CorysTechTime

  I'm not one to start a Google rumor but I have to do it this time. Looking at the Google Store website this evening I noticed that the Pixel Buds A series are all but out of stock except for the Sea color way. This lines up perfectly with Google I/O being just around the corner. The Pixel Buds A are coming up on their four year anniversary in June so a refresh is definitely needed.  I'm actually hoping Google gets rid of the A series line and make a slightly more premium version with features similar to the Pixel Buds Pro 2s. Of course Google will save some features just for the pros, however, they can add multi point and better battery life just to name a couple of much needed upgrades. I guess we will have to wait and see what Google's plans really are.

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to attend a Pixel Superfans event at the new Google Store in Santa Monica. It was a soft launch of the store and a good way to meet like minded people. The staff were very nice and helpful. While I was at the store I was able to finally check out the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and wow that device is extremely impressive. Outside of that, I was able to look around the store and check out other Google products which there are quite a bit to see. I'm looking forward to my next visit to the new Google Store. Take a look at the pictures below including one of some swag I got from Google at the event.

  No doubt, the Pixelbook Go has served me well in my 5 yrs with the laptop. This is not necessarily a review of the features on the laptop but a review of the PBG hardware and its usability in 2025. I acknowledge that I am a part of a very small club of users that still have and use this device but I must say that I still enjoy using the PBG every single day. Now, to the review. Hardware Right off the bat. The hardware is probably the least compelling aspect of the PBG. When the laptop was first released in 2019 it was already a year or two behind the competition with the onboard soc. Surprisingly, this has not negatively impacted using the laptop with most tasks. Web surfing is a breeze and most Android apps run pretty effortlessly. The 8th Gen i5 Intel soc paired with 8GB of RAM is well optimized and I feel that Google is getting as much as it can out of the chip.  Where the PBG falls short is with video editing apps. I've tried several Android apps and a couple of Linux ap...

Google is always experimenting with AI and one of those new features I really hope sticks around is now available on my Google TV Streamer. News Briefs is an AI experiment that Google is rolling out to a small group of users as part of a test of the feature. When I turned on my TV this evening I quickly noticed the News Briefs feature. It looked similar to any other option on the Google TV home screen but with News Briefs for 5pm so assume there are News Briefs created throughout the day. The picture below is displayed at the end of the News Briefs. The feature is very reminiscent of what NotebookLM does with the two AI hosts that talk in what sounds like a podcast. News Briefs only has one voice that is somewhat similar to the Google Assistant voice on Android devices. I have only used this feature once and I already see the potential here. What was shown to me as part of the News Briefs was actually relevant and current news. The news discussed was very surface level, however, a YouT...

Soundcore K20i by Anker, Semi-in-Ear Earbuds, Bluetooth Wireless, 36H Playtime, Fast Charge, Clear Sound, Comfortable Fit, ENC 2-Mic Clear Calls, Custom EQ, IPX5, Bluetooth 5.3, App Control. https://a.co/d/a27Mi9t

  Just this past week rumors began to swirl about Google possibly making another laptop. Details were very sparse especially regarding the OS the Pixel Laptop would run. I thought that was highly suspicious due to Google already having a desktop OS with ChromeOS. A day later more news dropped and the rumor is the Pixel Laptop is going to run Android. Yes, Android. Not Fuchsia or ChromeOS but Android.  Now, Android does not have a traditional desktop OS so I assume Google is creating a new desktop version for laptops in the future. Then if that was not enough news, Google is rumored to merge ChromeOS into Android which makes the previous rumor seem more credible. Google have not commented on any of this so we really don't know what's going on. My take on this I believe there is something brewing with the Google hardware team and a laptop is definitely something that's being worked on. Will it ever see the light of day? Who knows? Pixelbook Go was the last laptop made by Goog...

The Google TV Streamer just received its first update since it launched back in September. While the update was small I noticed things were different during the installation process. The update applied just like my Pixel 9 Pro XL. First the Streamer downloaded the firmware then in step 2 it installed the system update. Once step 2 was completed I was prompted to restart the device and then the Google TV Streamer booted up as normal. The restart did not take too long and I wished I would have timed it. I will be sure to do that next time. Check out the picture below of the installation process.  As for the update, I did not notice anything visually different. Release notes on my TV mentions bug fixes and performance improvements but to be honest navigating the home screen felt about the same before the update which is not necessarily a bad thing. My guess is that this update sets the stage for a bigger update in the not so distant future. 

With the release of ChromeOS 130 Google introduced a new picture in picture feature that's awfully similar to Android in looks and in functionality. Check out the video below and let me know what you think.