Once in a blue moon, Sonos releases its speakers in some fun colors or finishes, but most of the time, people just have to pick between black and white. But starting today, you can get the portable Sonos Roam in three new shades; Wave, Sunset and Olive. As you might guess, Wave is a chill shade of light blue, Sunset straddles the line between orange and pink and olive is a cactus sort of green.
Aside from these colors, there’s nothing else new with the $179 speaker — it has a built-in battery for about 10 hours of play time, Bluetooth for when you’re away from WiFi, a microphone for voice commands via Alexa and Google Assistant and auto Trueplay technology to tune the speaker for optimal sound wherever you place it. I really liked the speaker when I reviewed it last year, and even though it costs $10 more than it did when it launched, I still think it’s a great portable speaker that is a smart addition if you’re already using other Sonos products.
There will be one new features for the Roam on June 1st, though. The speaker is one of many in the Sonos portfolio that’ll work with the just-announced Sonos Voice Command platform. It’s the company’s own voice assistant that’s specifically focused on controlling your speakers with speed and privacy top of mind. You can read more about that here, and you can order the Roam in these new colors today at the Sonos website.
Sonos products have never been cheap; in fact, the company raised prices on most of them last year. But Sonos has also recently released some products that push things into more affordable territory. Last year, the company released the $179 portable So…
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The privacy-focused browser DuckDuckGo has updated its Chrome extension to block two new ad targeting methods that are a part of Google’s Privacy Sandbox. In a blog post, DuckDuckGo informed users that they can block Google Topics and FLEDGE via its extension, or just disable the “Privacy Sandbox” setting in Chrome. The search giant’s Privacy Sandbox initiative — its alternative method of tracking and targeting users for online ads that Google argues is more privacy-focused — has been met with scrutiny by regulators and privacy advocates. DuckDuckGo has joined the chorus criticizing Google’s new ad tech, which the search giant is currently testing on a limited number of users.
“While some suggest that Topics is a less invasive way of ad targeting, we don’t agree. Why not? Fundamentally it’s because, by default, Google Chrome will still be automatically surveilling your online activity and sharing information about you with advertisers and other parties so they can behaviorally target you without your consent,” wrote DuckDuckGo’s product director Peter Dolanjski in the post.
The company also called out Google’s FLEDGE (short for First Locally-Executed Decision over Groups Experiment), its new method of ad re-targeting (otherwise known as those obnoxious ads that follow users wherever they go on the web). Unlike older methods, Google claims that FLEDGE allows for re-marketing with relying on a personal identifier about users. FLEDGE will also be directly baked in Google’s Chrome browser, instead of traditional ad re-targetting which occurs through third-party cookies.
“When you visit a website where the advertiser may want to later follow you with an ad, the advertiser can tell your Chrome browser to put you into an interest group. Then, when you visit another website which displays ads, your Chrome browser will run an ad auction based on your interest groups and target specific ads at you. So much for your browser working for you!,” wrote Dolanjski.
It’s possibly just lip service, but Google has emphasized that it’s accepting feedback from privacy advocates and regulators as it continues to test Privacy Sandbox. UK’s competition watchdog gave Privacy Sandbox a cautious stamp of approval earlier this year. Phasing out third-party cookies has taken Google longer than expected. Google has regularly updated its Privacy Sandbox timeline, and the new estimate is that it will gradually stop supporting third-party cookies over a three-month period in late 2023.
While flagship phones continue to be expensive, many phone manufacturers now offer mid-range options that are far more affordable. Today, Google announced the Pixel 6a, the latest of its “a” line of phones that are designed to fit that need. It looks and feels a lot like the Pixel 6, but it has a smaller footprint roughly the size of the Pixel 5 and a smaller display. It also has the same 5G as the 6 and the 6 Pro, Titan M2 security, and the same Tensor SoC as the P6 Pro. But it’s certainly not the only mid-range handset on the market. Here, we’ve compared it with the iPhone SE 2022 as well as the Samsung Galaxy A53 to give you an idea of how it stacks up against its rivals. Be sure to check back soon to see how the Pixel 5a fares in our review.
None
Pixel 6a
Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
iPhone SE
Pricing
$449
$450
$429 / $479 / $579
Dimensions
152.2 x 71.8 x 8.9 mm (5.99 x 2.83 x 0.35 in)
159.6 x 74.8 x 8.1 mm (6.28 x 2.94 x 0.32 in)
138.4 x 67.3 x 7.3 mm (5.45 x 2.65 x 0.29 inches)
Weight
178 g (6.3 oz)
189 g (6.67 oz)
144g (5.09 ounces)
Screen size
6.1 inches (156 mm)
6.5 inches (165.1 mm)
4.7 inches (119.4 mm)
Screen resolution
1,080 x 2,400 pixels (429 ppi)
1,080 x 2,400 pixels (405 ppi)
1,334 x 750 (326 ppi)
Screen type
OLED, 60Hz
Super AMOLED, 120Hz
Retina HD LCD
Battery
4,410 mAh
5,000 mAh
Up to 15 hours, mAh unknown
Internal storage
128 GB
128 / 256 GB
64 / 128 / 256 GB
External storage
None
Up to 1TB microSD
None
Rear camera(s)
Dual Pixel Wide: 12.2 MP, f/1.7
UltraWide: 12MP, f/2.2
Wide: 64 MP, f/1.8
UltraWide: 12 MP, f/2.2
Macro/Depth: 5 MP, f/2.4
Wide: 12 MP, f/1.8
Front camera(s)
8 MP f/2.0
32 MP f/2.2
7 MP, f/2.2
Video capture
4K at 30, 60 fps
4K at 60 fps
4K at 60 fps
SoC
Google Tensor
Exynos 1280
Apple A15 Bionic
CPU
Octa-core 2.8 GHz
Octa-core (2.4 GHz & 2.0 GHz)
3.23 GHz hexa-core
GPU
ARM Mali G78
Mali-G68
quad-core Apple GPU
RAM
6 GB
6 / 8 GB
4 GB
WiFi
802.11 ax
802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
802.11ax
Bluetooth
v5.2
v5.1
v5.0
NFC
Yes
Yes
Yes
Operating system
Android 12
Android 12
iOS 15
Other features
IP67 certified, USB-C
IP67 certified, USB-C
IP67 certified, Lightning port
Follow all of the news from Google I/O 2022 right here!
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Google plans to finally launch its new smart home industry standard called Matter this fall. Devices will all connect quickly and easily using Fast Pair and the platform will support a variety of voice assistants and networking protocols. Those include Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri as well as WiFi, Thread and Bluetooth LE. While Fast Pair feature has been used for headphones and audio gear, the company is working to use it for more things, including syncing lightbulbs and smart plugs with Android and Nest devices. You’ll be able to scan a code with your phone to get things rolling, which should be quicker and easier than the current method for adding new gear to your arsenal.
The company first announced Matter in 2019, although back then it was known as Project Connected Home over IP (Project CHIP). At I/O 2021, Google announced a redesign to its smart home Developer Center to include all the tools developers would need to make product compatible with the standard. Matter was delayed until 2022 last August and the fall timeline now means Google has pushed it out yet again. The delayed launch was supposed to happen in the first half of this year. Still, after all of the roadblocks, the promise of a more seamless process for adding devices to your smart home from a wide range of companies is a compelling one.
Follow all of the news from Google I/O 2022 right here!
A decade after Google Glass made its debut at I/O 2012, Google is working on a new set of augmented reality glasses. The company teased the device at I/O 2022, sharing a short clip that showed off some of its capabilities. We saw an “early prototype” of the wearable transcribe a conversation in real-time, effectively providing captions for the wearer. Google also showed demoed the prototype translating a conversation from English into Spanish, allowing a non-English speaker to carry out a conversation with the Google employee speaking to them.
Google didn’t say when it plans to release the wearable it showed off today. We’ll also note the teaser video the company played during its presentation included text at the bottom of the frame that said what it was showcasing was a “simulated point of view,” suggesting the final interface may look dramatically different from the one Google showed off today.
Google’s cautious approach to sharing too many details before the device is ready is understandable. While Google Glass is still available to enterprise customers, it’s fair to say the wearable never quite took off the way the company envisioned. In addition to privacy concerns, the “Glasshole” label made it difficult for Google to sell consumers on wearable AR.
Follow all of the news from Google I/O 2022 right here!
Google’s annual I/O keynote was chock full of hardware and software announcements, key among them being the introduction of the Pixel 6a smartphone. The latest midrange handset brings many of the Pixel 6’s features down to the more accessible price point of $449. Google also announced the Pixel Buds Pro, its answer to Apple’s AirPods Pro and the company’s first earbuds to support active noise cancellation. It’ll be a while before you can get your hands on either of these gadgets, but here’s how to pre-order the Google Pixel 6a and everything else announced today.
Google Pixel 6a
Engadget
The Google Pixel 6a will be available for pre-order starting July 21st for $449, and it will be more widely available starting July 28th. You’ll be able to pick it up from the Google store and other retailers.
The Pixel 6a is the latest midrange addition to Google’s smartphone lineup. But just because it’s not a true flagship doesn’t mean it won’t have some of the features that the standard Pixel 6 does. In fact, Google carried a lot of things over, including 5G support, the Titan M2 security chip and the same Tensor SoC that’s inside the Pixel 6 Pro. It also has an under-display fingerprint sensor and a USB-C port for charging, but alas, no headphone jack.
As far as the camera goes, the Pixel 6a has the recognizable camera bar that the rest of the Pixel 6 series has, along with a dual rear array that includes a 12-megapixel main shooter and an ultra-wide lens. It also has some of Google advanced camera features like Night Sight, Magic Eraser and more. Overall, the Pixel 6a’s design is very similar to that of the others in the lineup, but it’s about the size of a Pixel 5 and has a 6.1-inch always-on touchscreen with a 60Hz refresh rate and HDR support. Google claims the battery inside the Pixel 6a will last all day.
Google Buds Pro
Google
The Google Pixel Buds Pro will be available for pre-order starting July 21st for $199, and they will be more widely available starting July 28th. They will be available in red, green, blue and black. You’ll be able to pick them up from the Google store and other retailers.
The Pixel Buds Pro are the first that Google has made that support ANC. The buds also have a new custom audio processor and transparency mode, the latter of which should help you jump into conversations without taking the buds out of your ears. Like many other earbuds at this price range, the Pixel Buds Pro will be able to connect to more than one device at a time and intelligently switch between, say, your phone when you need to take a call and music from your computer.
Google claims the Pixel Buds Pro will get up to 11 hours of listening time on a single charge, or up to seven hours if you use ANC for the whole time. The company also said they’ll be updating the earbuds to support spatial audio later this year.
Follow all of the news from Google I/O 2022 right here!
Google’s last tablet was the ill-fated Pixel slate, a device that was widely criticized — so much so that in 2019, Google said it wouldn’t make tablets anymore. In classic fashion, though, the company is changing its tune. Today as part of its hardware presentation at Google I/O 2022, Google teased the Pixel Tablet, a premium Android-powered device that’s set to arrive sometime in 2023.
As this product is months away from being released, Google is only giving us a scant few details right now. Rick Osterloh, Google’s SVP of devices and services, said that the Pixel Tablet is a “premium” device that will run on the company’s custom Tensor chips, just like the latest Pixel phones. What we haven’t heard is how much it’ll cost, how big the screen is or when it will be released. We can say that, based on the renders we saw, it looks a bit like someone just took the screen off a Nest Hub.
Naturally, the new tablet will run Google’s version of Android specifically built for larger screens, an initiative that’s been in the works for a while now. Historically, the big knock against Android tablets is that the software never feels like it’s built for the bigger screen, and that apps aren’t optimized to use this bigger view. Even with changes made to Android to support larger screens, it doesn’t necessarily mean developers will build their apps to take advantage of that space.
But Osterloh told reporters in a briefing ahead of I/O that Google has clearly heard that users want a larger-screen Pixel experience to compliment their phones — so the company is at least seeing some level of consumer demand for such a device. Whether that leads into market adoption is another question entirely, as neither Chrome OS nor Android tablets ever caught on in a significant way. Samsung has had some success with its Galaxy Tab line and Amazon’s budget lineup of Fire tablets have both stuck around, but Apple’s iPad remains dominant.
Given that this device won’t be out until sometime in 2023, it’s far too early to predict if Google has learned from its past mistakes in the tablet arena. But the company made a commitment at I/O to rebuild more than 20 of its apps for large-screen devices, and huge developers like Facebook, TikTok and Zoom are on board as well. If more third-party developers get on board by the time the Pixel Tablet arrives, it could have a shot at redefining what we think of when it comes to premium Android tablets.
Follow all of the news from Google I/O 2022 right here!
