Google introduced a variety of connectivity features, products, and milestones for Android at CES 2023.
This year, Google is rolling out Android Auto with a new design that brings easier viewing and access to features like navigation, media, and communication on your car display.
Meanwhile, cars with Google Built-in have Google Assistant, Google Maps, and more apps from Google Play integrated directly into the car. Now, you can control the car temperature with just your voice and even turn on the house lights from your car. There are currently seven brands that offer cars with Google built-in namely Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Honda, Polestar, Renault, and Volvo.
Google is also expanding its connectivity features to feature seamless switching between devices. In particular, Phone Hub in ChromeOS makes it easy to view and respond to Android notifications from messaging apps directly from your laptop.
Chromebooks are also packed with productivity features like grabbing the latest photos from your phone’s camera roll, sending files with Nearby Share, or sharing and connecting to saved Wi-Fi networks.
These features are available on the new Chromebooks announced at CES including the ASUS Chromebook Vibe CX32 Flip and HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook.
Android Connectivity Milestones
Google also highlighted connectivity milestones at the convention. These include Fast Pair, a feature that allows you to instantly find and connect nearby accessories to your devices. This speeds up the setup processing for pairing on devices including 300 headphone brands including Beats, JBL, OnePlus, and Sony. It also works with Matter, allowing you to connect smart home devices to Google Home and other apps.
In 2022, over 320 million Fast Pair pairings were made to find and connect nearby accessories to devices.
Meanwhile, Nearby Share, which allows Android devices to share content easily, has seen 3 billion using the feature since its 2020 launch.
Chromecast now has more than 3,000 supported audio and video apps, making it perfect for any type of entertainment for every kind of user.
Additionally, Google TV has reached 150 million monthly active devices. More Google TV devices are also set to launch within the year including the TCL Q-series TV and the Hisense ULED TVs, Laser TVs, and Laser Cinema offerings.
Lastly, the wearable ecosystem has also seen growth as Google reported that the active Wear OS devices has tripled since May 2021. Wear OS is an operating system designed for smartwatches and other wearable devices. Its latest version, Wear OS 3, allows you to use the Camera app to level up your selfies and remotely control the camera shutter on Pixel phones or use the Google Home app. Pixel Watches, Samsung Galaxy Watch5 series, and Fossil Gen 6 Wellness Edition are only some of the devices that use the OS.
For more about Android connectivity products and features, click here.
Ram found his love and appreciation for writing in 2015 having started in the gaming and esports sphere for GG Network. He would then transition to focus more on the world of tech which has also began his journey into learning more about this world. That said though, he still has the mentality of "as long as it works" for his personal gadgets.
