80 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 46FEATURE
Miss: Google Pixel Buds
Much to the chagrin of Android audiophiles,
Google opted to follow Apple’s lead and dump the
headphone jack in the Pixel 2 (though it is kind enough
to supply a USB-C-to-3.5mm adaptor in the box). To
compensate, Google started selling £159 Bluetooth
Pixel Buds, with a charging case, five hours of listening
time, simpler pairing, and real-time translation.
The only problem is, they’re not very good.
Not only are they not truly wireless, people have
complained about poor fit, wonky connection, and a
poor integration with Google Translate. Which quite
frankly, only makes us miss the headphone jack more.Hit: Google Assistant expands
Sometimes it seems like the AI wars are going to go
on forever. With Siri, Assistant, Alexa, and Cortana all
carving out niches among their uses bases, we seem
to forever be segmented to the devices they live on.
But Google took a step toward breaking down those
barriers in 2017. Not only did it greatly expand its reach
on Android devices by opening Assistant up to all
Marshmallow and Nougat handsets (and coming soon,
tablets), it also brought an Assistant app to the iOS App
Store. It’s a small step for sure, but it opens Assistant
to a whole new segment of users and puts a little
more pressure on Apple to make Siri more friendly
to Android users. And that’s okay in our book.Miss: Android Wear
There was a time when it looked like Android
Wear would be the most ubiquitous platform for