Google's 9 Little-Known Hardware Products

Google is well known as the largest internet company in the world. Google Search, Gmail, Google+, Google Docs, Google Drive and many other Google services add up to the popular notion. But it remained as little known fact that Google has been into hardware business ever since it launched its search portal in 2002. Here’s the track down of 9 such hardware products by Google.

#1 Google Nexus tablets

On June 27, 2012, at Google's I/O 2012 keynote, the company launched first ever Google tablet, the Nexus 7.  The device has 7-inch screen at 1280x800 pixel display, developed with Asus. The tablet is the first device to run on Android 4.1.

The Nexus 10, the second tablet release by Google, is a 10-inch tablet manufactured by Samsung, was revealed in late October 2012. The device has 10.1 inch 2560×1600 pixels display, and runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system. Under the hood it has a dual-core 1.7 GHz Exynos 5 Dual processor.

Of two, Nexus 7 showed up on Google Play at the end of March and was up for pre-orders in India. And today, the 16 GB version of Nexus 7 is launched by Asus

#2Google Glass

At Google I/O 2012 in June, the company showed off a new hardware product- Google Glasses. The device has an augmented reality display worn on the head, with a small display panel on the right side.

Glass is being developed by Google X Lab. It runs on Android operating system and the version that hits the market will be capable of recording videos, taking pictures, finding data, live video sharing and translate words. This product will integrate Google Now and Google Maps.

The glass frames doesn’t have lenses fitted in them except for the small display panel. Google is considering partnering with sunglass retailers such as Ray-Ban or Warby Parker.

The Google Glass is part of Google project that aims at producing a mass-market ubiquitous computer that is easy to ware and can perform like any Smartphone.

 

#3 Google Nexus phones

Google launched its Nexus series of Smartphones in 2010 with Nexus One. The device was manufactured by HTC and released as the first Nexus phone. It was released with Android 2.1 Eclair, and was updated in May 2010 to be the first phone with Android 2.2 Froyo.

The second in the series was Nexus S, it was manufactured by Samsung, and was released in December 2010 to coincide with the release of Android 2.3 Gingerbread. In December 2011 it was updated to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, with most variations later being updatable to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean in July 2012.

Galaxy Nexus was launched after Nexus S, and it was manufactured by Samsung. The devices release in November 2011 coincided with the release of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. It was upgraded to the latest Android software 4.1 (Jelly Bean) in mid-July 2012.

The latest Smartphone by Google is Nexus 4 and it is manufactured by LG. It is the first Android device to use Android's 4.2 Jelly Bean update version.

#4 Google Chromebook Pixel

Google released generations of Chromebook line of laptops that run on its home-brewed Chrome OS since 2011. The Chromebook Pixel is a high end laptop of Google's Chromebook family.

People, including the creator of Linux operating system, Linus Torvalds fell in love with machine’s touch-screen that had 2560 x 1700 resolutions with a 239 pixels per inch display, which is better than Apple MacBookPro’s Retina display and for any reason it is highest pixel density of any laptop.

#5 Google Nexus Q

At Google I/O 2012, the search giant launched its first media streaming device ‘Nexus Q’. However soon after its launch it was discontinued by Google.

The device was to compete with Apple TV and it could be connected to an HDTV or home stereo system to play digital audio and video content from Google Play or YouTube. The device ran on custom version of Google's Android operating system, based on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and it could be controlled by Smartphones and tablets running the Android operating system. However soon after its launch it was discontinued by Google.

#6 Google’s Talking Shoes

Google showed off its prototype "talking shoes" at the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas, last month. The search giant isn't planning to get into the footwear business, but to showcase its new advertising innovation program called "Art, Copy and Code." Though it was just for advertisement, Google sure worked on the hardware, and in time it may find some use, may be in other products.

The shoes were ebedded with micro computer, accelerometer, pressure sensor, gyroscope and Bluetooth. They sense what wearers are doing, like standing still or running, or just walking along, and send the information to their Smartphones they carry. The messages applaud or berate wearers based on their levels of activeness.

#7 Google Driverless Cars

It is now an open fact that the mysterious yet famous Google X labs is working on the car technology which operate without drivers and the company is aiming to sell the hardware and technology to automakers in the future. Driverless cars will move at speeds specified in their mapping data and maintain distance from other vehicles with the help of sensors placed on their body.

The system allows people to override it and take control when required. We should wait and see how this technology of Google can revolutionize the streets.

#8 Google’s Motorola X-Phone

Google is reportedly working on X-Phone these days. The phone supposedly allows users to customize the device like color and hardware specs. It can be customized in the similar way as that of personal computers where users get RAM and internal storage that suit their needs.

If reports are to be considered, the first “X-Phone” will be an octo-core device, with a full core dedicated to Motorola’s new human language system and it would run Android mobile platform. The device is expected to be showcased at Google I/O in May 2013, an annual developer-focused conference held by Google in San Francisco, California.

It is also speculated that Google is working on an X-Tablet as well.

#9 Google Search Appliance

The Google Search Appliance is a rack-mounted yellow colored device that provided search results when connected to an intranet, document management system or web site using a Google search like interface for end-user retrieval of results. It was Google’s first venture into hardware in 2002, when it launched the Google Search Appliance. The device’s operating system was based on CentOS (Community Enterprise Operating System, a Linux distribution). The software was produced by Google and the hardware was manufactured by Dell Computers