Articles about Pixel

Google lets Android users non-verbally contact emergency services by phone

If you ever find yourself in an emergency situation, you can just call 911 for help, right? Well, usually, but not always. In some situations, you may be unable to communicate verbally. God forbid, but what if you are kidnapped and forcefully gagged by an assailant? Maybe an intruder is in your home and you are hiding in a closet -- calling 911 might alert the bad person of your location. Hell, maybe you have a brain incident, such as a stroke, that causes you to lose verbal skills. As you can see, calling for help isn't always so easy.

Today, Google announces a brilliant new Android feature that is certain to save lives. Starting with Pixel smartphones, users will be able to initiate an audio call to emergency services where the phone verbally communicates for you. In other words, by just tapping the on-screen buttons, a 911 operator will be told the general nature of the emergency and your location. Cool, right? This should prove indispensable for those that find themselves in a non-verbal situation.

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Real-time Google Translate comes to all Google Assistant headphones and Android phones

Google Translate

Previously a Pixel exclusive, Google is opening up real-time translation to a wider range of devices. So wide, in fact, that real-time Google Translate is now available to all Assistant-optimized headphones and Android phones.

For quite some time, the option was only available to people with a Google Pixel phone paired with Pixel Buds earphones, but now just about everyone has access to the feature.

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Why should Google buy HTC?

Confusion

Rumor has it that Google is about to buy HTC's smartphone business. The search giant has the money and the hunger to make it in this market, and the Taiwanese maker has the know-how it needs to come up with the great products that it needs to make a splash -- just look at the Pixel for example. It looks like a match made in heaven.

But, looking at Google's history with Motorola it is hard to understand why the search giant needs to buy another smartphone business. After all, it does not need to own one to make its Pixel smartphones, so why go through all this trouble?

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When will Google launch the Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2?

With the Pixel and Pixel XL on the market for nearly a year and Android 8.0 Oreo launched this week, it will not be long until Google takes the wraps off the second-generation Pixel smartphones. Question is, when can we expect the big announcement to be made?

Considering that Android 8.0 Oreo arrived one year after its predecessor, it is likely that Google will wait until early-October to unveil the Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2. Last year, that's when it announced the first-generation. And a tweet from famous leaker Evan Blass lends credence to this theory.

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Google Pixel and Pixel XL get big discounts

The Pixel and Pixel XL are among the best flagship smartphones that you can buy today. And, since they're rapidly approaching their one-year anniversary, they are now offered with some serious discounts direct from Google, making them an even more attractive proposition in the high-end market.

Google is offering the Pixel and Pixel XL with discounts of up to $200 on its online store, and, to sweeten the deal even further, you can also grab a VR headset for free.

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Google Pixel's low sales prove mindshare doesn't equal market share

If you look at the flagships the media loves to talk about, you may be inclined to believe that the Pixel and Pixel XL are two of the most popular high-end smartphones today. It is easy to think that when you have so many major outlets comparing them to the Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus and the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ like they're in the same league somehow or as attractive to consumers.

In reality though, Pixel and Pixel XL sales are abysmal. How do we know that? Well, for one, you do not see Google showing up as a leading vendor in any of the quarterly reports issued by IDC and Gartner, and, second, Google itself has confirmed their niche appeal. This is another great example why you shouldn't put an equals sign between mindshare and market share -- especially when it comes to Google-branded devices.

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