OnePlus 6: the 6 Best Features

The OnePlus 6 surprised many with its great specs and price range when it was revealed last week. Starting at just $530, the phone offers features and specs that are only found in phones that are hundreds of dollars more expensive — features such as the latest Snapdragon SoC, high-end cameras, and a big OLED display. It might just be the best price to performance value of any smartphone on the market today.

To show just why, we've picked the 6 best features of the OnePlus 6 — Android's newest affordable flagship.

1: The new 6.2 inch AMOLED display

The display found in the OnePlus 6 is a top of the line OLED panel: a 6.28-inch 2280×1080 AMOLED display with a 19:19 aspect ratio. And while it does have a notch, it's not the most obtrusive of notches — it's about half the size of iPhone X's notch, aka the mother of all notches. The OnePlus 6 can also blackout the top notch with a UI option, which actually looks great — the battery and cell status appear "above" the screen. It's a simple software solution to the notch problem that all notch-phones should support.

2: Lots of RAM

The OnePlus 6 ships with either 6 GB or 8 GB of RAM. That's 8 GB of RAM in a smartphone. Keep in mind that most notebooks and desktops these days ship with 8 GB of RAM. That means faster access to apps and faster apps in general. There isn't much the OnePlus 6 can't handle.

3: 3.5mm headphone jack

OnePlus 6 is still hanging in there with the 3.5mm headphone jack option and might be one of the last high-end phones to offer the old-school headphone jack. The downside is obvious: no official IP waterproof rating, which is hard to get with an analog, old-school headphone jack (although it's not impossible). However, the phone does have "splash resistance" and improved water proofing compared to its predecessor.

4: New cameras

Like its predecessor, the OnePlus 6 has dual cameras- one with 16 MP and one with a whopping 20 MP resolution. Even better, both cameras feature an f/1.7 lens and optical image stabilization. As for video, the usual formats are supported: 4K and 1080p, as well as slow motion video up to 480 frames per second (at 720p). All in all, the new cameras can go head to head with any smartphone out there, at least on paper.

5: The latest Snapdragon 845 CPU at low cost

The Snapdragon 845 is one the fastest mobile SoC on the market today, and it found its way into the OnePlus 6, making it one of the fastest phones in the world despite its price tag. Competing phones with the same chip-set can cost hundreds of dollars more, but the OnePlus 6 managed to get top of the line hardware and keep the price comparatively low.

6: OnePlus 6 has better specs than Pixel 2 as a much lower price

This isn't exactly a "feature" but it is worth noting: the OnePlus 6 beats Google's Pixel 2 in terms of specs and costs a lot less. Here's a quick rundown of the specs comparison (we've chosen the Pixel 2 XL because the size is more comparable):

	OnePlus 6	Pixel 2 XL
Display	6.28″ AMOLED	6″ pOLED
Chipset	Snapdragon 845	Snapdragon 835
RAM	6 GB / 8 GB	4 GB
GPU	Adreno 630	Adreno 540
Camera	16MP f/1.7	12 MP f/1.8
Camera 2	20 MP f/1.7	None
Front camera	16 MP f/2.0	8 MP f/2.4
Storage	64/128/256 GB	64/128 GB

Now read all of those specs again with the price in mind:

• Pixel 2: $850
• OnePlus 6: $530

Even the most expensive OnePlus 6 version, with 8 GB RAM/256 GB storage, is $200 cheaper than the Pixel 2.

1 OnePlus 6 feature we wish it had: Wireless charging

One feature we really wish OnePlus 6 had implemented is wireless charging. Wireless charging is quickly becoming a standard feature in smartphones, and wireless chargers are now appearing all over — from coffee shops, to airports, to cars, and more. But at this price range, you can't have everything, and truth be told, we'd much rather have the improved cameras and more RAM than wireless charging.

OnePlus 6 Reviews

The OnePlus 6 reviews have been overwhelmingly positive so far. Cnet called it "blazing fast" thanks to the latest Snapdragon 845 processor and praised its new camera. So did Engadget, saying that the OnePlus 6 has "finally created a camera that's ready to challenge those from other top-tier smartphones". The Verge put it bluntly in their conclusion: the OnePlus 6 is a "better phone than the OnePlus 5T in every respect. These statements are echoed in other reviews — the OnePlus 6 is a home run and offers the best price/performance for a phone right now.

What do you think of the OnePlus 6 so far? Would you consider buying it over, say, the Pixel 2 or the Galaxy S9? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!

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Hands-On: Lenovo Mirage Solo VR Headset

Although Google IO 2018 was mostly about software and AI, several hardware partners made announcements in tandem with the event. We saw JBL unveil a Soundbar with Google Assistant, a trio of manufacturers showed Smart Displays with Google Assistant due out in July, and Lenovo followed on the heels of Oculus Go by announcing their standalone VR Headset- the Lenovo Mirage Solo.

We spotted the Mirage Solo at the combined Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality tent at #IO18 where we put the new headset to the test. Here are some initial thoughts after using the Mirage Solo for a brief demo.

Mirage Solo on Amazon

How does it fit?

I'm a new recruit of the "glasses not contacts" club and was happy to learn that the Lenovo Mirage Solo fits perfectly fine overtop glasses. After putting on the headset there are two adjustments you can make to ensure a snug fit.

The main fastener on the rear of the headset is dial-based, which I love. It tightens in small increments as it turns, gently clicking into each notch. This mechanism ensures a really snug wrap around my gigantic dome and one that won't slip or come loose while in use. It rides higher on my head than other headsets, which seemed to take weight away from my face, but it felt a bit too high.

Luckily the second fastener mostly addressed this issue. While holding a button on the bottom left of the headset, you can move the headset further or closer to your face, accommodating various face and nose shapes and sizes.

This greatly improved the fit of the Lenovo Mirage, but it wasn't perfect. It felt loose on the bottom, beneath my eyes, which was most noticeable when looking down. That may sound like a minor complaint, but it's not. The goal is to be truly immersed in the VR world. A less than perfect fit is a constant reminder that you've got a big machine strapped to your face.

I wouldn't rule out buying the Lenovo Mirage for this reason alone, though. Not yet at least.  I only had 5 minutes to toy with it and there's a good chance with some practice and fiddling it would fit fine. For others, like my #IO18 partner in crime Derek Ross, there were no complaints.

Fit and comfort are of ultimate importance in VR. At $400 it needs to fit properly. The primary tightening dial is a great inclusion and I wouldn't be surprised to see this adopted by competitors, but the jury is still out on the overall comfort of the Lenovo Mirage Solo.

6-Degrees of Freedom

One key advantage of PC-driven virtual reality headsets like the HTC Vive is room scale interaction. Sensors placed in the room interact with sensors in the headset, allowing users to not only move their head up, down, left, and right, but also move around in the physical world with the virtual world reacting appropriately.

Headsets like the Gear VR, Daydream View, and even Oculus Go don't approach this realm. They focus only on directional head movements with clicks of a companion controller used to teleport you within the virtual space. The Mirage Solo does have a remote and can be used to move through space in the VR world, but it's not a limiting dimension.

The Mirage Solo has built-in proximity sensors, two tracking cameras, and "WorldSense" positional tracking that understands where you are in relation to objects in the room. This allows a more seamless connection between the physical and virtual worlds and thus a more immersive experience. As explained by Lenovo:

Lean and duck to navigate your way through tight spaces; jump to traverse pitfalls and dodge to avoid incoming projectiles. Objects and landscapes stay fixed in place no matter where you tilt or move your head.

At least that's the idea. In our demo we sat in swivel chairs, giving us the ability to explore a full 360 degree range of visibility, but without any lateral movements. Sure, we could duck our heads and see the 6-degrees of freedom in action, but not to an extent that shows its value beyond the competition.

This is an important distinction to be explored in a full review.

Daydream Compatibility

The primary difference between the Lenovo Mirage Solo and the Oculus Go is content. A VR headset is only as good as the apps and games you can get on it; the Oculus platform has 1,000+ titles to choose from while the Lenovo Mirage Solo – powered by Google's Daydream 2.0 – sits at only about 250 titles.

That number will obviously grow, however there aren't hoards of new and compelling VR experiences launching on the regular. It's still early days in VR and Mirage Solo owners are very much early adopters. Release momentum will pick up when VR headsets themselves become more commonplace, giving developers more incentive to build on the platform. But guess what? I said that a few years ago when the HTC Vive originally launched and the ball is still rolling rather slowly… steadily, but slowly.

You can choose from a ton of video content via YouTube and Google Play Movies & TV, but watching 2D video in a VR headset isn't the primary use case. Explore the types of content and experiences Daydream 2.0 offers right here.

Specs and Battery Life

The Mirage Solo is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 VR, 4GB of RAM, and seems to run Daydream 2.0 flawlessly. The visuals on the 5.5-inch LCD screen with QHD resolution were good, but expectations should be tempered- this is a dedicated VR headset but it still can't compete with an experience powered by a full PC.

The Mirage Solo only has 64GB of storage but a MicroSD slot will allow you to ramp that up easily if you want access to more movies, TV, apps, and games. However much content you have, you'll be limited to about 2.5 hours of continuous use with the Mirage Solo's 4,000 mAh battery. That's a little bit disappointing, but par for the course- consider it a built-in reminder to rest your eyes and tether it to an external battery if you really want to push its limits.

You'll get audio by connecting a 3.5mm headset jack directly into the Mirage Solo and thankfully there are VR optimized headphones that come in the box. We didn't have a chance to try these specific headphones, but for the best experience, you'll likely want to select headphones of your own.

Size and Weight

Coming in at 1.42 pounds the Lenovo Mirage is heavier than its direct competitors. Its most direct competitor – due to the fact that it also has a built-in display that doesn't require your phone – is the Oculus Go VR headset from Facebook. It weighs just 1.03 pounds.

Two other popular alternatives, the Gear VR and the Google Daydream View, require users to snap their phone into the headset, thus serving as the display. The Gear VR totals 1.09 pounds when accounting for the headset (.76 pounds) and a Galaxy S9 (.36 pounds) while the Daydream View weighs just .80 pounds split between the headset (.49 pounds) and the Pixel 2 (.31 pounds). Obviously if you're using a heavier device the combined weight will increase, but they're unlikely to approach the 1.42 pounds of the Lenovo Mirage.

It doesn't feel dramatically heavier, though. It feels solid. Substantial. Built with purpose as its own hardware rather than an accessory that tags along. Unfortunately, you pay for those materials and that build quality.

Bottom Line: is it worth $400?

If you're looking to purchase your first ever VR headset, Lenovo's Mirage Solo is among the best places to start ($400 at Amazon). It's a much better experience than the Gear VR ($90 at Amazon) or the Daydream View ($80 at Amazon), but is also 4X the price. If you've already got a compatible phone and haven't tried VR before, I'd start with the Gear VR or View and upgrade if you feel compelled by the concept and want a better experience all-around.

The real competition is with the Oculus Go which is half the price and has 4X the apps and games. However, the Go doesn't cooperate with Google's Daydream ecosystem. It's a tossup.

If you value the portability of a VR headset then you should absolutely pick the Oculus Go or one of the smartphone driven headsets over the Mirage Go. The Mirage Solo may be more sturdy and comfortable, but its design and materials are rigid, making it difficult to pack for trips unless you've got a lot of extra room.

At this point, I'd say start with the Gear VR or Daydream View if you've never tried VR; upgrade to the Oculus Go if you want something affordable, but better quality that you can travel with; and upgrade to the Mirage Solo if cash isn't an issue and you want the best casual VR Headset for your home.

Which VR Headset would you pick?

Do you already own a VR Headset? Which one do you have, why did you pick it, and how do you like it? Let us know in the comments and share how you think the Lenovo Mirage Solo stacks up against the competition.

 

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Google has an immersive Google Home Max experience at I/O 2018

New to Google I/O this year is an immersive Google Home Max experience, which is an absolutely massive Google Home Max replica that you can go inside. Once inside, you'll find a Google Home Max mounted upon the wall of a room filled with LEDs that osculate, change, and dance while adapting to the music being played from the wall mounted smart speaker. While the crazy light show is definitely impressive and a cool party trick for I/O attendees, the entire purpose of this room is to show just how loud and clear the sound is coming from Google's premium audio device.

Google wants to remind I/O attendees that they're serious about audio, have a dedicated audio team with seasoned industry experts, and that they have a premium audio device with Smart Sound that's up for grabs. The Google Home Max's internals were hand picked for their quality, contain dual 4.5″ sub-woofers for deep bass and custom tweeters for crystal clear highs. Smart Sound is Google's take on using their AI smarts to automatically adjust the equalizer settings to match the acoustics of the room.

If you're at I/O 2018 and want to experience first hand what the Google Home Max has to offer and see a nifty light show, be sure to head on over to stage left and check it out. You can also pick one up from the Google Store for $399. Google's running a special right now too. If you grab a Home Max, they'll toss in a Home Mini for free.

You can watch the full video from inside the Google Home Max Experience here.

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10 Biggest Announcements at Google IO 2018

NOTE: This post will be continually updated to rank the biggest announcements from Google IO 2018 as they occur!…refresh often!

We made our Google IO 2018 predictions but the time has come for Google to make things officially official. Here are the biggest announcements from the event, updated by the minute, as they happen.

Google Murders Siri

Google just murdered Apple's Siri in their latest Google Assistant demonstration. Google Duplex's ability to use and recognize natural language may just be the most impressive demonstration out of Google IO 2018. The example Google showed off live had Google Assistant book a hair salon appointment all by itself… and it was flawless.

Siri is dead. There's no catching up.

Android P Beta available to download

Surprisingly, Google did NOT unveil the dessert name for Android P, but let users know that the Android P Beta is available for download from a number of partners starting today.

The mystery of Android P continues… Popsicle? Praline Pecan Pie? Hmmm.

6 New Google Assistant Voices

Google is adding 6 new voices to Google Assistant, including John Legend's voice, which is coming later this year.

3 "Okay Google" Updates

A few big updates to Google Assistant will improve your "Okay Google " experience:

• Continued Conversation – Google Assistant is making conversations more natural by removing the need to say "ok google" or "hey google" every time for every follow up query. This new feature is called Continued Conversation and it's coming later this year.
• Multiple Actions – let's you string together multiple commands in one sentence. The example provided was "Turn on the Warriors game and start the popcorn maker"
• Pretty Please – Google is improving Assistant family experiences by adding a new 'pretty please' option allowing positive experiences for children or anyone that needs a little ray of sunshine in their daily routine.

Smart Displays with YouTube TV

Coming in July are a bunch of Smart Displays – similar to the Amazon Echo Show – which will include both YouTube and YouTube TV support. We're guessing Amazon's products won't get the same treatment. Wink wink. Nudge. Nudge.

Shown on screen were smart displays from JBL, Lenovo, and LG.

Gmail Smart Compose

There's a new feature for GMail that will auto-complete your sentences using machine learning. All you need to do is hit tab and Google's AI will autocomplete your sentence for you, adding things like names, phone numbers, and addresses with ease. Google's new Smart Compose will roll out to all users later this month.

Google Photos: Smart Solutions

A new feature in Google Photos will suggest solutions inline while viewing photos, allowing users to easily complete small tasks that will greatly improve their experience. Sharing photos, fixing exposure, converting photos to PDFs, popping color, and colorizing photos are some of the examples shown off.

Google News gets personal

Google has a new experience for Google News, personalizing news just for you, assembling the things you need to know about. The more you use Google News, the better it gets. The new Google News also includes something called Newscasts. These provide short previews of content, giving you an easy way to get started with your news.

Another new feature, dubbed "Subscribe with Google", allows you to use your Google account to access your paid content everywhere from Google's own products to publisher's sites too. Shown off in the demo: The Washington Post. This allows you easily access high quality information that you care about with no hassle. This is rolling out in 127 countries today on Android, iOS, and web.

Android P Gestures

Android P has a drastically new gesture based UI. For those of you that have seen the gesture based UI on Apple's iPhone X, you'll notice many similarities. This new navigation system is much simpler and faster, allowing you to more easily accomplish normal navigation tasks.

App Actions and Slices

App Actions occur directly in your device's search bar and gives a 60% predictive rate, adapting to the user, helping the user get to their next task as quick as possible. Slices are a new API allowing developers to surface snippets of apps in various places throughout the entire OS.

Cheeseburger and Beer Emojis: Fixed!

Sundar opened the Google IO 2018 Keynote on a light note, saying he was happy to announce that the cheeseburger and beer emojis have been fixed. What were the designers of the beer emoji thinking? No clue.

Other notes and announcements

• Over 7,000 people at Google IO 2018
• Google AI: opening AI centers around the world. AI will transform healthcare, such as diabetic retinopathy. AI systems offer more insight to look for things humans generally might miss or don't look for.
• Google AI: AI can make accessibility better such as improving experiences for those that are hearing impaired by using audio and visual queues to clean up closed captioning.
• Gboard now supports Morse Code, available in beta later today.
• Improved Google Assistant News Feed – Google Assistant is getting more visually assistive, move interactive, immersive, and proactive on your phone. Adding food pickup and delivery, visually appealing responses, and what can be best described as an improved Google Feed on Google Assistant.
• Google Assistant is coming to Google Maps and Navigation this summer.
• Android Dashboard will get better at showing you how you spend your time
• Android Dashboard: shows you how you spent your time
• JOMO – Google is focusing more on the "Joy Of Missing Out" which focuses on 4 key areas:
  • Understand your habits
  • Focus on what matters
  • Switch off and wind down
  • Find balance for your family
• YouTube "Take A Break" Reminders will help you avoid too much binge-watching
• YouTube Notifications digest will give you one notification that groups all your updates together, so you don't get overwhelmed by constant subscription updates (rolling out this week)
• Android Adaptive battery: Google partnered with DeepMind to use AI to adapt to users' usage patterns. Your Android smartphone will learn how you like to set your brightness and adapt to your usage. This allows for a 30% reduction in CPU app wakeups, drastically increasing battery life for users.
• ML Kit – for developers on both Android and iOS to access image labeling, text recognition, face detection, barcode scanning, landmark detection, smart reply

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We’re live at Google I/O 2018!

For technology enthusiasts there's a few extra holidays besides the normal celebrated ones throughout the calendar year. Today just so happens to be one of the largest tech holiday's out there, at least our from our perspective. We're talking about Google's annual developer conference, Google IO 2018. Over the next couple days we'll see what Google has in store for developers and consumers from Android, to the expanding web, to AI and machine learning, to Google Assistant, to Google Photos, and more.

Rob Jackson and I are here, live, to bring you the latest and greatest IO 2018 announcements. Stay tuned to Phandroid for more IO goodness.

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8 (Crazy?) Predictions for Google IO 2018

It's a matter of hours before Google IO 2018, where Google pulls back the curtain on what they have planned for the future of our favorite tech platforms. We've come to expect a lot from this annual event and this year is no different. There are surefire announcements, rumors abound, and speculation aplenty- where to begin?

A look over the full Google IO Schedule will give you an idea of what to expect (hint: a little bit of everything), but if there's one thing we've learned about Google IO it's to expect the unexpected. That's exactly what we're going to do- offer some speculation and crazy ideas on what could (but probably won't) happen at Google IO 2018.

One thing is for sure: there will be lots and lots of Android.

Android Popsicle or Android Praline Pecan Pie?

You can be almost certain that Google will announce the official Android P name at Google IO 2018, just as they formally graduated Android O to Android Oreo at 2017's event. I've predicted Android names with limited success in the past and this year all signs point to Android Popsicle (back in 2013 I predicted Peppermint).

It's practically written in stone that Android Popsicle will be the name- they're colorful, refreshing, and invoke the light and happy feeling that Google wants to convey with the Android brand (not to mention Google's Material Design). But it's fun to root for an underdog, so I've got my eye on Android Praline Pecan Pie as a sleeper pick. After all, names of the official Android P download files on Google's Developer site all contain "ppp" after the device codename.

• Pixel (codename sailfish): sailfish-ppp1.180208.014-factory-3e45bada.zip
• Pixel XL (codename marlin): marlin-ppp1.180208.014-factory-1ff7eb1c.zip
• Pixel 2 (codename walleye): walleye-ppp1.180208.014-factory-bfdceeea.zip
• Pixel 2 XL (codename taimen): taimen-ppp1.180208.014-factory-8e44f67a.zip

Coming back to earth for a second, this is a bit outside the realm of pure logic. Only the first letter of these codenames correspond to the Android version name with the remaining characters following a pretty strict naming convention. For example, Android 8.0 Oreo downloads start with OPM or OPD.

But hey, it's fun to dream, and nothing is officially official. Android Popsicle? Android Pie? Or something else? Share your own Android P sleeper pick name in the comments.

Giveaway: FREE .APP Domains

In the wild west of "domaining" there were only five types of domain extensions that mattered:

• .com – by far the most popular
• .net – for people who couldn't get a .com they liked
• .org – intended for non-profits but actually a dumping ground of randomness
• .gov – for official government use only
• .edu – for verified educational institutions

Then along came .info, .biz, .us, and a bajillion others. Early use of these extensions were often seen as red flags, warning a scammy/spammy site may lie a click ahead. After nearly two decades of domain squatting and bootstrapping we've been somewhat desensitized. Huge companies with limited budgets have made .io, .co, and lesser known extensions their home. Slowly but surely, credibility and familiarity have worn on suspicion.

Back in 2015, Google forked over $25M to purchase the rights to the .app extension. Just this week they began selling .app domains according to the following guidelines:

• March 29th, 2018 – Trademark holders invited to register
• May 1st – 8th – Early access period (open to public at premium)
• May 8th – General availability

You may notice that general availability coincides with the first day of Google IO. Coincidence? We think not. At GoDaddy, one of the most popular domain registrars, they further explain that the "Early access period" isn't first come first serve:

Anyone may pre-register a .app domain during this phase. Multiple applications for the same domain will go to auction. If you are not awarded the domain, you will receive a full refund.

But what will they expect developers to do with the domains? How are .app domains different? For one, all .app domains come with HTTPS protocol for enhanced security. Check out this chunk from Google Domain Registry:

Now there's a more secure domain for apps. From games to news to education to business, .app is the perfect home to promote apps on the web. The .app domain is a great place to showcase a unique and trustworthy destination, so users know they're getting the real thing. Whether providing a relevant download link, deep linking, sharing screenshots, release notes, or reviews, .app is the place to share your app with the world.

That's nice in theory, but Google has dropped the technical requirement that .app domains be used for app-related content. It would have been a nightmare to enforce, and so it seems the group of people that purchase .app domains will inherently determine the extension's future. What better way to set .app forth on the right foot than by gifting a domain to the developers most likely to put it to good use?

In years past, Google has given away some hefty items for free to all attending developers:

• 2009 – HTC Magic
• 2010 – HTC Evo 4G, Motorola Droid, Nexus One
• 2011 – Galaxy Tab 10.1, Series 5 Chromebook, Verizon MiFi
• 2012 – Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 7, Nexus Q, Chromebox
• 2013 – Chromebook Pixel
• 2014 – LG G Watch, Samsung Gear Live, Moto 360, Google Cardboard
• 2015 – Nexus 9, Improved Google Cardboard
• 2016 – None
• 2017 – Google Home, $700 in Cloud Platform Credits

These past couple years, Google has successfully tempered giveaway expectations, putting more emphasis on developers and services. Hardware announcements were pushed to a separate event later in the year, built around the Pixel and Google's growing collection of smart gadgets. Google has instead begun gifting credit to developer-focused services. Giving developers a free .app domain aligns with their newly clarified objectives.

We're predicting that when Google closes their discussion of .app domains at the Google IO 2018 Keynote, they announce all developers in attendance get a coupon code for 1 free registration.

Extra credit: we wouldn't be surprised to see the new Lenovo VR Headset given out either, considering its Daydream support. What do you think Google will give away at IO this year (if anything)?

Name your own Assistant

Among Google's most successful ventures in the past few years has been Google Assistant, working in tandem with smart speakers such as the company's own Google Home (not to mention Google Home Mini and Google Home Max). It launched as the most capable assistant, leveraging Google's knowledge graph to answer all sorts of questions accurately, and its been steadily adding new features and capabilities.

One frustration has been the "Okay Google" and "Hey Google" hot word requirement, limiting the command to initiate Google Assistant to these two phrases. Whereas Amazon has named their assistant Alexa and Apple has Siri, Google's assistant is the generically defined "Google Assistant". This year, look for Google to allow users to set their own assistant names.

This would fall in line with promises Google made last year, using machine learning to provide a customized experiences to each user. You can already train Assistant to recognize voices, so allowing Mom, Dad, and the kids to each name their own Assistant wouldn't be a stretch. A logical starting point would let each user select from a list of Assistants with predefined character traits and dispositions.

This could make branding Google Assistant a bit more difficult since there would be no defined name, but the tech seems inevitably headed in this direction. Developer APIs that allowed 3rd parties to build their own assistants – with their own unique personalities and features – as a layer on top of Google Assistant, would be a compelling addition.

If this is announced at Google IO 2018, look for a limited number of user-selected assistants to become available, temporarily avoiding the rush for people to give their Assistants all sorts of bizarre and devious names. Before long, rather than asking if your friend uses Google Assistant, you might be asking which Assistant they use and where they can download it.

We're expecting Google Home and Google Assistant to play a HUGE part in Google IO 2018. It's likely we'll also see more advanced integration with Google's productivity suite such as the newly redesigned Google Calendar and the newly launched Google Keep app.

YouTube TV Stick

Android TV hasn't been updated in quite some time but that doesn't mean Google isn't hard at work in the television space.

Google's ad-free "YouTube Red" program costs $10/month and also provides access to exclusive content and shows including the excellent and newly released "Cobra Kai". Fans of the 1980s hit trilogy "Karate Kid" will understand. It's currently free to try for one-month and worth a shot, if not for an ad-free experience or Cobra Kai than for the  ability to keep YouTube audio playing in the background on your Android Phone.

Meanwhile, YouTube TV provides Live TV from 50+ networks at $40/month including local news and sports. Despite letting each household connect 6 accounts with unlimited cloud storage for DVR, YouTube TV hasn't quite caught on.

Last month we caught a glimpse of a potential Google-backed TV stick that mashes together Android TV and Chromecast. It may not be what Google has up its sleeve, but considering the last big Android TV update was the Nexus Player in 2014, we're hoping and expecting there is a big TV announcement or two in the cards.

Could Google launch a YouTube TV Stick at Google IO 2018? When Google launched Chromecast seemingly out of nowhere in 2013, the affordable $35 dongle became an overnight sensation. Lending the YouTube brand to a TV stick would make it an immediate consumer attraction,  boosting visibility for their YouTube Red and YouTube TV services with a great promotional package. From a hardware perspective it would likely be the Android TV and Chromecast mashup we're expecting, but designed to cater to YouTube's worldwide audience and notoriety.

Would you buy a YouTube TV Stick that optimized an experience with YouTube Red and YouTube TV? Or would you prefer to stick with a more traditional Android TV Stick that combined an intuitive TV user interface with Chromecast functionality?

Google Prime

The breadth of Google products and services is mesmerizing. From Google Search to Google Fiber to Google Fi to Google Express to Google Drive to Google Plus to you name it- the company wants to be with us every stop of the day. It can be confusing for consumers to understand exactly what Google has to offer and where they can get it, especially in areas where offerings overlap ( Google Play Music and YouTube Music).

In my opinion, Google would be smart to offer bundled service for a monthly subscription, allowing users to enjoy a wide variety of paid Google services from across the board. The company's bottom-line message should be that no matter what you want, Google can deliver it with one simple subscription.

This is a method that Amazon has employed with great success. Don't believe me? Ask the people surrounding you right now if they have Amazon Prime. I bet the majority do. Either that or you didn't ask.

Whereas Amazon started Prime with only free 2-Day shipping, they've kept adding services to the list of benefits over the years. Google would have to back-in to this philosophy, but it's something they should consider (if they haven't already). An announcement at Google IO 2018 would be a good place to make such a move.

Amazon recently increased their Prime subscription price to $119/year, roughly the same price as YouTube Red alone. That makes putting an affordable price tag on an all-inclusive Google-offering rather challenging. If Google were to go this route, they'd likely make "Google Prime" full of limited offers with the ability to upgrade a la carte. And that's exactly what I would want.

Would you subscribe to an Amazon Prime-esque Google service that bundled together all of their various subscription services into one low monthly rate? And if so, what would you hope for it to include? What would be a fair monthly price? Let us know in the comments!

Wear OS Refreshed

The struggles of and disappointments with Android Wear has been well documented. To summarize: Android Wear smartwatches didn't prove lucrative so Qualcomm stopped updating their wearable chipset. Without an effective alternative, lackluster hardware has been the standard for several years. During that time, Android Wear has languished.

Then earlier this year, Google decided to rebrand Android Wear to Wear OS by Google. At the most basic level, Google aimed to attract the attention of iPhone users who may have previously thought Android Wear smartwatches only worked with Android devices. The name change makes sense for that reason alone, but it also shows that Google is revisiting how to best position an aging lineup of neglected wearables.

At the most basic level we'll get an earful about the new name with pretty graphs and charts showing impressive growth in wearables. They might have to manipulate the data to make it work, but they'll get it done. What we're hoping for is something much bigger: the announcement of a new Qualcomm chipset designed specifically for wearables along with some partner announcements in the hardware department. Even better would be a Google-designed smartwatch, paving the way for future wearables much the way that the Nexus line aimed to do for smartphones.

Google Lens: Potential Game Changer

It's been awhile since Google launched the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, but many would argue it still has the best performing smartphone camera on the market. That's largely thanks to Google's camera software. Camera performance is often the differentiating factor of smartphone purchases and so the company has made their photo and video experience a priority.

Last year we saw a lot of updates in Google Photos including Shared Libraries, Photo Books, and greatly improved "Assistant" features to automatically compose highlight videos from your trips. It was also at Google IO 2017 that the company announced Google Lens.

As fans of Google Goggles will know, the concept of Google Lens isn't new. Take a photo of something – anything, really – and Google will use contextual information to identify the subjects within your photo, predict what it is you want to see or accomplish, and serve it up on an actionable platter without having to anything else. A barcode might bring up purchase options, a landmark could bring up historical info, and a photo of a plant or insect might identify the species. Those are the basics, but we think Google's plans for Lens are much more ambitious.

Google Lens was among the most promising demos at Google IO 2017. Almost a year later, most people without Pixel devices still don't have access to the feature. Samsung tried something similar with Bixby Vision on the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus, but it doesn't feel like much more than a novelty in real-world use.

Look for Google to build on last year's Lens announcement with some breathtaking demonstrations, showcasing how photos and videos can play a part in Google's AI-driven ecosystem.

Google's Next Big Thing

Nothing gets consumers more excited than Google Moonshots, they're big picture ideas that have the chance to change the world as we know it. Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you'll land amongst the stars? … or something like that?

It's exciting, sure, but fiscally responsible? Not exactly. Ignoring immediate profit for the sake of developing game changing technologes is admirable, but not for the shareholders of a publicly traded company. Thus many moonshots were recently grounded.

That being said, Google takes great pride in the innovative work happening at Google X, where their current, past, and graduated moonshots live. Current projects include Project Loon, Project Wing, and Makani. Graduated projects include Waymo and Glass. And then there are all the failed initiatives, put to rest in the Moonshot graveyard.

You can expect that we'll get updates on current Google X projects, but I wouldn't be surprised if Google makes at least one big announcement in this realm. Considering the very real-world implications that autonomous cars will have in the next decade, I'd bet that Google will showcase their recent work with Waymo, perhaps interweaving the narrative with some updates regarding Android Auto. Updates might be relegated to higher-level partnerships and test studies in select cities, but a glimpse into how Google fits into our self-driving future makes sense.

If you could pick one Google X "Moonshot" concept to see the light of day, what would you most like to see?

What are your predictions?

Make your bold and crazy predictions for Google IO 2018 in the comments and be sure to rush back for "I told ya so" moments over the next couple days.

And let us know what specific things you'd like to see from Google IO!

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