Technology - Google News |
- Pixel 4 vs. iPhone 11: Google's phone is the pricier one, surprisingly - CNET
- OnePlus 8 Pro leaks show four rear cameras...and a punch-hole selfie cam? - TechRadar India
- Why can't I watch Netflix on my old Roku? - USA TODAY
| Pixel 4 vs. iPhone 11: Google's phone is the pricier one, surprisingly - CNET Posted: 19 Oct 2019 05:00 AM PDT  Google's Pixel 4 phones start at $799. Angela Lang/CNETEarlier this week, Google unveiled its flagship Pixel 4 phone. It's a premium device with a high-end camera, radar chip for motion controls and facial recognition software. It also came with a price tag that made some people bristle: $799 for the 5.7-inch version and $899 for the 6.3-inch Pixel 4 XL. It was a notable move for Google, which has historically championed an ecosystem of devices that are accessible and reasonably priced. The company also owns Android, which has positioned itself as the mobile operating system for the masses. It has largely filled that role: nine out of every 10 smartphones on the planet are Android phones. It's a two-horse race between Android phones and Apple's iPhones, which are frequently criticized for being too pricey. But with Google's new additions to its Pixel line, the roles have been switched: The cheapest new Pixel 4 is more expensive than the cheapest new iPhone. The iPhone 11, announced last month, is $699 -- $100 less than the base model Pixel 4. Apple's suite of iPhones goes even cheaper with the iPhone XR for $599, or more exorbitant with its Pro series. The iPhone 11 Pro is $999, while the Pro Max is $1,099. The pricing debate comes as consumers have begun to express sticker shock over the rising price of phones. Earlier this year, Google Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat said on an earnings call that Pixel sales had dropped because of "recent pressures in the premium smartphone market." Apple and Samsung have both seen smartphone sales decline over the last year, partly because consumers began to balk at $1,000 price tags.  Apple's iPhone 11 starts at a lower price than Google's Pixel 4. Sarah Tew/CNETThese companies are facing a difficult side effect of their success: Most premium phones are so well made that people are holding onto them longer, and it's becoming harder to convince them of a compelling reason to upgrade every year. Meanwhile, Google is on the outside looking in when it comes to smartphones. Samsung, Huawei and Apple are the most popular handset makers worldwide, according to IDC. Google's phones don't even crack the top five. "It they're serious about increasing their market share, they have to be more competitive than anyone else," said Bob O'Donnell, an analyst at Technalysis Research who attended the Google event. "It's obviously an uphill road for them." He added that he originally made a mistake and thought the Pixel 4 started at $699, and was surprised when he realized it costs $100 more. "It feels like it ought to be a $699 product," he said. After NexusGoogle has always boasted about its ability to give more people access to technology. The search giant defends its oft-criticized advertising business by pointing out that the model allows the company to keep its software services free. Google CEO Sundar Pichai in May published an op-ed in The New York Times called "Privacy Should Not Be a Luxury Good." In the article, Pichai vows that the company will try to do more with less data. Some people considered the headline to also be a subtle shot at Apple and its pricey devices. The iPhone maker often touts its privacy policies over those of Google and Facebook. But this year, it was Apple, and not Google, that gave consumers a break on price. The $699 iPhone 11 represented a $50 discount compared with the iPhone XR. The difference this year was Apple's positioning of the cheaper iPhone 11 as the main phone to buy, with both the pricier iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max more of a luxury item. You can call that clever spin, but it represented Apple's tacit acknowledgement that a consumer's budget for premium smartphones can stretch only so far. Google didn't make the same move, holding its pricing steady. The counterargument is that the $799 Pixel 4 includes all of the new bells and whistles, while Apple holds back its best features for the 11 Pro and Pro Max. But the Pixel 4 doesn't even stack up well with Samsung. The top-of-the-line Pixel 4 XL with 128GB of storage costs $999, or $50 more than a Galaxy Note 10, which has double the onboard storage and the same display size. Google also offers a more budget-friendly option with its Pixel 3A, which it released in May. But that model isn't a part of the new generation of Pixels announced this week. Plus, it's part of an entirely different class of midrange phones that lack the polish of more premium options. The search giant is aware of the benefit that comes from pushing a lower-cost option: The Pixel 3A helped Pixel sales rebound, the company said in July.  The midtier Pixel 3A helped Google's slumping smartphone sales rebound. Angela Lang/CNETGoogle hasn't always released its own premium phones. Before it overhauled its hardware operation in 2016, the company ran a program called Nexus, through which the search giant partnered with outside manufacturers to help create both budget and high-end phones. Handset makers including HTC and LG worked with Google to release phones that ran a "stock" version of Android that was free of bloatware, a derisive term for software that carriers and device makers force onto the phones. Hardcore Android enthusiasts will look fondly upon options like the Nexus 4 or Nexus 5, both made by LG, which combined decent hardware and a clean software experience with an affordable price tag. Google discontinued that program three years ago when it launched the first Pixel phone. It was the first true "Google Phone," after Android fans spent years waiting for the flagship product. It's here now, but if people want that unfiltered Google experience, it'll cost them.  $699  CNET may get a commission from retail offers. |
| OnePlus 8 Pro leaks show four rear cameras...and a punch-hole selfie cam? - TechRadar India Posted: 18 Oct 2019 11:25 AM PDT  Renders of the OnePlus 8 Pro have allegedly leaked, showing a phone that's pared back its predecessor's aggressive design: no more pop-up selfie camera, no more bezel-less screen. Instead, the phone will supposedly have a punch-hole in the top left, which cropped up in plenty of 2019 handsets that sought to avoid the unsightly notch. The rendered images come courtesy of noted leaker @OnLeaks in a tweet that included a link to more OnePlus 8 Pro info in a 91Mobiles post.
There are a few other differences from the OnePlus 7 Pro – namely, a depth-sensing 3D Time of Flight (ToF) sensor augmenting the three existing cameras, something that started appearing on premium flagship phones throughout 2019. Per the leaked info, the OnePlus 8 Pro has a slightly smaller screen (6.65-inch) and is accordingly slightly longer and slightly narrower than its predecessor at 165.3 x 74.4 x 8.8mm – but it does have the exact same thickness. The 91Mobiles post has a slew of rendered images, but the outlet also released the video below: OnePlus 8 Pro leak following the previous one@OnLeaks had previously leaked our first look at the OnePlus 8 earlier in October, and also alleged that the next phone would opt for a punch-hole instead of a pop-up selfie camera. As we theorized then, losing that little suite of complex mechanisms might make room for other innovations like wireless charging. Yet these leaks are very very early - the former came out just before the OnePlus 7T and OnePlus 7T Pro even launched. As we said then, this info is coming so soon after the last device has released that we urge caution when considering the accuracy of this preliminary look. |
| Why can't I watch Netflix on my old Roku? - USA TODAY Posted: 19 Oct 2019 05:37 AM PDT If you have an old Roku device plugged into your TV, you probably won't be able to watch Netflix on it anymore. The company, which specializes in making cheap streaming devices to watch streaming networks like Netflix, Hulu and CBS All Access, has announced that "technical difficulties," will prevent the old units from working with Netflix as of Dec. 1. Translated, that means the fourth quarter and holiday season are upon us, and it's time for you to buy some new products and keep the cash registers ringing. Or, new devices have better technology, and it's time to get with the program.   This isn't dissimilar to Apple's approach with iPhones. Even if the consumer expectation is for them to last forever, the truth is, the time frame is just six years. Apple each year discontinues support for the latest new iOS to older phones. Last year, it was the 5S, and this year it's the iPhone 6, which was first released in 2014. Microsoft is discontinuing support for the Windows 7 operating system in January for software first released in 2009. Like Apple, Microsoft says it needs to move people to newer software for better security, and "so that we can focus our investment on supporting newer technologies and great new experiences." Windows 10 starts at $139, while iOS is free. Roku devices are not, but they're dirt cheap. New models start as low as $29.99. The Express plays back in HD only, the Premiere ($39.99) also plays in 4K and HDR, and Stick ($59.99) has greater Wi-Fi range. The 2019 models are way smaller than they were back when the $99 originals were released but can't connect to old TVs that require more than an HDMI input. Roku says the new units have way more power, load content faster and have a prettier user interface. More: AMC Theatres is bringing the movies to you with new on-demand streaming service More: Streaming showdown: How to decide what's best for you Speaking of Roku, this has been a big week for streaming. Netflix, the company whose videos won't play on old Roku devices, said that some 64 million people watched the hit "Stranger Things" in July. That's not a typo, it's 64 million people. On a streaming network. The highest-rated TV broadcast ever was a Super Bowl game from 2015, with 115 million viewers. "NCIS," TV's top-rated network TV show, averages around 12.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen. Apple, which is set to launch its answer to Netflix, Apple TV+, on Nov. 1, put streaming front and center this week, with a huge premiere party, it's first-ever, for one of the eight TV+ series set to debut on Nov. 1, the space race set drama "For All Mankind." Apple went all Hollywood on this one, renting the Village Theater in Westwood, seen in Quentin Tarantino's recent "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" when the actress Sharon Tate goes to watch herself in a Dean Martin movie. The maker of iPhones and Mac computers handed out mini champagne bottles and glasses for guests to bring to their seats and handed them swag bag afterward with freeze-dried ice cream, USA TODAY's Carly Mallenbaum reports. Apple had a "cocktail attire" dress code for the party, highly unusual for a Hollywood premiere. "It was different," she says of the party, thrown by the firm known for its "Think Different" ad campaign back in the 1990s. And finally, speaking of Apple, no, Apple TV+ will not play on the old Roku devices either. You'll have to upgrade. Perhaps get a new phone with that, too?  In other tech news this week. Google's Pixel 4: The company unveiled a slew of new products this week, including the Pixel 4, a new edition of the Mini connected speaker (now called the Nest Mini) that has a wall mount, and updated Google Wifi mesh router, with a lower price and a built-in Mini. If you're having a hard time keeping up with Google's name changes, yes, it's the Nest Mini, but the flagship product is still called Google Home. This week Google also discontinued its Daydream virtual reality viewer. Zuck says he doesn't want to be the tech police. The Facebook co-founder said it's not the role of tech firms to decide what is truth and what is fiction: "I don't think people want to live in a world where you can only say things that tech companies decide are 100 percent true." And speaking of the social network, the company released version 2.0 of its poor-selling Portal, the video chat device that puts a Facebook microphone and video camera into your home. The new edition is $20 cheaper and can show video or photos in horizontal or vertical modes. Netflix isn't worried about the competition. In announcing its earnings, Netflix said the coming "Streaming Wars," with Disney and Apple will be "noisy" but it's not concerned, saying it doesn't believe it will lose many subscribers with the new entrants. What do you think readers? Will you give up Netflix for Disney+, or just have both?  This week's Talking Tech podcasts Facebook Portal review. I weigh in on what's good about the new units and all those bugs. Google's Motion Sensor. Ed Baig joins the podcast to talk about that wacky new feature of the Pixel 4 phone, a sensor that lets wave to turn it on and off. Netflix's $64 million question. Those giant-size Stranger Things ratings. Roku. The old vs. the new.  Readers!: Follow me on Twitter, @jeffersongraham Listen to the daily Talking Tech podcast, on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts. Subscribe to the Talking Tech texts, http://www.projecttext.com/jeffersongraham |
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