Opinion

Branding is always remarkably revealing. When you open Gmail, the splash screen shows that it’s part of “Google Workspace.” That brand was introduced in 2020 and compared to G Suite makes very clear that Gmail, Meet, Chat, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Keep, and Voice help you be productive. People obviously utilize Gmail for work, but many more are using it in their personal lives, and that use case, as of late, has been somewhat ignored by Google. One way to address that lack of new innovation can be found in Gmail’s past: Inbox.

Elon Musk started by tweeting out  – if not demanding – Twitter feature requests/changes in a truly remarkable moment for technology and corporate governance. This led to a rejected board seat and this morning’s acquisition attempt, complete with “Plan B” if/when the board rejects. Decrees-by-tweet and hostile takeovers cannot be a sustainable way to run a product, and these events play into my long-held belief that Google should have bought Twitter years ago. It would have certainly been a more orthodox turn of events compared to what’s going to play out very publicly over the coming weeks. 

Following the redesign in Android 12, calls from Pixel owners that want the option to remove At a Glance have only increased. It’s unlikely that will happen anytime soon as Google is very much in the middle of justifying At a Glance’s existence and making it a pillar of the helpful Pixel experience.

You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. The latest impression that Google wants to impart is that Android will power the wave of large screen devices to come. Besides proclamations, the biggest sign of Google’s commitment to this effort is Android 12L, a version of the mobile OS especially for foldables and tablets. It launched at the start of this month, but it has so far only been a drop in the ocean and feels like a missed opportunity for Google to make a big splash about where Android is heading.

It probably doesn’t need to be said, but the delayed update schedule for the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro not only hurts those of us that value prompt support. It cheapens and chips away at the perceived “flagship” experience being sold to prospective buyers.

It’s been clear for some time now that Assistant Snapshot “does not have the same level of vision, central on-phone placement, or wide backing” as Google Now. It was never going to be game changing, but its upcoming demise officially closes the chapter on what could have been a radically different way to use smartphones.

The Jackbox Party Pack, a series of games meant to be played with friends both near and far, and Stadia, a platform with built-in YouTube streaming, seem like a match made in heaven, but the current voice chat options hold it back from perfection.

Compared to the last design language revamp, Google’s rollout of Material You is happening at a much faster pace. That Material You app update blitz comes amid a barrage of Pixel 6 advertising and that’s no coincidence. It’s the sign of a well-under-way vision at Google that has been sorely missing.

In the midst of Hurricane Ida, I’ve found that RCS is not ready to be depended upon, while Google Messages has not thought out all the edge cases for the future.

Google’s decision to only include a severely limited amount of storage in the Chromecast with Google TV is already standing in the way of updating my apps.

With work from home becoming more prevalent over the years — the last one especially, Android OEMs have repeatedly tried to make their tablets more productive and work-ready. This past week, I tried to use an Android tablet — Lenovo P11 Pro with keyboard cover —  for work instead of my usual Chromebook, and it didn’t go well.

For years, Google’s Pixel phones have enjoyed three years of updates, the longest lifespan this side of the Android/iOS divide. Now Samsung has pushed the envelope, offering four years of security updates, beating Google’s Pixel phones at their own game.

Last week, our APK Insight team uncovered mentions in the Google Stadia app of an ominous “Project Hailstorm.” Since then, the Stadia community has been abuzz with speculation about what Project Hailstorm could be. Here are some of my own guesses.

New research this week revealed a surprising statistic – Google has surpassed LG as the third largest premium smartphone OEM in the United States. I think that they deserve it, and here’s why.

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Earlier today, we had the opportunity to go hands-on with the RED Hydrogen One. During this 45-minute demo period, we got a feel of the handset and saw a demo of the company’s “4-view” 3D display technology. But even with this limited time, it was clear to me that this isn’t a device that should be marketed to consumers.

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Plenty of new and exciting Google products launched over the last few years have left me underwhelmed. About anyone can tell you that I was high on the Google Glass train for a while (even though I didn’t actually own a pair until it was basically dead), and I’ve written countless times about how I just can’t find any use for Android Wear (or frankly, most wearables). And other more-recent new Google products, like Daydream View, have simply sat in my drawer for months on end.

I don’t know if, until now, any single tech product has entered my life since the smartphone that has ended up being just completely indispensable and necessary. Something like (forgive my rough estimates) 75% percent of my interactions with consumer tech over the last few years have been with either my phone or my laptop. That other 25 percent has been filled with things like traditional television, tapping around on a smartwatch, playing video games, or using some kind of tablet.

With the Google Home now a part of my daily routine, though, these numbers are changing. It’s a minor shift to be sure, but I’m starting to be able to assign a noticeable percentage of my tech interactions to this new product and I’ve found myself feeling somewhat more free from my phone lately…

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We showed you some more hands-on images of the LG G6 earlier today, and they got me thinking a bit more about LG’s coming MWC launch event, where the company will show us the successor to its unfortunate failure of an attempt to make modular smartphones mainstream.

In short, I can’t help but wonder why the LG G6 exists. It’s basically just a rehashed LG V20, and that makes the G6 even more boring than it would have already been if the LG V20 never existed.

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I had a lot of thoughts in my 4,000+ word Google Pixel review, but after a few more days using the phone as my primary device I’ve come to realize the significance of something else that’s just different about it. Some have touched on this subject, but I think I need to make it perfectly clear. The Google Pixel is the least frustrating Android phone ever. That’s something the Android community has devalued over the years in an obsession over raw specs, and it’s something that the iPhone — forgive my comparison — has quite frankly dominated in. That is, until now…

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At Google I/O 2016, the Mountain View company decided — although admittedly not an entirely new theme — that it would be a good idea to spread its announcements across three days. The keynote showed off Google’s vision for the future: virtual reality, its new AI and machine learning initiatives, Google Home hardware to take advantage of them, and a few sprinkles of Android Wear 2.0 goodness. The second day saw the announcement of the Play Store coming to Chrome OS.

But the third day was ATAP day, admittedly my favorite day of Google I/O. Last year the Advanced Technologies and Projects group at Google showed off Project Jacquard, Project Soli, some more details on Project Ara, and more. And then the company went silent. For pretty much an entire year.

Maybe that’s a good thing, as Google tends to show its projects and technologies off a little early in general. It’s not exactly out of Google’s character to show a product or service, say that it’s coming in 6 months, it not arrive for 12 months or 18 months, and then the final product share hardly any resemblance to what was originally announced. Admittedly that’s happening with some of ATAP’s projects either way (I’m looking at you, Ara), but at least it’s not a constant barrage of teases and false hope.

Anyway, Google ATAP finally came out of hiding on the third day of I/O yesterday, and with it came updates on Project Jacquard, Project Soli, Project Ara, and Spotlight Stories. Jacquard brought the announcement of the first retail product based on the tech, Ara brought a little update on how progress is coming including the most current prototype device with new module connectors (and promise of a dev kit coming soon), and the Spotlight Stories mention came with some progress in VR storytelling. All cool stuff.

But Soli is what makes my jaw drop.

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I’ve long be intrigued about the potential of virtual reality, and as such, I’ve been dying to try the Oculus Rift or the HTC Vive. Sadly, I’ve yet to have the opportunity to try either.

I humbly settled on Google Cardboard, which is a nice novelty, but a less than ideal experience. For all that Google Cardboard lacked, it made it clear that VR is more than just a passing fad, and that it features some serious potential.

Google Cardboard, for all of its merits, doesn’t do the idea of VR justice. Fortunately, you don’t have to spend ~$1500 to enjoy a proper VR experience. Samsung’s Gear VR, an idea brought to reality via a partnership with VR pioneer Oculus, is a legitimate VR experience that makes me downright excited about the future of this technology.

Gear VR is far from perfect, but it’s a huge upgrade over Google Cardboard, and cheap enough to where the masses can both experience and validate it.
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As an “Apple guy” the HTC 10 has been the one smartphone that I’ve immediately identified with in the Android ecosystem. That’s not to say that there haven’t been other Android devices that I’ve enjoyed or wanted to use, but I’ve always connected with HTC.

That probably has something to do with the fact that the HTC Wizard was the first “smart” phone I’ve ever owned. That phone ran the now defunct Windows Mobile and featured a resistive touch screen. Needless to say, I’ve long been a fan of the Taiwanese company, and its passion and desire to put out well-designed products continues to resonate with me in 2016.

So it’s with great empathy and concern that HTC has been struggling as of late. To be honest, the HTC 10 feels like the company’s make or break — the major fork in the road, if you will.

It’s very possible that the HTC 10 will be the release that paves a path to one of two destinations. Fortunately, I can report that this is a phone that’s good enough to pave that path in the right direction. It’s a phone that lives up to its billing, and in many ways exceeds expectations. It’s definitely not perfect, but it’s the best-looking and most complete HTC offering that we’ve seen thus far.
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