Seeing as the Apple events seem to get hyped, does anyone care that there’s a Google event today for the Pixel 2, and maybe some other stuff, later today? It all kicks off about 5pm. More info on Ars.

Also, in an odd scheduling event, Sonos are having a thing today as well. According to FCC filings one of the items that might be revealed is a smart speaker that could incorporate more than one assistant. Which if true would be interesting competition for the HomePod. As compared to Alexa and Google Assistant, Siri is as dumb as a box of frogs. Plus Sonos know sound quality. I assume there will be Alexa, at least, integration announced as well….finally.

Unfortunately for me, it’s a big fat, meh!
I don’t have anything against people spending the thick end of a grand on a phone, but for me it’s a completely preposterous idea.
Happy with my £200 Lenovo and unlikely to replace it for several years.

Info on their Home speaker thingies might be more up my street though.

Just been looking up pixel 2 stuff. Only out of curiosity though. I’m nevee going to be in the market for a £1000 phone (XL), it’s a pity that Google don’t put effort into a budget £200 base model.

Edit:post crossed with stumpy but all +1

I have my Google home that I like despite its short comings (namely because I’m a paying Google business customer rather than free account user naturally I don’t have access to all the features…. FFS!) and use GA on my phone occasionally.

same for the chromebook. They seem to fall into either massively expensive or cheaply made. I’d like something a bit nicer that the lump of plastic I use now, but I don’t want to shell out the thick end of a grand.

When my last iPhone needed replacing, I was all up for getting a new Nexus. It was reasonable in price, and solved my biggest issue with android phones, that of updates and 3rd party OS skinning.

Waited for the announcement and they’d only bloody killed the line and brought out the shitting Pixel for a million quid. Why couldn’t they just do both lines? Grrr.

Nick, Asus flip is superb if a little small.

Will be a great phone, good price and solid tech without the circle jerk of claiming to have invented everything 😉

thanks I’ll give it a look, was hoping for something with a larger screen.

Jamie, I know what you mean, I had a nexus, and it was a great phone, dropped it, and tried to get a replacement only to find they’d stopped producing it! Went for a OnePlus, as the closest in functionality, and concept

I meant to add this thread was dedicated to Mike. 8)

it’s a pity that Google don’t put effort into a budget £200 base model.

My thoughts exactly. I’d even stretch to £300.

Something about the size of the Nexus 5 and a bit more up-to-date memory and tech-wise.

The Sonos event could well be very interesting. I think the smart speaker/subscription music market is a bit of a confusing mess at the moment and some genuine cross-platform choice would be ace.

Not so bothered about a phone – but I’m still waiting for a decent Nexus 7 replacement. Mine’s still struggling on, but it won’t last forever.

Lezgo!

In the pipeline is definitely the Google Pixel 2, Pixelbook, and a Google Home Mini.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YGoxbeSzLc[/video]

As per others I do wish they would go back to some “developer phones”. Slightly out of date hardware wise but a)not too far behind b)guaranteed to get updates for a while and c)not too expensive.
My five is getting on a tad but really want one which meets b and also c. I dont love phones that much.

I can only assume the market for £200-300 android phones was just too congested to make a mark/profit. They probably assumed that most of the buyers in that market couldn’t give a hoot of having a vanilla version of the OS. As such they went PREMIUM BABY!

….with a fugly Pixel phone.

Edit: I do love the inherent naffness of tech events.

Want Alexa with decent sound quality for £199?

http://www.sonos.com/en-gb/shop/one.html

Google Assistant coming to it next year.

I’ve just had to update my Sonos software, and I think that there was something in the notes about there being new functionality to run an Echo Dot and Sonos together- haven’t looked at it yet, but I’m guessing that it’s new because I’m sure I had another Sonos update a few weeks back. If this is a two box equivalent to the new hardware then I might be tempted to get the Echo Dot back out of the drawer for another play.
Apologies if I’m wrong though and this has been around for months.

Want Google Assistant with decent sound quality for £399-ish?

Google Home Max. Coming next year.

Looking like Apple’s HomePod will have some competition.

I’ve got a year left on my contact so hoping the Pixel 2 is available a bit cheaper then. I write like the XL Panda version.

Will see what the pixel comes out at on contract, at the moment one of the Motorolas is coming out on top. Seeing the offer for the mini home free with a pixel XL here

and the comparison specs there
https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/10/4/16424282/google-pixel-2-vs-iphone-x-samsung-galaxy-s8-lg-v30-price-specs-comparison
Headphones will be a PITA though, not a smart move

just had the google marketing email through and as above all the pricey tat is of no interest to me, but the google mini looks excellent. Perfect for a bedside radio/streamer/news headline player etc.

For a limited time you get a free mini when you buy the pixel 2. Bargain!

Although far too pricey for me, the PixelBook is a really good looking piece of kit.

my nexus 5 is still okay-ish, but i’ve had it 4 years now so been considering replacing it. glad i waited until this year’s devices launch, now i’m gonna look for refurbed pixels to replace my nexus i think. don’t really wanna spend over 600 quid, and i don’t want/need to start a new contract (as i currently pay 9 quid a month for unlimited everything/10GB data thanks to O2 friends and family discounts!)
home mini is a great announcement though, def picking one of those up. stick one of my chromecast audios into my cambridge audio speaker and that’s that sorted.

New pixel 1s are on sale for sensible money now. Though I think Motorola is getting my cash this time.
Had 8 for a while now, no revolution but just solid.

I’m paying about £12 per month more than SIM only for my current phone, so around £300 over the two years. That’s probably my upper limit – psychologically I’d struggle to pay more than £25 a month for phone + a decent (2GB+) amount of data.

If I can get a similar deal on a Pixel when it’s time to renew, or get one for about £300, I think I’ll go for that.

Apple AirPlay2 apparently coming to Sonos too – can be implemented in software so can be added to existing/older units. That alone means I’ll be holding off on HomePod.

Sonos One is also much more appealing than an Amazon Echo, even if it is twice the price.

Looks like the big limitation with the One with Alexa (and presumably Dot integration) is that it will only work with music services that Amazon support.

So Amazon Music, TuneIn, Pandora, Sirius, iHeart. Not Spotify, Spotify, Google Play, Deezer, Apple Music, etc.

Price aside, I think the earphones are the most exciting thing. I travel a lot with work and having real time translation seems like something out of Star Trek!

Apple AirPlay2 apparently coming to Sonos too – can be implemented in software so can be added to existing/older units. That alone means I’ll be holding off on HomePod.

Can’t wait for this. I really don’t like the Sonos app – Siri integration (for all her faults) would be a real bonus.

New pixel 1s are on sale for sensible money now.

carphone warehouse have the XL for under 400, but no sign of the regular pixel. i’d prefer the regular; got any links for good priced unlocked new ones?

Try a Google for it? Had offers through on some emails but that was for Oz.

nah, there’s nowt except refurbs and ebay stuff coming up in UK results.