“Our goal is to clear the way for the entire industry, and [for] our planet to benefit,” Ross said. She also revealed that the Google Stadia controller will include recycled plastics. The cloud-based gaming service is eco-friendly, she argued, because it doesn’t force players to upgrade their console or PC over time. “Another sustainability goal [for Google] is simply reducing the amount of hardware you need to buy in the first place,” she explained.

The eco-friendly chatter ended, though, long before the Pixel 4 was introduced on stage. The back half of the event was dedicated to the phone’s new 90Hz Smooth Display, radar-based Soli sensor — which enables super-fast Face Unlock and mid-air Motion Sense gestures — and upgraded camera setup, which includes a 16-megapixel telephoto.

It’s an impressive Android flagship. But an impressive sustainability effort? That seems unlikely. I’ve pored over the company’s official marketing materials and can’t see any mention of carefully sourced materials or sustainable manufacturing processes. A Google spokesperson told Engadget: “In our upcoming product environmental reports, we’ll be sharing that Pixel will be registered EPEAT [Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool] gold to meet a greener electronics industry standard.” Many smartphones share this rating, including the iPhone 11, Samsung’s Galaxy S10, and Google’s own Pixel 3.

It feels like the company could be doing more.

“We believe Google has both the ability and the responsibility to create systemic change,” Osterloh said at the start of yesterday’s event. “As a company, we’ve been focused on sustainability for a long time.”

He’s absolutely right. Remember Project Ara? Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) division tried to build a handset that anyone could upgrade with colorful LEGO-like parts. That meant you could repair and replace individual components without buying an entirely new phone. There were trade-offs, of course — an Ara smartphone could never be as thin as the latest Samsung Galaxy — but the environmental advantages were clear.

In September 2016, though, the project was suspended indefinitely. Google didn’t give a reason, but it was most likely financial. Project Ara was a long shot and the company wanted to prioritize the Pixel, a device that could compete directly with the iPhone and countless Android flagships.

What is Google doing now? It’s part of the capitalist machine that encourages consumers to upgrade their phone every year, rather than repair what they already own. Clearly, the company wants to sell more devices, not less, every quarter. “With the launch of Pixel 3a in May, overall Pixel unit sales in Q2 grew more than 2x year-over-year,” Google chief executive Sundar Pichai told investors on an earnings call last July.

If Google cares about the planet, it should start a new sustainable phone moonshot. Alphabet’s secretive “X” division has already developed a bunch of solutions to seemingly impossible environmental problems. These include Dandelion, a now-independent startup that makes it cheaper to heat your home with geothermal energy. Malta, meanwhile, is a grid-scale system that stores renewable energy inside tanks of molten salt. X has also produced Makani, a so-called “energy kite” that allows people on the ground to harness wind power, Waymo, a self-driving business that could eventually reduce traffic and carbon emissions, and Foghorn, an unsuccessful attempt to create carbon-neutral fuel from seawater.

If anyone can crack the eco-friendly phone problem, it’s the X factory.

I don’t expect Google to abandon the Pixel line. The stock Android phones are simply too important to the company. Consistent research, though, and outside-the-box thinking could produce an environmental breakthrough that doesn’t compromise the price or quality of the next Pixel.

Okay, so Project Ara didn’t work out. That doesn’t mean there aren’t other solutions, though, or that Google should simply give up on the idea of a truly sustainable smartphone. Just look at Fairphone — the plucky upstart in Amsterdam is still making handsets that are modular, repairable, and built from a mix of “fair” and recycled materials.

It’s time Osterloh’s team did the same.

The M355 is more of a garden variety mouse with basic buttons, a rubber scroll wheel and the option of using either Bluetooth or Logitech’s usual USB receiver. It lasts up to 18 months on battery, so it’s far from an energy hog.

Both devices are available today, and appear to be priced right for their modest feature sets at $50 for the K580 keyboard and $30 for the M355. You can certainly get more powerful mice and keyboards, but Logitech is clearly wagering that the cost and no-fuss designs will be appealing to Chromebook buyers looking to expand beyond basic input.

“[There hasn’t] been the broad consumer or developer adoption we had hoped, and we’ve seen decreasing usage over time of the Daydream View headset,” a Google spokesperson told Engadget in a statement. “So while we are no longer selling Daydream View or supporting Daydream on Pixel 4, the Daydream app and store will remain available for existing users.”

Google cited “clear limitations constraining smartphone VR from being a viable long-term solution.” Namely, when people dropped their phones into headsets, that prevented them from using other apps. The company plans to continue working on augmented reality with features such as AR walking directions in Maps, AR experiences in Search and Google Lens.

The writing’s been on the wall for Google’s smartphone VR ambitions for a while. The Pixel 3a and 3a XL Google released earlier this year don’t work with Daydream either. Hulu dropped support for Daydream VR last month and earlier this year, Google shut down its Spotlight Stories VR studio. It also wound down the Jump VR platform in June.

Here’s Google’s full statement:

We saw a lot of potential in smartphone VR—being able to use the smartphone you carry with you everywhere to power an immersive on-the-go experience. But over time we noticed some clear limitations constraining smartphone VR from being a viable long-term solution. Most notably, asking people to put their phone in a headset and lose access to the apps they use throughout the day causes immense friction.

There also hasn’t been the broad consumer or developer adoption we had hoped, and we’ve seen decreasing usage over time of the Daydream View headset. So while we are no longer selling Daydream View or supporting Daydream on Pixel 4, the Daydream app and store will remain available for existing users.

We’re investing heavily in helpful AR experiences like Google Lens, AR walking navigation in Maps, and AR in Search that use the smartphone camera to bridge the digital and physical worlds, helping people do more with what they see and learn about the world around them.

It’s been yet another Pixel phone launch preceded by a ton of leaks, but we’re still glad to see the official unveiling of Google’s latest flagship. This 5.7-inch device may only have two rear cameras, but the software’s been refined even further to include better Night Sight and HDR+. That’s to be expected in the wake of more intense competition on the camera front from Samsung and Apple. To see exactly how this specs battle is shaking out, check out the table below, and stay tuned for our full review of the Pixel 4 later this month.

There are some under-the-hood convenience upgrades as well. A faster processor can process Assistant requests sooner. Ultrasound, meanwhile, helps the Mini both make voices more audible over noise and light up volume controls when you get close. The speaker is even more eco-friendly, with a top made from plastic bottles and a body that’s 35 percent recycled plastic.

The Nest Mini will be available on October 22nd in black (Charcoal), white (Chalk), pink (Coral) and a new blue shade (Sky) for the same $49 as its predecessor. This won’t address every gripe about the Home Mini — there’s still no 3.5mm jack, and it won’t include tricks like the new Echo Dot’s alarm clock. If you just wanted Google to improve basics like sound quality and responsiveness, though, this might be a welcome upgrade.

Yes, it’s finally time — A month after the invitations went out, the next Made by Google event is upon us. You can watch the livestream here starting at 10AM Eastern in addition to following our liveblog. There’s a lot expected at this event, and the Pixel 4 phones are really just the beginning of what’s on tap. Many anticipate a more capable Nest Mini smart speaker, a Nest WiFi system with voice control beacons and a Pixelbook Go laptop. And that’s not including new Google Assistant tricks or other developments. Google still tends to have a few surprises in store at these events even after all the leaks, so it’s worth tuning in if you want to catch everything.

Most notable about today’s leak is that it doesn’t look like the Nest Mini features a 3.5mm headphone jack. Back when information about the Nest Mini first started making the online rounds, at least one report suggested Google would add an auxiliary port for external speakers. For whatever reason, it doesn’t look like Google has decided to go down that route.

Otherwise, the new photos nearly confirm everything else we’ve heard about the Nest Mini going into tomorrow’s event. Hard to miss is the new groove on the back of the device for mounting it against a wall. Besides the new mounting mechanism, Quandt says the device features the same dimensions as the current Home Mini.

He adds that Google will offer the Nest Mini in four colors: “Coral,” “Sky Blue,” “anthracite” and “rock candy.” 9to5Google suggests the latter two are codenames for “Chalk” and “Charcoal,” two colors you can buy the Home Mini in currently. In short, it appears Google no longer plans to offer the “Aqua” color it started to offer partway through the device’s lifecycle. While on the subject of colors, one other tidbit of information to glean from the photos is that the bottom of the device matches the rest of the exterior. With the current Home Mini, that’s mostly not the case as three of the four models feature coral-colored bases.

Based on the photos we have, it’s tough to say whether Google has added a USB-C port to the device. It doesn’t look like USB, but we don’t know for sure. However, WinFuture does say the Nest Mini will come with a more powerful 15W power adapter. This may suggest the rumors about the new Mini including a more capable speaker setup were accurate. Quandt also notes the device will include Bluetooth 5.0, which is an upgrade from the Home Mini’s 4.1 connectivity.

We’ll hear everything Google has to share about its fall hardware slate, including details about the Pixel 4 and Pixelbook Go, tomorrow.

A month after exposing Google’s next laptop as the Pixelbook Go, 9to5Google has extensive pictures and even a hands-on video with the device. The pictures show off a prototype laptop — held by a person wearing the “Jacquard by Google” Levi’s jacket — in a “Not Pink” colorway, with its lid that has a smooth finish similar to some Pixel phones, and its oddly textured underside that’s even more deeply colored — all the better to show off its standout ribs.

The keyboard is similar to the earlier Pixelbook model, while its front-facing speakers are apparently capable of quality sound output. There are USB-C ports on each side each with a charging light and one 3.5mm headphone jack to the left — it’s not dead yet. The design isn’t far off from Apple’s laptops, but if Google is trying to show what a standard-bearer Chrome OS machine can be then this looks like a good attempt.