this week on Android, soon on iOS).
You can share an album by clicking on the album link and clicking on a “plus” button; album sharers and subscribers are notified, and each photo has an attribution. This will be available later this year.
That’s just the highlights; here’s where you’ll find all of today’s Google news and the archive for our live blog.
