Today we’re introducing Pixel 3 and Pixel 3XL, the new smartphones from Google. Pixel brings you the best of Google in a phone and is powered by AI to deliver more helpful, thoughtful, and enjoyable experiences. This means you can now enjoy a camera that uses AI to make sure you never miss the shot – and a more helpful visual and audio experience while charging, powered by the Google Assistant.

Here’s how the camera gets even better with Pixel 3:

Brilliant photos every time and super-charged selfies

• No selfie stick required: Get everyone in the picture with Group Selfie, which gives you more room in your photo for friends and scenery. 

• Capture smiles, not blinks: A feature we call Top Shot uses AI to help you capture the perfect photo every time. When you take a motion photo, it captures alternate shots in HDR+, then recommends the best one—even if it’s not exactly when you hit the shutter, looking for those where everyone is smiling, with eyes open, and facing the camera.

• Get better zoom: When you zoom in on a phone camera, the image looks grainy. Super Res Zoom is a computational photography technique, traditionally used for astronomy and scientific imaging, that produces sharp details when you zoom.

• No light; no problem: Pixel 3 lets you take natural-looking photos in dark surroundings, all without a flash. With Night Sight, you can take bright, detailed, colorful shots around the campfire, in a moonlit forest, or a selfie after you close out the bar (coming soon). 

• Look … no hands! Photobooth mode uses AI to recognise that when you’re smiling or making a funny expression, you’re ready for a selfie. It snaps the photo on its own so that you don’t need to reach for the shutter button—a good option for candids.  

• Even more stunning portraits, front and back: When you take photos in Portrait Mode, you can change the blurriness of the background, or change the part of the picture in focus, after the fact. Google Photos can also make the subject of your photo pop by leaving them in colour, while changing the background to black and white.

• Create and play: In Playground, you can make photos, selfies, and videos come to life by adding your favourite superheroes, animated stickers, and fun captions. In celebration of Marvel Studios’ 10 Year Anniversary, you’ll enjoy seeing the characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (exclusively on Pixel) react to each other and to you. New packs for Weather, Pets, Sports and Signs let you have everyday fun, and coming later this year, you'll be able to sharpen your dance skills with moves from Childish Gambino.

• Super smooth video: When you want to capture something that won’t stop moving—think an adorable toddler or your new puppy—Motion Auto Focus will make sure your Pixel 3 camera stays in sharp focus automatically, as you record. And if you happen to be taking a selfie video while walking or moving around, Pixel 3 brings you front-facing video stabilisation.  

Unlimited online storage for all of your photos and videos

With Pixel 3, you can save all your favourite moments with unlimited online photo and video storage.* It’s hassle-free, you don’t have to think about back-ups. Come back to Google Photos later and search for the beach photos you took on your Pixel 3, and they’ll pop right up. 

Your AI-powered sidekick 

The AI in Pixel 3 enables new features that make your day-to-day actions simpler and easier. 

If you want to know more about something you’re looking at, use Google Lens, built right into the Pixel 3 camera. You can now long press in the Pixel 3 camera to easily invoke Lens to scan and translate text, find similar styles of clothing, or identify popular plants and animals. When you point your camera at information you want to remember or don’t feel like typing in—like a URL or QR code on a flyer or an email address on a business card—Google Lens suggests what to do next, like calling a number, going to the website, or creating a new contact. 

You can count on even more help across other apps too, including Gmail’s Smart Compose, now available for mobile on Pixel 3. Smart Compose suggests phrases in your emails so that you can draft them faster, on the go. Gboard, the keyboard built into your Pixel 3, will recommend GIFs, stickers, and more, to make your conversations fun and engaging. Available first in English. 

The Google Assistant is also baked into Pixel 3 to help you find answers and control your phone and compatible smart home devices—all with a simple squeeze or just by using your voice.**

Digital Wellbeing

Our phones, while probably the most important tech in our lives, shouldn’t control our lives. So Digital Wellbeing, a suite of tools to help you find your own balance with technology, is built into Pixel 3. It includes a dashboard to help you understand how you spend time on your phone, the ability to set time limits on specific apps, and a new Wind Down mode to help you get to sleep at night by gently transitioning your display to a grayscale screen. When you don’t want to be bothered by rings or notifications, just flip to Shhh— an easy gesture that turns on Do Not Disturb and minimises distractions. 

Fast and wireless charging

Pixel 3 comes with an 18 Watt fast charger in the box, which can give you up to 7 hours of use in 15 minutes of charging.*** With our AI-powered Adaptive Battery technique, Pixel 3 prioritises battery power for your most important apps to help make your phone last all day. 

Alongside Pixel 3, we’re also introducing Pixel Stand, our new, Qi compliant wireless charger (sold  separately). While charging in the Pixel Stand, your phone turns into a smart visual and audio experience powered by the Google Assistant, similar to Google Home Hub. It answers your questions, plays music, helps you control smart home devices, transitions into a photo frame when idle, and much more. If you set an alarm, your screen will gently brighten over 15 minutes before your alarm goes off, mimicking the sunrise and helping you wake up naturally. 

Pixel 3 is IP68 water and dust resistant and has a security chip custom-designed by Google called Titan M, making it the most secure phone we've built yet. Titan M enhances mobile security by protecting your unlock credentials, disk encryption, app data, and the integrity of the operating system code itself. Powered by Android 9 Pie, Pixel 3 comes with the latest Android operating system. 

You can choose from two sizes - the 5.5” Pixel 3 and the 6.3” Pixel 3 XL - and three colours - Just Black, Clearly White, and Not Pink. Both have the exact same feature set and include a high quality Pixel USB-C earbuds and a USB-C Digital to 3.5 mm headphone adapter in the box. Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL come with dual front-firing speakers tuned by a GRAMMY®-winning music producer to turn your phone into a powerful speaker.  Eligible customers who activate a Pixel 3 or Pixel 3 XL by December 31, 2018 can get a 6-month trial of YouTube Music Premium on us (restrictions and terms apply).

Pixel 3 will be available for pre-order today and on-shelf from November 1 at Optus, Telstra and Vodafone – as well as JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman and the Google Store. Pixel 3 RRP starts at $1199, Pixel 3 XL RRP starts at $1349 and Pixel Stand RRP is $119. 

Posted by Mario Queiroz, GM & VP, Pixel 

*Free unlimited online original-quality storage for all photos and videos uploaded to Google Photos from Pixel 3 through 31/1/2022. Photos and videos uploaded before 31/1/2022 will remain free at original-quality. Requires Google Account. Data rates may apply. g.co/help/photostorage
**Google Assistant and Google Lens require internet connection to use certain features.
***Approximate battery life based on a mix of talk, data, standby and use of other features with always on display off and mobile hotspot off. An active display or data usage will decrease battery life. Charging rates are based on use of the included charger. Charging time performance statistics are approximate.  Actual results may vary.

Today we’re introducing Pixel 3 and Pixel 3XL, the new smartphones from Google. Pixel brings you the best of Google in a phone and is powered by AI to deliver more helpful, thoughtful, and enjoyable experiences. This means you can now enjoy a camera that uses AI to make sure you never miss the shot – and a more helpful visual and audio experience while charging, powered by the Google Assistant.

Here’s how the camera gets even better with Pixel 3:

Brilliant photos every time and super-charged selfies

• No selfie stick required: Get everyone in the picture with Group Selfie, which gives you more room in your photo for friends and scenery. 

• Capture smiles, not blinks: A feature we call Top Shot uses AI to help you capture the perfect photo every time. When you take a motion photo, it captures alternate shots in HDR+, then recommends the best one—even if it’s not exactly when you hit the shutter, looking for those where everyone is smiling, with eyes open, and facing the camera.

• Get better zoom: When you zoom in on a phone camera, the image looks grainy. Super Res Zoom is a computational photography technique, traditionally used for astronomy and scientific imaging, that produces sharp details when you zoom.

• No light; no problem: Pixel 3 lets you take natural-looking photos in dark surroundings, all without a flash. With Night Sight, you can take bright, detailed, colorful shots around the campfire, in a moonlit forest, or a selfie after you close out the bar (coming soon). 

• Look … no hands! Photobooth mode uses AI to recognise that when you’re smiling or making a funny expression, you’re ready for a selfie. It snaps the photo on its own so that you don’t need to reach for the shutter button—a good option for candids.  

• Even more stunning portraits, front and back: When you take photos in Portrait Mode, you can change the blurriness of the background, or change the part of the picture in focus, after the fact. Google Photos can also make the subject of your photo pop by leaving them in colour, while changing the background to black and white.

• Create and play: In Playground, you can make photos, selfies, and videos come to life by adding your favourite superheroes, animated stickers, and fun captions. In celebration of Marvel Studios’ 10 Year Anniversary, you’ll enjoy seeing the characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (exclusively on Pixel) react to each other and to you. New packs for Weather, Pets, Sports and Signs let you have everyday fun, and coming later this year, you'll be able to sharpen your dance skills with moves from Childish Gambino.

• Super smooth video: When you want to capture something that won’t stop moving—think an adorable toddler or your new puppy—Motion Auto Focus will make sure your Pixel 3 camera stays in sharp focus automatically, as you record. And if you happen to be taking a selfie video while walking or moving around, Pixel 3 brings you front-facing video stabilisation.  

Unlimited online storage for all of your photos and videos

With Pixel 3, you can save all your favourite moments with unlimited online photo and video storage.* It’s hassle-free, you don’t have to think about back-ups. Come back to Google Photos later and search for the beach photos you took on your Pixel 3, and they’ll pop right up. 

Your AI-powered sidekick 

The AI in Pixel 3 enables new features that make your day-to-day actions simpler and easier. 

If you want to know more about something you’re looking at, use Google Lens, built right into the Pixel 3 camera. You can now long press in the Pixel 3 camera to easily invoke Lens to scan and translate text, find similar styles of clothing, or identify popular plants and animals. When you point your camera at information you want to remember or don’t feel like typing in—like a URL or QR code on a flyer or an email address on a business card—Google Lens suggests what to do next, like calling a number, going to the website, or creating a new contact. 

You can count on even more help across other apps too, including Gmail’s Smart Compose, now available for mobile on Pixel 3. Smart Compose suggests phrases in your emails so that you can draft them faster, on the go. Gboard, the keyboard built into your Pixel 3, will recommend GIFs, stickers, and more, to make your conversations fun and engaging. Available first in English. 

The Google Assistant is also baked into Pixel 3 to help you find answers and control your phone and compatible smart home devices—all with a simple squeeze or just by using your voice.**

Digital Wellbeing

Our phones, while probably the most important tech in our lives, shouldn’t control our lives. So Digital Wellbeing, a suite of tools to help you find your own balance with technology, is built into Pixel 3. It includes a dashboard to help you understand how you spend time on your phone, the ability to set time limits on specific apps, and a new Wind Down mode to help you get to sleep at night by gently transitioning your display to a grayscale screen. When you don’t want to be bothered by rings or notifications, just flip to Shhh— an easy gesture that turns on Do Not Disturb and minimises distractions. 

Fast and wireless charging

Pixel 3 comes with an 18 Watt fast charger in the box, which can give you up to 7 hours of use in 15 minutes of charging.*** With our AI-powered Adaptive Battery technique, Pixel 3 prioritises battery power for your most important apps to help make your phone last all day. 

Alongside Pixel 3, we’re also introducing Pixel Stand, our new, Qi compliant wireless charger (sold  separately). While charging in the Pixel Stand, your phone turns into a smart visual and audio experience powered by the Google Assistant, similar to Google Home Hub. It answers your questions, plays music, helps you control smart home devices, transitions into a photo frame when idle, and much more. If you set an alarm, your screen will gently brighten over 15 minutes before your alarm goes off, mimicking the sunrise and helping you wake up naturally. 

Pixel 3 is IP68 water and dust resistant and has a security chip custom-designed by Google called Titan M, making it the most secure phone we've built yet. Titan M enhances mobile security by protecting your unlock credentials, disk encryption, app data, and the integrity of the operating system code itself. Powered by Android 9 Pie, Pixel 3 comes with the latest Android operating system. 

You can choose from two sizes - the 5.5” Pixel 3 and the 6.3” Pixel 3 XL - and three colours - Just Black, Clearly White, and Not Pink. Both have the exact same feature set and include a high quality Pixel USB-C earbuds and a USB-C Digital to 3.5 mm headphone adapter in the box. Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL come with dual front-firing speakers tuned by a GRAMMY®-winning music producer to turn your phone into a powerful speaker.  Eligible customers who activate a Pixel 3 or Pixel 3 XL by December 31, 2018 can get a 6-month trial of YouTube Music Premium on us (restrictions and terms apply).

Pixel 3 will be available for pre-order today and on-shelf from November 1 at Optus, Telstra and Vodafone – as well as JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman and the Google Store. Pixel 3 RRP starts at $1199, Pixel 3 XL RRP starts at $1349 and Pixel Stand RRP is $119. 

Posted by Mario Queiroz, GM & VP, Pixel 

*Free unlimited online original-quality storage for all photos and videos uploaded to Google Photos from Pixel 3 through 31/1/2022. Photos and videos uploaded before 31/1/2022 will remain free at original-quality. Requires Google Account. Data rates may apply. g.co/help/photostorage
**Google Assistant and Google Lens require internet connection to use certain features.
***Approximate battery life based on a mix of talk, data, standby and use of other features with always on display off and mobile hotspot off. An active display or data usage will decrease battery life. Charging rates are based on use of the included charger. Charging time performance statistics are approximate.  Actual results may vary.

Every day, Australian nonprofits and social enterprises find new ways to address some of our most challenging social problems - from education and economic opportunity to inclusion.

We know that technology can be part of the solution - that’s why we launched the third Google.org Impact Challenge Australia back in May to help support those great ideas that need an extra boost.

Today, we’re announcing the 2018 Google.org Impact Challenge finalists and inviting you to vote for the project you think will have the most impact. The ten finalists are:


These projects stood out for their ideas to use technology to make a big impact. Finalists will share in $5.5 million, with grants of up to $1 million available to the winners and runners-up receiving $250,000.

And you have the chance to vote for your favourite project - which will take home the $1 million People’s Choice prize. Voting closes on 30 October!


On 1 November, a panel of judges including: Professor Alan Finkel AO; Professor Tom Calma AO; Su McCluskey; Dr Sarah Pearson; Morris Iemma; Jacquelline Fuller and myself will select three winners.



The fourth will be chosen based on your votes! Find out more at: g.co/australiachallenge and help back Australia’s forward thinkers.

Posted by Anil Sabharwal, Vice President of Product, Google and Engineering Lead Google Australia

I started sixth grade as a shy student at a new school who spent recess hiding in a bathroom stall because I hadn’t made any friends yet. But I found solace in English class, where Mrs. Ivey whisked me far away from the stresses of middle school to the world of Greek mythology. As her students, we could feel her passion for the subject which she made come alive through interactive assignments, visual projects and a whole lot of patience.

What I didn’t recognize at the time was how hard Mrs. Ivey worked behind the scenes or between the bells. She answered all of my questions, but I never considered who she would turn to for hers. So for World Teachers’ Day this year, we’re celebrating teachers who look to Google Search to find ways to engage their classrooms and empower their students. When you’re in school, teachers are your most important cheerleaders and advocates, so this World Teachers’ Day, it’s time for all of us to return the favor.


 


We look for ways to give teachers the support, elevation and appreciation they deserve, all year round. Here are some of the things we’re doing for this World Teachers’ Day:

Giving teachers the support they deserve 
Through Google.org we’ve provided more than $250 million toward education since 2005, with more than $60 million going directly to nonprofits that work to support teachers. To continue building on that, we’re announcing a new $3.5 million grant to CommonLit, an organization that provides free educator resources, to help them expand and reach more teachers globally. Plus we’re inviting you to help us support teachers by giving to one of the organizations we work with or another of your choosing.

We know that teachers rarely have enough hours in the day to do everything required of them, so we’re making it easier for them to integrate technology into the classroom. We’ve created a dedicated Teacher Center with resources, trainings, and certifications and ways for teachers to connect with each other. We’re also expanding our Dynamic Learning Project pilot for its second year, placing technology coaches in 101 high-need schools across the U.S. to support teachers and help close the digital-use divide.

Sparking and elevating teacher voices 
We’re also teaming up with TED-Ed to create a new Educator Talks YouTube channel, launching today. Together with other partners including ISTE and CCSSO, we’re raising teachers’ voices, so that their experience and expertise can help other teachers, too. Educators will soon be able to submit their stories, so if you’re interested please do get involved. In the meantime, subscribe to the channel for some inspiration as we start featuring Talks for educators, by educators.

We’ve also curated a new YouTube playlist featuring some of the educators and creators who have inspired us. This is a collection of stories from teachers who go above and beyond to support their students, encourage their communities and improve their own skills. To this day, I credit Mrs. Ivey for instilling in me a love for reading and powerful storytelling. She had a profound impact on me and the trajectory of my life and career. Teachers have one of the most challenging and most important jobs in the world, so we hope you’ll join us in celebrating and appreciating educators, whose learning never stops.

Posted by Miriam Schneider, Google for Education team

If you’ve ever been stuck on a hot, crowded train platform or caught in gridlocked traffic wishing that you could magically transport yourself to work, you know that commuting can be hard.

Why are commutes so stressful? They’re unpredictable and long. There are more than 2.2 million ‘commute’ journeys completed in Sydney¹ alone each year—often resulting in a lot of stress, missed meetings, and skipped breakfasts. This equates to over 26.6 million kilometres spent commuting—which adds up to approximately 6,500 trips across Australia. And, if it is a bad commute, it can negatively impact the rest of your day, long after the actual commute is over.

Today, we’re rolling out new features on Google Maps to help you take control of your daily commute— enabling you to plan ahead, prepare for the inevitable disruptions, and possibly avoid them altogether. Oh, and we’ll also help you have a bit of fun along the way. ?

Know before you go
Google Maps now features a commute tab that provides one-tap access to live traffic and transit information tailored to your commute. We’ll tell you if your commute is going to be a normal one or if you’ll need to budget extra time due to things like an accident or heavy traffic. In the case of a delay, we’ll tell you about alternative routes to help you get to work faster. On Android, you’ll also receive notifications about delays and disruptions on your route as they happen, so you can know about an incident before you get caught up in the delay.
Drive?, walk??, and rid ?: support for mixed-mode commutes
There’s a new feature for people whose commutes involve both driving and public transit. You can see helpful information about when to leave, and for each leg of your trip: you’ll know if there’s traffic on your drive, when the next train departs, and how long it’ll take to walk from the train station to the office. We do the work for you and automatically factor this into your ETA so you can anticipate exactly when you’ll get to work.
Stop the guessing game
Sprinting to the bus stop only to find that your bus is delayed is our least favourite way to start the day. Now, transit riders in 80 regions worldwide will be able to see exactly where their bus or train is in real time on the map. This will help you plan your day more efficiently—you’ll know if you can spend an extra few minutes grabbing coffee, or if you really do need to make a run for it to catch your bus. And in Sydney, we’ve partnered with Transport New South Wales to show you the occupancy of your next bus - so you’ll know whether or not you’ll get a seat. This feature will be coming to more cities around the globe soon.

Get your motor running, head out on the highway ? 
If you have to sit in traffic, you may as well do it while listening to good music. We're making Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play Music and YouTube Music available within Google Maps so that you can control your tunes and podcasts right from Google Maps navigation. With Spotify on Android you can also choose your favourite content by browsing through songs, albums, podcasts, and playlists with the new, easy to use navigation. Say goodbye to toggling between apps, and rock out knowing that you can keep your eyes where they should be—on the road.
Get started 
Our new commute features start rolling out globally on Android and iOS this week. To get started, update your app from the Play Store or App Store. To learn how to set up your commute, visit our Help Center.

Posted by Ramesh Nagarajan, Product Manager, Google Maps

---

1 2016/2017, Transport for NSW, Household Travel Survey (HTS) - Data by Region^↩

More than 2,000 partners, customers and IT decision makers came together in Sydney yesterday to hear inspiring and educational keynotes for the Annual Google Cloud Summit.

Guests heard from a number of key customers, partners and Google spokespeople on how Cloud can help businesses become more innovative. One example of this was the announcement of Big Query’s expected availability in the Sydney region in Q4 of this year.

Another highlight was the announcement from ANZ on how it is working with Google to enhance its data and analytics capability, using cloud technology to accelerate the delivery of data-driven business insights to Institutional Customers.



ANZ Head of Data and Digital, Institutional, Joss Raines said: “Increasingly, our Institutional customers are looking to us for strategic partnership in addition to the financial products and services we offer. The cloud based platform can give our bankers meaningful data insights instantly – as it allows us to process data 250 times faster.”

We are delighted to be working with ANZ on their innovation journey to help deliver a better experience for customers.



Guests also heard from key partners, including Rackspace, Servian, Deloitte and PwC on how they are working with Google to serve enterprise customers. Attendees could choose from more than 20 dedicated visionary, strategic, technical, and experiential sessions about all things cloud.

Thanks to all our customers, partners, and Googlers for making this a great day… if you want to keep up to date all things Google Cloud check out @GoogleCloud_ANZ for the latest news and events!

Posted by Colin Timm, Country Director, Google Cloud, Australia and New Zealand

More than 1000 South Australians joined us in Adelaide this week to engage in a discussion about technology and to learn new digital skills as part of our effort to help more Australians realise the benefits of the web.
At the Google Digital Garage at Lot Fourteen, Adelaide’s emerging innovation hub, local business owners were welcomed by the Premier of South Australia, Steven Marshall MP, who sat in on a training session and later highlighted the potential for local businesses to engage new customers online.

The Premier Steven Marshall with local business owners Ilija Sumracki of Nutrition Republic and Jonny Pisanelli of Abbots & Kinney.

The Premier said: “It’s fitting to host Google’s Digital Garage in South Australia at Adelaide’s new creation and innovation neighbourhood, Lot Fourteen, a place set up to nurture entrepreneurial talent and create jobs in some of the world’s fastest growing industries with linkages to the global stage.”

Hundreds of small businesses turned out to brush up on their digital skills at Adelaide's Lot Fourteen precinct.

Research suggests that every year more than 60,000 businesses use Google to connect with customers in Australia and beyond through search and online advertising. We know Australian small businesses thrive when they embrace technology - according to Deloitte they’re 1.5 times more likely to be growing revenue, 8 times more likely to be creating jobs and 7 times more likely to be exporting.
But not all businesses are making the most of the web - and that’s where the Digital Garage can help! To find an event near you or to get started at your own pace, check out the Digital Garage online.
But the week was about more than skills for businesses.
We also know that some Australians don’t feel like they have the skills they need to succeed in today’s digital environment. That’s why Google.org and Infoxchange launched the Digital Springboard in and around Adelaide this week, a free skills training initiative available to any South Australian who is seeking to improve their digital skills and prepare for the future.
Through a network of community partners, Digital Springboard offers relaxed, informative, face-to-face training designed to build digital confidence, and we kicked off our first SA trainings this week at locations across Adelaide - from Seaford to the Barossa.

Google's Engineering and Community Outreach Manager Sally-Ann Williams with students at Madison Park School in their STEM workshop.

We were also thrilled to visit Madison Park School with our friends at the nonprofit organisation Schools Plus. We’re supporting the school’s STEM program with mentoring and professional development as well as $20,000 in funding to help the students and teachers participate in the FIRST LEGO League competition.

Current and future SA leaders in STEM convened at a breakfast to discuss correcting the gender imbalance in science and technology.

Rounding out our jam-packed week, with our Engineering Community Outreach Manager, Sally-Ann Williams, we hosted South Australian current and future leaders in STEM to celebrate their achievements and discuss options to help correct the gender imbalance in science and technology related fields.
Google is a technology company that seeks to build products for everyone. To do that it’s important to embrace diversity in everything that we do, and so we’re proud to be supporting networks in Adelaide that enable women in STEM to meet and support each other.
Thank you SA for showing us a warm welcome and demonstrating how, at all levels, there’s an appetite for innovation at home in the Festival State!
Posted by Sanjay Kumar, a proud South Australian and member of Google’s policy team.

From dog grooming to mastectomy bras, Australian businesses of all shapes and sizes are using digital tools to reach new audiences. Yesterday, some of these amazing businesses shared their stories at the Australian Chamber Business Leaders Summit at Parliament House in Canberra. 

The Summit brings together key business representatives from across Australia to meet with leaders and policymakers, and have the chance to hear from business owners how the internet is helping their business succeed. 

Business owner Jill Tucker from Erilan Mastectomy Collection - a business which offers mastectomy wear choices and support after breast surgery - shared her story about setting up a business and getting started online. 

Based in Wagga Wagga, Jill started her business to help fit women in rural Australia with prosthetics, bras, swimwear and clothing after they’ve had breast surgery.


Posted by Richard Flanagan, Head of Business Marketing, Google Australia

We've been working hard to bring the Google Assistant to more devices in more places – including phones, speakers, TV, watches and more.  Today, we’re excited to announce that the Assistant can do even more to help Aussies at home and on the road with the launch of the Assistant for Android Auto and Android TV – with rollout beginning in Australia this week.  

Get help when you’re behind the wheel

With Android Auto, you can safely and easily stay connected, find answers, and get things done in the car - all with just your voice. You can listen to your playlists from apps like Spotify or YouTube Music, get quick directions from Google Maps or Waze, send or receive messages from services like WhatsApp, and control your connected smart home devices. You can also access useful Actions on the go from our partners.
Android Auto is available in tens of millions of cars on more than 500 models globally from 50+ brands, including Alfa Romeo, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Volvo.  You can use the Assistant in Android Auto on your car display by connecting your Android phone to a supported car—or you can use it on your phone screen in any car.

Get help on the big screen

Your Google Assistant is now available on Android TV in Australia, starting with NVIDIA SHIELD TV today – and Sony Bravia, TCL and Kogan TVs in the coming months. With your Assistant on Android TV, you can jump right into your favorite show, find the latest blockbuster, check the score of the big game, dim the lights and more— all with just your voice.  


Here are some ways your Assistant can help:

• “Play Stranger Things”— your Assistant can play a wide variety of content, from movies and TV shows to YouTube clips and music. With Netflix, Stan and YouTube, you can instantly watch something by asking for it by name or, if you aren’t sure what to watch, try “show me movies about climbing Mount Everest.” You can also ask your Assistant to “play some music” or listen to a specific song on YouTube Music, Google Play Music, Spotify or Pandora.
• “Play business news”— catch up on what’s going on in the news, from business to tech to entertainment. And once you’re caught up, prepare for your own day by asking “what’s on my agenda for today?”
• “Talk to…. ”— apps for the Google Assistant are also now available on Android TV, so you can talk to Woolworths to put items in your shopping cart, Concrete Playground to plan a night out, and more.
• “Turn it on, off and up”— it’s as simple as that. With your Assistant on Android TV you can turn up the volume, pause, control your smart home devices and more, just with your voice.

To get started, accept the Google Assistant system update on your SHIELD and press your remote’s mic button or the Assistant button on your remote after the device restarts. From there, you’re ready to sit back and relax with the help of your Assistant.

Posted by Mike Hayes, Director, Android Play Partnerships APAC