When I first moved to New York City, an extraordinarily diverse community, I immediately felt a sense of belonging — especially as a Korean who immigrated to this country for a better life. But over the past two years, things have changed. The spread of misinformation during the pandemic has led to an increase in violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community across the U.S. And now it’s part of every conversation I have with my family and AAPI friends, whether we’re sharing our own experiences or checking in to make sure everyone has gotten home safely. Last year, an Asian-owned bodega in my neighborhood was vandalized, and when I spoke to the owners, they told me they were now scared to stay open late and work shifts alone. As the Senior Creative for Google Nest Marketing, I knew we had the products to help — so anyone can operate a business without fear of violence or hate.

Nest has teamed up with The National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (National ACE) and the Asian American Federation to provide security devices and resources to AAPI-owned small businesses. The AAPISTRONG Nest Cam Kit — which includes three indoor Nest cameras, a 12-month subscription to Nest Aware and professional installation services — is intended to help these business owners better protect their storefronts and get peace of mind, both during business hours and after closing time.

During our pilot program, which included more than 20 businesses in New York, one business owner shared, “The AAPISTRONG Nest Cam Kit has added an additional layer of protection and security for our staff and restaurant. We are using the Nest Cameras to accurately report and submit footage to our local precinct and council members for problematic encounters."

Starting today, small businesses in Atlanta, Chicago, the greater DC Area and Houston can apply for the AAPISTRONG Nest Cam Kit. To be eligible, you must be a U.S.-based business with a brick and mortar storefront; have no more than three store locations; not be part of a chain or franchise; and be majority-owned, 51% or more, by someone who is from the AAPI community. If your business fits this description, apply by October 31.

When I first moved to New York City, an extraordinarily diverse community, I immediately felt a sense of belonging — especially as a Korean who immigrated to this country for a better life. But over the past two years, things have changed. The spread of misinformation during the pandemic has led to an increase in violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community across the U.S. And now it’s part of every conversation I have with my family and AAPI friends, whether we’re sharing our own experiences or checking in to make sure everyone has gotten home safely. Last year, an Asian-owned bodega in my neighborhood was vandalized, and when I spoke to the owners, they told me they were now scared to stay open late and work shifts alone. As the Senior Creative for Google Nest Marketing, I knew we had the products to help — so anyone can operate a business without fear of violence or hate.

Nest has teamed up with The National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (National ACE) and the Asian American Federation to provide security devices and resources to AAPI-owned small businesses. The AAPISTRONG Nest Cam Kit — which includes three indoor Nest cameras, a 12-month subscription to Nest Aware and professional installation services — is intended to help these business owners better protect their storefronts and get peace of mind, both during business hours and after closing time.

During our pilot program, which included more than 20 businesses in New York, one business owner shared, “The AAPISTRONG Nest Cam Kit has added an additional layer of protection and security for our staff and restaurant. We are using the Nest Cameras to accurately report and submit footage to our local precinct and council members for problematic encounters."

Starting today, small businesses in Atlanta, Chicago, the greater DC Area and Houston can apply for the AAPISTRONG Nest Cam Kit. To be eligible, you must be a U.S.-based business with a brick and mortar storefront; have no more than three store locations; not be part of a chain or franchise; and be majority-owned, 51% or more, by someone who is from the AAPI community. If your business fits this description, apply by October 31.

A year ago, we opened the doors to Google’s first-ever physical retail store in New York City. Since opening this flagship store in the iconic Chelsea neighborhood, we’ve heard how useful it is to try out our products in person — like giving the Pixel 6 Pro a spin or listening to a YouTube playlist on Nest Audio. Now, we’re bringing this experience to even more New Yorkers.

Today, we’re announcing our plans to open our second physical store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The Google Store Williamsburg will be the first of our “neighborhood stores,” offering similar hands-on experiences with our products and services as our flagship store, but in a more intimate setting that celebrates the unique neighborhood we’re in. We’ll start welcoming customers to our new location at 134 N 6th Street on June 16.

Inside our first neighborhood store

As soon as you walk through the door at the Google Store Williamsburg, you’ll find an installation by Brooklyn-based artist Olalekan Jeyifous, whose work examines the relationships between architecture, community and the environment. We’ll also host local events to celebrate Brooklyn, like guided walks around the neighborhood where you can try out Pixel photography features.

Underneath the installation, you’ll find our Here to Help desk. Our Chelsea flagship store visitors have told us they appreciate getting support, like Pixel phone repairs, directly from Google experts — so we’re bringing this to the Google Store Williamsburg, too.

You’ll also get the chance to picture everyday life with our products through interactive displays that show how our hardware and services work together. For example, you can explore Google Fi phone plans, discover which Pixel color best suits your personality or learn what goes into making our phone cases more sustainable. Meanwhile, kick back and relax on our couches to imagine what it would be like to use Google products at home — an area that will also serve as a space for local events and workshops.

And just like at our flagship store, you’ll be able to easily find a product at the Grab & Go wall or pick up a pre-order that you placed with the Google Store online. No matter what your reason is for stopping by, we’ll help you find what you need.

Feedback plays a big role in improving our stores, and we’ll keep listening to make sure you get the most helpful shopping experience — from Manhattan to Brooklyn. We look forward to welcoming you to the Google Store Williamsburg in June!

Pop quiz: How long was 2021? So much happened this year that it seems impossible it was a mere 365 days. Here at Google, we launched the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, a new Nest Hub, lots of new Google Photos features and…well, this list could quite literally go on and on and on. Instead, here are 12 product updates from 2021 that you may have missed.

1. This summer, we refreshed a handful of emoji designs to make them cuter, more accurate and more flexible in meaning — plus it included fun new additions like Dark Mode.
2. In October, we launched Wait Times, a new feature for Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro phones that shows you how long the current wait time is when you’re calling a business or customer service number. It also shows you the projected wait times for the rest of the week, so you can decide when you want to make the call.
3. Fitbit Premium added Daily Readiness, a new score that tells you how ready you are for your next workout — or if you should prioritize recovery.
4. Activity Zones for all! This Nest Cam and Nest Doorbell feature, which lets you set up specific areas for your devices to pay attention to, was formerly only available with a Nest Aware subscription. In August, with the launch of Nest’s new cameras and doorbell, it became available on those devices at no additional cost.
5. Google TV launched in 2020, and in 2021 launched Watch With Me, a series on Google TV that teams up with your favorite stars like Simu Liu and Taraji P. Henson to share their favorite shows and movies (and snacks) with us.
6. For all their benefits, smart home stuff can also be confusing. To try and make it easier to understand, we launchedthe Google smart home directory, a website that shows you what kinds of products and systems work with Google Assistant. It also lets you filter by categories and prices, and features reviews.
7. Sure, the new Fitbit Luxe is stylish, but it also helps you manage your physical and mental health, with features like Active Zone Minutes and a Stress Management Score.
8. In March, we unveiled the second-generation Nest Hub, which comes with Sleep Sensing. This optional feature analyzes the movement and breathing of the person in the designated sleep zone to offer information on how well they’re sleeping, as well as customized tips on getting better sleep.
   

9. Guest Modefor devices including the Nest Audio and Nest Hub Max arrived this year, allowing you to give visitors the ability to ask Google Assistant questions, use timers or play music — without these interactions being saved to or affecting your account. All you have to say is “Hey Google, turn on Guest Mode.”

10. The Translate filter for Google Lens got an update that made it easier to highlight text and copy, listen to or search to find more in-depth information about specific phrases.

11. Accessibility updates were a major focus in 2021, including Select-to-speakupdates. Select-to-Speak is a Chromebook feature where users can select text to hear it spoken out loud in a variety of languages and accents, and now you can speed up, slow down or pause the voice, among other added controls. This is especially helpful for those who want to hear content read in a specific accent, or for someone with Dyslexia.

12. Google Photos launched an improvement to the popular auto enhance feature powered by Real Tone, which can improve color and lighting for any photo and works well across skin tones, regardless of what device you used or how long ago you took it.

Now…onto 2022! Hopefully it feels like it goes a little quicker than this year…

On June 17, our first-ever physical retail store opens its doors for business in New York City. This new space will be a natural extension of our commitment to NYC and provide customers with hands-on interaction with our lineup of devices and services — from Pixel phones and Nest products to Fitbit wearables and Pixelbooks. To mark the occasion, here’s a look inside the Google Store in Chelsea  — from our commitments to sustainability to new product experiences throughout the space.

A peek into our process

As we began the process to create our first retail store, the number of details to consider was daunting, but the opportunity at hand was amazing. We wanted our first store to reflect the same approach we take to designing our products: making sure they’re always helpful to people. The result is a space we believe is warm and inviting, while providing new ways to celebrate and experience Google through our phones, displays, speakers, wearables and more.

We began with group brainstorms in Mountain View across all our teams which were led by our designer, NYC based architect Reddymade. A concept for this physical space began to take shape — one that we felt lived up to our brand and mission.

Our excitement grew as we built a full-scale mockup of the space at our retail hangar in Mountain View, where we could test every element and make sure each one felt just right: the space, the layout, the technology and the overall experience each guest might have. We considered every immersive way people could learn about all the features of our Pixel phones and Nest products, and see how the best of Google’s software and services come to life when using them: products like Google Search, Google Assistant, Google Maps, YouTube, Stadia and many more.

Our commitment to sustainability

Sustainability is a core tenet of how Google does business. In addition to our Google-wide sustainability commitments, when it comes to building hardware we’ve made specific commitments to integrate sustainability into our products.

It was equally as important that our first store continue this work, and our commitment to sustainable design began on day one. Every element of the Google Store — the materials, building processes, mechanical systems and more — was painstakingly considered and selected. For example, the veneer on the walls is a soft gray responsibly sourced hickory, each lighting fixture is energy efficient and our custom cork and wood furniture was created with a local craftsman from Greenpoint, Brooklyn. We even attached our carpeting (which was manufactured with recycled materials) in a sustainable way.

We’re honored to have worked with the U.S. Green Building Council in this process, and we now can share that the Google Store Chelsea is one of fewer than 215 retail spaces in the world to have achieved a LEED Platinum rating — the highest certification possible within the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building rating system.

Take a look inside

As you approach our new store, the first thing we hope you’ll notice are beautiful physical and digital product displays lining the store’s windows, which offer a peek into our products and their features. And as you enter the store, you will find a light-filled space that’s centered around experiencing the helpfulness of our products. 

Near the main entrance, you’ll find a 17-foot-tall circular glass structure (designed and engineered with local New York partners) that we’re calling the Google Imagination Space. With custom interactive screens that feature rotating exhibits for visitors to experience the best of our products and technologies, we’re beginning with an experience built around Google Translate and our machine learning capabilities. As you speak to the exhibit, you’ll experience real-time translation of your speech into 24 languages simultaneously, and then learn how this all happens on the back end using several Google technologies. These same capabilities are also available across many of our devices — right in the palm of your hand.

For those who want to get up close and personal, every part of the store invites hands-on interaction with our products and services. Not quite sure where to start or want to learn more about specific features? An expert store team is on hand to answer questions, offer repairs and troubleshoot issues on the spot. 

Exploring the rest of the store, you’ll find new ways to experience the best of Google’s hardware and services:

We’re so incredibly proud of the work our teams have accomplished together since we first began this project almost four years ago, and we look forward to introducing Google’s first store to the world. We can’t wait for you to experience it firsthand, starting June 17 at 10 a.m. Eastern, and see all the great things we’ve been working on.

All photos courtesy of Google and Paul Warchol