NEST HUB MAX
The company introduced the Nest
Hub Max, a $229 smart display with
a 10-inch screen and a front-facing
camera for video calls. It’s basically
a larger version of the 7-inch Google
Home Hub, which is now known as
the Nest Hub as Google and Nest
merge their brands. But it includes a
few improvements, including a
switch that lets you disable the
camera and microphone for added
privacy.Unfortunately, this tighter integration between Google and Nest means the
demise of Google’s Works With Nest program. “We will wind down the Works
with Nest developer program on August 31, 2019, and focus on delivering a
single consumer and developer experience through the Works with Google
Assistant program,” reads a note on the Nest website. That could make for some
messy smart-home-device setups. As Google Vice President Rishi Chandra tells
Variety, “It will break IFTTT.”
GOOGLE STADIA CUSTOM
CONTROLLERS
Stadia, Google’s game-streaming
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at the Game Developers
Conference (GDC), but details are
still scant: Neither launch date nor
pricing has been announced. But
at I/O, we got a look at the Stadia
controller, and it’s no shoddy-
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mainstream console that should
easily handle long gaming sessions. But third-party controllers, as well as a
mouse and keyboard, will also be supported.