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Zoom Branching into Google Nest, Facebook Portal Displays and Amazon Echo

Leave a Comment / Tech News / By Athulya

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to the massive exodus to remote working in our history. Due to the travel bans and lockdowns, a good portion of the world’s white-collar workforce is now working from home. As a result, internet services, remote working services, and video calling applications have been witnessing exponential rises in user strength. That is why, in the last few months, several companies have branched into or improved their video-calling and remote-working enabling technologies. Zoom has been a significant player in the field of remote communication, and they are now working towards expanding their current line-up. Here’s a look at how Zoom will be improving accessibility by making their service compatible with new devices.

Zoom’s Expansion

Zoom has released plans that will see it expanding to several new devices before the end of this year. Recent announcements state that the company will be making its services available through Facebook Portal, Amazon Echo, and even Google Nest Hub Max. The move is a significant expansion plan for the video conferencing conglomerate that has been having a successful year so far. Furthermore, the company also has plans to branch out into their unique line of video conferencing hardware solutions. These devices which will feature advanced directional microphones, smart displays, and built-in high-quality touchscreens, will provide users with a great video conferencing experience.

Zoom Entering Hardware Space

Zoom’s announcement that it will launch a new touchscreen device shocked several experts around the world. The device, titled Zoom For Home — DTEN ME, will start shipping in August and will cost $599. This 27-inch smart display touchscreen device will feature three webcams and eight built-in state-of-the-art noise-reducing microphones. The device also comes preloaded with the Zoom app, and the company is launching this project in collaboration with DTEN. DTEN will handle the hardware part of the device, being a San Jose-headquartered company that deals in videoconferencing technology manufacturing.

The device has a simple and intuitive interface, featuring contact displays, meeting dashboards, and whiteboards. Though experts feel that $599 might be steep for such a device, the company explained that the system made it easier for people to work remotely. They will no longer have to install the app or configure it on their various devices if they use the DTEN.

Integration with Big Players

Zoom’s integration with Amazon, Facebook, and Google will prove to be an important strategic decision for the future. It will also bring forth massive changes for these tech giants. Prior to this, these companies have exclusively stuck to their own unique in-house chatting services. While Google relied on Google Meet, Facebook users made use of Facebook Messenger for video conferencing. Reports state that the Portal will be the first third-party service to avail of Zoom, and the initial roll-out phase will happen in September.

Facebook Takes the Lead

However, all three companies will be implementing this integration in different ways. Facebook will add the Zoom App, along with a bunch of new services, including Webex, BlueJeans, and GoToMeeting. Furthermore, the application will use the smart camera provided and powered by Facebook to keep users in the frame, the same way Messenger and Whatsapp work. Zoom will be available on the Portal +, Portal Mini, and Portal devices, with Portal TV coming into the fold shortly.

Also, the social media giant will make Portal less reliant on Facebook accounts. The addition of a Workplace account for the Portal will help users log in without having to use their Facebook or Whatsapp accounts. Facebook states that the inclusion of such a Work account will become available in the weeks to come.

Google and Amazon to Follow

Meanwhile, Google will rely on Calendar and Assistant to pull and add Zoom meetings for its users. Furthermore, the tech giant will also allow users to start sessions using voice commands through its Assist feature. However, since the Nest Hub can link only to a single account, users may find it challenging to juggle meetings and personal video calls through Zoom.

Amazon will be taking a similar approach with Alexa, allowing Echo Show systems to sync with the calendar and Virtual Assistant. Doing so will enable the system to automatically join meetings without users having to input IDs and passwords. The system will also support all Alexa voice commands, with the rollout beginning later this year with the Echo Show 8.

It will be interesting to see how this cross-over pans out for everyone involved. With the roll-out becoming functional from September, we might be able to see this move impact sale of Zoom’s hardware devices. As per Zoom CPO Oded Gal, this move will make it easier than ever before for people to use video communication effectively in both their professional and personal lives.

Athulya

Being a cinephile with a love for all things outdoorsy, Athulya never misses a chance to chase inspiring stories or poke fun at things, even when the subject is herself. Currently pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering, she is someone innately interested in technical and scientific research. Music reviews and op-eds define her as they allow her to explore different perspectives. Though sometimes she thinks she makes more sense playing the guitar than she does while writing.

Google Pixel Fall Hardware Event 2019: What to Expect

Leave a Comment / Google, News, Product, Tech News / By Yashica Vashishtha

Tuesday is the day when Google will be hosting its annual fall hardware showcase event, and as all you know, the event will be finally launching the Google Pixel 4 and Google Pixel 4 XL smartphones. But other than that, the big event will also be revealing some of the major updates to the company’s existing products as well as the other new products.

Pixel 4 has already been in news, and the rumours have got us most of the information about the smartphone. According to the rumours, there are two sizes available in the phone, and it will be in three different colours, i.e. ‘just black’, ‘clearly white’, and ‘oh so orange’. One of the new changes to the new smartphone includes a second, 16-megapixel telephoto, camera lens. The camera will also include some of the new photography tricks in it, like an astrophotography mode that makes the night sky pictures even more magical by capturing the stars even clearer. One of the tricks also includes the “Motion Mode” that is specifically designed to take better action shots.

Google had been working on new radar motion sensors called Soli, which according to the rumours, the company will finally be installing in the smartphone. These sensors will make the smartphone do things only by sensing the user’s gestures, like swipes in the air for changing the song on the music application. There will also be a new face recognition feature that will allow the users to unlock the smartphone and in any orientation. Though the rumours have also claimed the Pixel 4 smartphones to be 5G supported, there is no indication from Google of the same, as it is still working on the technology and cannot launch it any sooner.

Other than the smartphones, the company has made some improvements to some of its products. The Google Assistant has received the major updates and is being called as the ‘next-generation Google Assistant’. The new Google Assistant is ten times faster and will also be available on the Google Pixel 4 smartphones. So, the Assistant will be one of the major highlights of the event.

The company had introduced a Pixelbook laptop in 2017, and there had been no news on new Pixelbooks since then. But as the company had revealed at the beginning of this year that it is working on the next Pixelbook, there are high hopes that it will be showing off a new Pixelbook at the event. Believing the rumours, Pixelebook Go is the upcoming laptop, that may have a 13.3-inch touchscreen. According to a blogpost from 9to5Google, like the Pixel 4 smartphone, the Pixelbook may be in two colours ‘just black’, and ‘oh so orange’.

It is also expected that the company may give us some of its new Nest products. There is a possibility that the company may showcase a new mesh router system that will provide wifi connection to the various Google Home devices. There is another device called Nest Mini, that may attract people’s attention during the event, as it is a small smart speaker from Google that they can also hang on your wall.

Last but not least, one of the new products from Google is a pair of new Pixel Buds. There is not much information about the buds, but we expect them to be completely wireless this time. And according to a tweet from Android and Chrome chief Hiroshi Lockheimer, these new buds are incorporated with great sound quality, sweat proof, better battery with USB C charging port, and more.

So only one day left for the event, and we hope Google will bring even better features and products at the event.

Yashica Vashishtha

Yashica is a Software Engineer turned Content Writer, who loves to write on social causes and expertise in writing technical stuff. She loves to watch movies and explore new places. She believes that you need to live once before you die. So experimenting with her life and career choices, she is trying to live her life to the fullest.

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Google to (may) Launch the Nest Max Hub in the Coming September

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Yashica Vashishtha

Recently, Alphabet’s subsidiary smart home device maker was rebranded to Nest from Google Home, and in the last Google I/O 2019 event, the company announced a new and big Smart Display, i.e. Nest Max Hub. Well, the company has also mistakenly revealed the date of launch for the said product. The revealed date though was 9th of the coming Septemeber, but the company has just removed the date from its support page.

Previously the company had launched the Nest Hub, a 7” display, that opened the door to things like guided recipes, song lyrics, appointment calendars, etc. The brand new Smart Display from Google is 10” HD display and is empowered with Google Assistant.

This time, the company has also included Nest Cam to the display, such that if the user is away from home, and the Nest Cam captures any new faces, it alerts the user. For the alerts, the company has included the Nest Aware subscription service into the display. The camera uses the Face Match technology to identify faces and can recognize up to six people. For these six people, it then creates personalised settings, too.

The camera offers a 127-degree field of view that covers a larger area. The display also lets the user scroll through the recording history. Having a camera on the display, the users can also make video calls through it using Google’s Duo app.

Having the assistance of the Google Assistant, the Smart Display can create personalised calendars for the users, and on their preferences, it can also incorporate new playlists.

Quick Gestures is another new feature added to the display, such that the user can control some of its apps through the hand gestures only. Like for the music, the user can ask the smart display to reduce or increase the volume through their hand’s gestures.

The new Smart Display has also inherited a few features from its previous version. Like Nest Hub, it will render built-in Chromecast and will also have access to Google Photos. It has also got a 2-channel speaker setup, that includes two tweeters and a woofer.

The Nest Max Hub is an all-in-one device that has been designed to serve almost every type of solutions to the user. According to the company’s keynote at the Google I/O conference, the Nest Max Hub, for users, is their kitchen TV, a security camera, a smart home controller as well as their Smart Display.

According to the announcement, the Smart Display will be first available in the U.S., UK and Australia. The price of the product has been set at around $299, which is a bit pricier than its ancestor. But based on the various specifications of the new Smart Display, it is quite a steal deal.