Google conference 2016 - Pixel Phone and more of what to expect

By , on October 4, 2016
Last modified 8 years, 2 months ago

Tonight, on the evening of 4th October (UK time, that is. It might be morning where you are. How am I supposed to know?), Google is set to reveal its new Pixel phone, which has been the subject of much speculation and excitement.

Until now. Now is finally time for them to be unveiled. And like an impatient child on Christmas Eve, we're here to spoil all the surprises. So what can we expect from Google's conference tonight?

Pixel Phone

Pixel Phone

First on the agenda will surely be Google's own much-hyped Pixel phone. Unfortunately for Google (or Alphabet, as I suppose we should call them now?) is that the whole thing was leaked recently by confusingly non-automobile related mobile shop Carphone Warehouse, which has since removed its listing.

We now know what it looks like, as well as a lot of its specs and inner workings.

There'll be two versions: the normal edition and an XL variant, which will both have 32GB or 128GB of internal storage, 4GB of RAM, beautifully crispy AMOLED screens, rear fingerprint scanners, the latest 821 processor from Qualcomm, and a crystal clear double act of an eight MP front facing camera and a 12 MP rear facing camera.

The less geeky, more needy improvements are USB-C fast charging and greater integration of Google's answer to Siri, Google Assistant, which will also reportedly feature heavily in the new version of Android Nougat 7.1.

Daydream

Daydream is apparently Google's new VR attempt. Knowing Google it will be amazing, but we're not sure at present how it will differ from HTC, Sony, and Oculus's respective efforts.

Google Home

Google has already taken over our online worlds, and now it wants to take over our real worlds too, with Google Home. It's a little white sphere that listens to you when you speak and spits back information at you. It's already been revealed, so we're pretty sure it's going to be talked about tonight - hopefully we'll get a release date.

Andromeda

Google

Andromeda is the long-anticipated unification of Chrome OS and Android into one operating system, for use on any device. Whether we'll get to see it tonight, we're not sure, but we can hope!

Google Assistant

Google Assistant is Google's version of Siri - ie. a humanoid virtual person that talks to you, as opposed to Google Now, which is just a computer. It's also integral to Google Home, so if Alphabet want that to take off, they better get this right.

Google WiFi

You know the saying: save the boringest till last! Well that's what we've done here, with the final piece of juicy hardware that might be revealed tonight being Google Wi-Fi, a little box that's meant to boost your signal. Exciting!

Tune in at 5pm BST tonight to find out what Google really does have in store for us.