A look at Google's 2018: A year of volatility

2018 is a year full of events of the technology world in general and Google in particular.So, during the past year, what has the world's leading technology company done, how difficult have they been, let's review our outstanding Google events in 2018 right after here.

1. Google: From tiny little boy to tech village giant at age 20

2018 is a year where Google is particularly interested in the hardware market

Since the beginning of the year, Google has launched dozens of different hardware products, from all fields, from smartphones to virtual reality technology.

Google has introduced a $ 130 gadget called the Google Home Hub, which controls all your smart home devices (no need to open many different apps) and shows you information in a way. fast.

In addition, Google also released Pixel Slate tablet, has a brilliant screen, dual speakers on the front, two 8 megapixel cameras and high-speed fingerprint sensor.Like the Apple iPad Pro, Google has also equipped Pixel Slate with a specific keyboard and stylus system, geared to flexible working.Pixel Slate has a starting price of $ 600, Pixel Slate keyboard costs $ 200 and a Pixelbook pen costs $ 100.

And of course, one of the most anticipated Android smartphones is the Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL which were released in October and initially achieved some success.These are two excellent legacy products for the legacy that the Pixel 2 left last year.Google's Pixel phone is indeed one of the Android smartphones for the most valuable user experience on the market today, especially in the ability to capture images, which can affirm the best smartphone world at the time. present.

Notable software upgrades

Not only that, Google has upgraded some other hardware lines this year, like the Chromecast dongle streaming, but the company has achieved much greater success by launching some new software as well as streaming. Operating interesting upgrades.

Specifically, Google added a new feature to Gmail called "Smart Compose".This feature will use machine learning and predictive text to automatically complete your email messages, and in fact it has received very positive feedback from Gmail users.

Google Assistant has also made great strides.Now you can continue unfinished conversations with virtual assistants.Moreover, this 'assistant' can also analyze several commands at once in your sentence.More importantly, the voice in Google Assistant has also improved significantly, listening more naturally, and in addition you can choose to use new voices, including the R&B star John Legend's voice. very interesting!

Parents will like this information: Google finally gives its virtual assistant a "politeness" feature.Specifically, with this feature users will receive credit points for saying "please" when asking Google Assistant about something - this is a good feature that can be used to educate young people. the way to speak is polite, more polite and not overbearing when asking for something.

Recently, Google's chief executive, Sundar Pichai, revealed a new feature called Duplex.With this feature you can request Google Assistant to call Google businesses, partners, and AI on your behalf to arrange appointments for you.Yes, this is completely true.

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The new "Call Screen" feature of Google for its flagship smartphone, the Pixel 3, has also been introduced.This is the first time you can use Google Duplex to handle phone calls on your behalf (actually Duplex works based on the Google Assistant platform).Specifically, Call Screen will let callers know they are talking to your assistant and ask what the purpose of the call is.The next conversation is recorded on the lock screen in real time so you can choose to answer or hang up.

A new feature called Subscribe with Google gives you access to all paid magazines and news content anywhere, including on Google search engines, Google News and home sites publish.

Google's new Android software Android P has also been launched with lots of new features.One of them is the great feature that every phone needs: "Flip to Shhh".Specifically, with this feature, you just need to put the phone face down on the table, and it will automatically silence and activate the "do not disturb" mode.

Also in 2018, Google announced a great Google Maps feature, using your phone camera to navigate around the area with Street View mode.A giant arrow and cartoon characters will appear and show you in the right direction, like a real world version of "Crazy Taxi".However, this feature is still not quite ready to be widely used, but we also have practical experiences about it, which will be very interesting and useful.

Google's future camera software Lens is finally released to the public.This tool can identify objects, thereby helping you make purchases of online items by directing your camera to what you want to buy, or you can even copy content. Text of anything you are pointing the phone at.Google Lens was actually released on the Pixel 2 in 2017, but the new version of this year will be able to be used for non-Pixel phones and iOS devices.

1. Official Google Lens is updated for all Android smartphones

Google makes smartphone competitors embarrassed with an amazing feature on Pixel 3 called Night Sight, which simply means you don't need a flash when you have to take pictures in the dark too.

Another interesting feature that first appeared on Pixel 3 is Google's "Photobooth" mode, which automatically takes photos if you're smiling or making a funny face.

In October, Google introduced a groundbreaking new service called "Project Stream", allowing users to stream video games to their Google Chrome web browser.This denies in part that the need for a high-end PC to run spectacular graphics, simply by Project Stream, like Nvidia's GeForce Now service, takes advantage of computers in the cloud. to provide self-processing power to the game.All you need is a strong and reliable online connection.

Google and technology ahead of humanity

A particularly interesting development trend is related to Google Chrome.As reported from Wired, Google's Chrome team is looking at ways to make browsing in general easier and safer.For example, you can know right away if you are on a trusted website, or you can simply find a website without having to enter the correct address.

Google's scandals in 2018

Considering the performance of a business throughout the year, it is impossible not to mention the controversy, troubles and failures that the company faces.Here are some typical events in 2018 that probably the Google heads couldn't be satisfied with.

Google is clearly building a censored search engine for China and quietly gathering data from people in the country until the backlash from Google employees has led to the project being canceled. .

Not only that, the European Union has imposed a $ 5 billion fine to Google in July for violating antitrust laws.Specifically, the EU believes that Google has abused its role as a dominant company in the Internet field to strangle its competitors, leading to unfair competition.

In the early days of December, Google's CEO Sundar Pichai was also "negotiated" with US lawmakers after his company was accused of suppressing opinions, conservative results in search engines. my sword.

In contrast, in the middle of June, more than a dozen high-ranking Google employees simultaneously resigned and thousands of other employees signed a letter to protest Google's "Project Maven".With the Project Maven project, Google is said to have worked with the Pentagon to take advantage of AI to analyze videos and improve the targeting of military drones.In the petition letter, the staff also asked Google to never develop war technology.Finally, in response to employee responses, Google closed the project indefinitely.

In November, thousands of Google employees around the world left their workplace together after the New York Times reports described in detail how Google came up with to protect an affair. my senior in front of the high ties of harassment and sexual abuse.

In August, an Associated Press investigation found that Google was still collecting user location data even when they turned off the Location History feature.After this report is released, Google quietly updates its help page to describe how to install the active location.However, many people were very dissatisfied with how Google handled this situation.

Google is a great company with its right approach in technology, but they have a bad history when so many times are accused of bending processing rules, this is often leads to a number of support situations or apologies from senior executives.For a leading technology company like Google, frankly, the scandals on the sidelines are inevitable, but should not happen too much and managers should also discuss more carefully. to make solutions that are most harmonious.

In the upcoming 2019, let's hope that Google will grow even more, achieve more steps to bring users the best technology.On the other hand, hopefully they will listen and understand the aspirations of employees and especially users more.

Finally, I would like to wish you a successful 2019!

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