Google to Release New Smartphone on Aug

Google will launch on Aug. 3, a new phone, expected to be called the Pixel 4a . The new phone is largely expected to be a successor to last year’s Pixel 3a, pictured below, which launched for $399 but offered some of the flagship features of the more expensive Pixel 3, such as the high-end camera.

According to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, With the launch of Pixel 3a in May, overall Pixel unit sales in Q2 grew more than two times year over year.

Meanwhile, Pixel 4a will compete directly with Apple’s new iPhone SE, which offers the same powerful processor as the more expensive iPhone 11 and bonus features such as wireless charging and water resistance. The 2020 iPhone SE starts at $399.

Google Pixel 4a

The pandemic slowed several tech announcements this year, so it was unclear when the next Pixel phone would come through. However, with this teaser on the Google Store, the release date of the Pixel 4a appears to be pretty much guaranteed.

Later, Google’s introduced a video shopping platform “Shoploop” for mobile that highlights products by creators and brands in clips of 90 seconds or less.

The idea for the app is to help people experience the look and feel of products they are shopping for without going to a physical store. Shoploop helps brands get product reviews from real people who know and use the products.

Also, Google explained that the idea for Shoploop came after its research showed that people often follow a very specific path to buying products.

Shoploop

Once they come across something that catches their eye, they’ll often seek reviews from real people on other platforms like YouTube, and then circle back to an online shop to complete the purchase.

Google is the latest of many tech media giants to introduce video shopping features. Facebook and Instagram added online shops to their social media platforms earlier this year.

Amazon uses its livestream platform, Amazon Live, on its retail site. YouTube, which is owned by Google, also added shoppable advertisements to its videos last month.

Also, Google launched Android 11 beta for Pixel phones after it cancelled the June 3 unveiling event due to the ongoing protests. After multiple developer previews for the upcoming update to Android, the OS has reached beta phase and brings a number of new features that Google has categorised into three groups: People, Controls and Privacy.

Android 11 beta brings chat bubbles, improved media controls, and improved control over sensitive permissions. Additionally, Google also released several new features in Android Studio 4.1 Beta and 4.2 Canary.

Google explained it is making Android more “people-centric and expressive” so that it can recognise and prioritize certain conversations.

The notifications in Android 11 beta are pided into three categories namely, conversations, alerting notifications, and silent notifications.