Gadgetory

welcome to alphabet city this is the show that covers everything related to alphabetic alphabet just so happens to own lots of companies including Google I'm your guide Aya's Akhtar and you are the spectacular audience today we're talking about Google's problems with the US government pixel stuff some intrigue about Google Home Hub and your comments but first let's talk about a new pawn product really let's head on over to Android Avenue palm is back sort of there's a new palm device headed to Verizon and it's meant to be a sidekick to your current phone you cannot buy it by itself instead it pairs up with your existing phone number and requires its own $10 per month plan look at this little thing it's running Android Oreo has access to the full Google Play Store has a tiny 3.3 inch screen a 12 megapixel camera on the back with an 8 megapixel camera on the front now why would anyone grab one of these palm devices it's aimed to be used when you're at the gym or just when you want to sort of disconnect by the way the palm name is being licensed by TCL to a startup based in San Francisco if you want the teeny tiny pond device it'll cost you around three hundred and fifty dollars do you think devices like this will catch on or is it just gonna be like a footnote in the history of cell phones very curious to know what you think in an interview with that excellent tech site cnet.com Samsung CEO DJ ko said that the company's future folding phone will be usable as a tablet once it's folded it can be a phone Co all so explained that quote when we deliver a foldable phone it has to be really meaningful to our customer end quote Samsung's boss also said that the foldable phone won't be a gimmick and will be available worldwide did we talk about the Samsung Galaxy 89 yet no well let's do it it's the world's first phone with four rear cameras take a look at it 128 gigabytes of storage which can be expanded with a micro SD card 6 or 8 gigabytes of RAM 6.3 inch AMOLED screen fingerprint sensor it is a mid-range phone so it gets a mid-range processor let's run down those four cameras H megapixel ultra wide camera 10 megapixel telephoto cam with to X optical zoom 24 megapixel main camera and a 5 megapixel depth sensor now why would you put 4 cameras on the back of the phone because 5 would be ridiculous until it isn't next year time to go to pixel part already if you watch the pixel livestream you might have seen this very show at the beginning including our producer rich Peterson's amazing leaky pixel artwork that was neat that being said let's quickly run down well Google announced on pixel day October 9th since we've had time to digest everything that's happened we've got the two new pixels and the leaks were right there's the pixel 2 XL mini and not Zillah otherwise known as the pixel 3 and pixel 3 XL internally the two are almost identical except for the battery capacity both have the same features so you get to choose whether you want a bigger battery with the not screen or not I try it out both and they were zippy both have OLED screens made by a manufacturer that Google would not tell me about I will say that in my limited time with the pixels they did not appear to be any obvious screen issues like the pixel to excel let's forget about the hardware the software was the real star of Google's presentation the new pixels get some cool features first like call screening dibs on new Plex and cool camera features like top shot and night site top shot essentially makes sure you do not get a mistimed photo google says you'll never need to use your flash again with its night sight low-light photo feature that's a bold claim a lot of those features are heading to older pixels - that should give people incentive to pick up a pixel of knowing that eventually it'll keep getting improvements pricing info ahead pixel 3 starts at $7.99 for the 64 gigabyte model $8.99 for the 128 899 we'll also get you the 64 gigabyte model of the three XL $9.99 get you the 128 I wish it had more storage but them's the breaks check out the full reviews at cnet.com let us now talk about the Google home hub it's like the Google home with the screen here's the thing it's only 20 bucks more than the home without a screen it's a smart display similar to the Lenovo smart display and the JBL link view those two devices run a version of Android called Android things meant for Internet of Things devices Ars Technica found out that Google Home Hub does not run Android things instead it is built on Google cast Ars Technica asked why would Google do this Google VP of Product Management dear jolly said quote there's no particular reason we just felt we could bring the experience to bear with cast and the experiences are the same we would have easily given a third party's cast if they wanted it but I think most developers comfortable using Android things end quote yeah so that makes like no sense there's something going on here with Google and its hub something fishy 9:00 to 5:00 Google did some further digging and tied the hub to Google's fuchsia operating system fuchsia has been rumored to replace Android in the future that does not mean hub runs fuchsia but a version of it might have at some point that's intriguing there's also a new chromecast and the pixel slate Chrome OS tablet the slate is really well built its pricing starts at around $600 and can blown up all the way to $1,600 before you get any accessories it runs Linux apps by the way next up the garden of Google so there was a security issue with Google it turns out there was a flaw in Google Plus that exposed the personal data of up to half a million people between 2015 and March of 2018 Google did not disclose the vulnerability when it fixed the problem in March now why is that according to a Wall Street Journal report the reason Google did not tell anyone about this issue was to prevent scrutiny by lawmakers and to avoid harm to its reputation Google said in a blog post that it found no evidence that any developer was aware of this bug or abusing the API and found no evidence that any profile data was misused Google is planning to shut down Google Plus the social network will head to the great offline by the end of August 20 nineteen thirty cent a letter to Google CEO sundar Pichai that basically asks when did you find out about this problem what did you do to fix it why didn't you tell anyone about it into way later are there other incidents like this that you're not telling us about and lastly give us that internal memo that a journal mentioned there's even more government stuff Google CEO sundar Pichai sent a letter to US senators talking about dragonfly thus answer'd search engine for China in the letter pichai says we are approaching these issues deliberately and whether we would or could release a search service in China remains unclear he went on to say quote accordingly we are not in a position to be able to answer detailed questions end quote Senator Mark Warner of Virginia was none too happy with the letter senator Warner said quote I was really disappointed with Google's response to our letter Google owes us some honest answers or in risk losing the trust of Congress and the public end quote that is some heavy stuff time to go to comet cove this is the part of the show where we shine a spotlight at the most amazing audience in the world you guys 2012 big perm says of the Google Home Hub no camera intentionally for privacy concerns LMFAO you don't believe that do you it's cheaper period or just put a shutter over the lens that's a good point I'm sure Google brought the privacy part to make the company look good as for making a cheaper product I'm sure that played a big factor too luke says still sticking with my to excel but I do hope some of these non Hardware updates come down to last year's models like top shot night sights and adjustable depth of field thanks Luke yeah older pixels will get plenty of software updates I am curious how well they will work on the older hardware let's talk a little bit about that slates at the keyboard accessory costs around $200 the dire asks how is that keyboard more expensive than the hub you know what I asked the Google rep the same question the response was something like this well they're different products that's all I got from them thanks to everyone for writing in if you've enjoyed your stay in Alphabet City please like and subscribe also I know we haven't cover stuff outside of Google for a while we will handle that in the next episode I Maya's actor and I'll see you on oh you're still here you want some more news you're on YouTube TV is getting a new feature a full DVR in the past if you recorded a show using YouTube TV after a while that recording would be replaced with the video on-demand version with on skippable ads now that won't happen oh also you know about that instant translation feature in pixel buds it's coming to other headphones that use Google assistant including some from Bose and Sony that's it for us