The Coolest Things From Google I/O 2019

As expected, Google launched its new midrange smartphones, the Pixel 3a and 3a XL, which start at $399 and are designed for those tired of smartphone vendors demanding $1,000 or more for their latest products.

The Pixel 3a has a plastic case instead of the aluminum one found on the higher-end Pixel 3. It also runs a Snapdragon 670 while the Pixel 3 has a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor. We'll put it to the test when we get the 3a in the labs to be sure, but the 670 should be more than enough for the average phone user looking to save some cash.

For more, check out our full rundown of how the Pixel 3a compares to the Pixel 3 and the OnePlus 6T.

At I/O 2018, Google showed off Duplex, an AI-based assistant that handles mundane tasks like making dinner reservations or hair appointments by phone. This year, Duplex expanded to the web to help you rent a car or buy movie tickets. Just instruct the system to do so via voice. A demo showed Duplex perusing Google Calendar and Gmail to learn the dates of a trip and then making a car rental reservation via the National Car Rental site. Duplex can now make restaurant reservations in 44 US states; more details about car rentals and movie tickets are expected later this year.

Another piece of hardware the company introduced was the Nest Hub Max, a $229 smart display with a 10-inch screen and a front-facing camera for video calls. It's basically a larger version of the 7-inch Google Home Hub, which is now known as the Nest Hub as Google and Nest continue to merge their brands. But it includes a few improvements, including a switch that lets you disable the camera and microphone for added privacy.

Unfortunately, this tighter integration between Google and Nest means the demise of Google's Works With Nest program. "We will wind down the Works with Nest developer program on August 31, 2019, and focus on delivering a single consumer and developer experience through the Works with Google Assistant program," reads a note on the Nest website. That could make for some messy smart home device setups. As Google vice president Rishi Chandra tells Variety, "it will break IFTTT."

Stadia, Google's game-streaming service, was officially announced at GDC, but details are still scant, like a launch date and pricing. At I/O, however, we did get a look at the Stadia controller, and it's no shoddy knock-off peripheral. Although designed for Stadia, Google's controller isn't necessary to use the service. Third-party controllers, as well as a mouse and keyboard, will be supported.

The Google Assistant is also getting some upgrades. It'll now be able to show how-to instructions on smart displays and in search, and do more with apps, like sending payments. Smart home devices will also be able to talk to each other using their own radios, and even offload processes to other devices.

The company also previewed its next-generation Google Assistant, which will arrive on Pixel phones later this year and be smart enough to understand voice commands using onboard computing. The assistant won't need to communicate back with Google for each request, addressing potential privacy concerns and delivering answers up to 10 times faster than before.

What's the next big thing in search? Augmented reality and 3D, according to Google. In an I/O demo, a Google rep searched for "great white shark" and viewed the results in 3D AR for a more complete picture of this massive animal. In the future, Google wants to work with big brands such as Samsung and Target to let you view AR-created consumer products, such as shoes, on your phone.

If you own a Pixel phone, you can now enjoy AR-powered walking directions on Google Maps, which will allow you to view an augmented reality version of the product via your phone's camera. It'll be especially handy for those times when you need to know which direction to walk. Simply follow the direction icons on your phone. There's no word on when this will arrive on more devices.

One notable feature coming to Android Q is a dark theme. The feature will swap out bright interface colors for blacks and grays, cutting down on blue light streaming into your eyeballs and saving a little battery life.

In Android Q, Live Caption will automatically caption media that’s playing audio on your phone, in videos, podcasts, and audio messages in any app, even your own recordings. "As soon as speech is detected, captions will appear, without ever needing Wi-Fi or cell phone data, and without any audio or captions leaving your phone," Google says.

Fragmentation has plagued Android since its inception. Although Google itself may be quick to push out a patch, it can take weeks or months for handset makers and carriers to follow suit. In some cases, older devices are never updated.

Android Q will address this by updating important OS components "in the background, similar to the way we update apps," Google says. "This means that you can get the latest security fixes, privacy enhancements and consistency improvements as soon as they're available, without having to reboot your phone."

Of course, you'll need an Android Q device; at this point, only 10.4 percent of all Android devices are running 9.0 Pie.

Google servers house a lot of your personal information, which is uses to serve up targeted ads and a customized web experience. Not everyone loves that, though, so at I/O, Google talked up new privacy controls, such as the ability to schedule automatic deletions of location data. Android Q will also push reminders about when a third party is accessing your phone's location data, and let you review/turn off the location data each app can access in Android Q.

Meanwhile, Incognito Mode is coming to Google Maps and Search, so you'll be able to pull up directions without linking the activity to your Google account.

Google Lens is already pretty impressive, but at I/O, the company showed off some improvements that will let you do searches via your phone's camera. Take a picture of text in another language, for example, and Google Lens will display the translation and overlay it on top of the original words. The goal is to make it work with more than 100 languages.