Tech News Roundup for September 30, 2020
Today’s update consists entirely of big announcements announcements from Google and Lenovo
Google Announces Phones, Speaker, Streaming Device
Google announced four new products today, we’ll start with phones. They are the Pixel 4a With 5G and the Pixel 5. Google’s naming scheme for phones is kind of a mess this year. Beyond the sheer mouth full that is the name of the Pixel 4a With 5G, it actually isn’t really all that similar to the Pixel 4a released a couple months ago. The 4a With 5G sports a Qualcomm 765G processor over the 730G found in the 4a, and has the biggest screen of all this year’s Pixel devices t 6.2 inches. That screen is also OLED while the Pixel 4a is an LCD. It also features two cameras, a standard camera and an ultrawide, the latter of which is lacking on the 4a. It has the same 6GB of ram as the Pixel 4a. The one disappointing thing is the battery, with the same 3800 mAH sized battery as the Pixel 4a. While that will likely be good enough for this phone, it would have been nice to see the largest phone in the lineup get a bigger battery.
The Pixel 5 is the more feature packed phone announced today. It features the same Snapdragon 765G processor as the 4a with 5G as well as the same camera setup, but the Pixel 5 sports a slightly smaller 6 inch OLED screen but features a larger 4000 mAH battery. It has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and also features wireless charging and reverse wireless charging.
The Pixel 4a With 5G is available for pre-order at $680, and the Pixel 5 is available for pre-order at $800.
Next up is the Nest Audio speaker. This replaces the original Google Home smart speaker that came out all the way back in 2016. Google really wanted to highlight the audio quality of this speaker, as well as the design. It looks a lot more like a smaller version of the Google Home Max speaker, with a very nice tall profile covered in fabric. This could be a very good option for those who want a good sounding speaker, and it really does look far better than that original Google Home.
The Nest Audio is available for pre-order at $130
Lastly, but possibly the most interesting of the 4 products today, is the new Chromecast with Google TV. If I got too far into the weeds on this the entire branding would be confusing, but This is, finally, Google’s full competitor to Amazon’s Fire TV Stick devices. Google’s Chromecast devices were a really interesting idea when they debuted all the way back in 2014, allowing people to have a device that let them use their phone to start, stop, and control media playback. I use chromecasts extensively, but the lack of a user interface and dedicated remote meant that I could not recommend it to everyone. There have been many cases where I’ve recommended and/or puchased Amazon Fire TV sticks for people because I know they would be better served with a proper remote and interface on the TV.
The Chromecast with Google TV fixes that. It is still a Chromecast in that you can still just use your phone to send content to the device, but it is built on Android TV, with what Google calls the “Google TV” layer on top. (Seriously, these branding names.). Google TV is a different take on these kind of devices. While it does have dedicated apps for services like Netflix, Disney+, etc, instead of forcing users to go into each app individually to look for something to watch, Google TV attempts to amalgamate all the servivces you have into one user interface. So you might see a row of content for “action and adventure movies” that will recommend movies from across different services. I really like that idea, but we will have to see how well it works in practice. Lastly, it is worth mentioning that this is a 4k HDR capable device, and seems to be outright replacing the Chromecast Ultra in the lineup.
I wish this device had existed a year ago, but I’m glad it is here now. The Chromecast with Google TV is available for pre-order at $70, which is actually $20 cheaper than the Chromecast Ultra was. This is definitely a product that will eventually find its way into my home.
Lenovo Announces Fall Laptop Lineup
Lenovo announced its fall lineup of laptops of all price ranges. But there are two that I want to highlight. The first is the Thinkpad X1 Nano. This is a 13 inch ultrabook that is one of the lightest full featured Windows laptops on the market, at 1.99. pounds. Traditional high end ultrabooks have been between 2.7 and 3 pounds. The X1 Nano does make a couple sacrifices compared to the X1 Carbon line, sacrificing most connectivity. The X1 nano features just two USB-C ports.
This looks like a fantastic laptop, and as someone who is always interested in thinner and lighter devices in an every day carry bag, this is very interesting. It will be expensive, but for some, the weight and portability will be worth it.
The other big announcement was the release of the X1 Fold. The X1 Fold is the first computer with a folding display. When unfolded the X1 fold features a 13.3 inch display, and when propped up using an optional stand can function like a 13” laptop with the included bluetooth keyboard and trackpad. The device can also be used in various other form-factors, with the two halves of the display being roughly 10 inches diagonal. This could lead to some very versatile uses of the device, and I’m really interested to see if this form factor takes off.
This will be *very* expensive in Canada, at almost $4000. No one should buy this. But I want it.