Google deepens its hardware focus

BI Intelligence

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Google's announcement-filled event on Wednesday affirmed that the company is betting big on hardware and artificial intelligence (AI). As it did at last year’s event, Google emphasized the importance of building adequate hardware to house AI in order to optimize performance.

For this reason, Google Assistant took center stage at the event, boasting several updates that make the company’s AI-infused voice assistant more useful; the Assistant is also being integrated into some new hardware.

Here are Google's top hardware announcements:

Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. The new devices have been optimized to bring Google Assistant to the forefront of the smartphone experience with “Active Edge,” which lets users squeeze the sides of the handset to activate the Assistant.
Pixelbook. Google’s new ultrabook — a lightweight laptop with some tablet functionality — runs on Chrome OS and gives users voice access to Google Assistant commands. The laptop also has a designated Assistant keyboard button.
Pixel Pen. The connected stylus for the Pixelbook lets users circle photos, words, and events on their laptop, which are then answered by Google Assistant through visual and image search. For example, if a user circles a photo of a flower, Google Assistant can give them information about it without the need for text input.

On the software front, two key announcements highlighted consumer use of the Google Assistant:

Routine commands for Google Home. Smart home routines enable users to manage their connected devices by speaking a single command to Google Assistant. For example, saying “Good morning” to Google Assistant can simultaneously turn on the lights, increase the thermostat temperature, and begin outlining the user’s day via Google Calendar. The announcement comes on the heels of a similar offering from Amazon.
Lens preview for Pixel. Lens, Google’s visual search product, is available for preview on Pixel phones through Photos and Google Assistant. First introduced during I/O in May, Lens lets users point their smartphone camera at an object in the real world to bring up information about the object. The search feature leverages the company’s massive buckets of visual data, alongside its powerful knowledge graph. Lens can also be used to scan email addresses and Wi-Fi passwords and automatically put that info to use.

Tighter integration between software and hardware will give Google greater control over the Android ecosystem. The Pixel is in part a diversified revenue driver, but it’s also a bellwether for the rest of the Android smartphone market, designed to showcase what the OS and its services — including Google Assistant — are capable of. Controlling the whole of the device will allow Google to better achieve this vision.

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