All the Greatest Gadgets Announced at Google's Big Show

Google Home isn’t just getting tinier. The company also introduced the Google Home Max, a giant tabletop speaker that tunes automatically to your space. It pumps out sound with more than 20 times more power than Google Home (which is to say: it's really, really loud). It also comes with Smart Sound, a system that uses Google’s AI to configure sound to your space. And of course, Assistant’s built in, ready to act as your own personal DJ. It'll be available this December for $399, in chalk or charcoal.

The Pixelbook goes both ways: Open it up and use it as a laptop; then flip it over and prop it up like a tablet. The 12.3-inch screen rotates a full 360 degrees, and the whole thing weighs just two pounds. In a welcome update, the device supports Google Play, so you can open the same apps on your Pixelbook—even Snapchat—as you can on your smartphone. It’s also the first laptop with Google Assistant baked in. You can summon the Assistant by using its wake word, or press the dedicated Assistant button on the keyboard's bottom row when you don’t feel like talking to your computer. Read our story here.

Google wants its Assistant to be everywhere—including in your head. That's the idea behind Google's new wireless earbuds, which give you a direct line to Google Assistant. Think of the $159 buds as Google's answer to Apple's AirPods. You can tap the side to play or pause your music, swipe forward and back to change volume, or long-press to talk to Assistant. They also have Google Translate built-in, with the capability to translate languages in real time—so you can pretend you understand French without knowing a single word, thanks to the helpful AI inside your ears. Read our story here.

Sure, your new Pixel 2 will shoot stunning photos, but the camera's only as good as the shots you manage to take. For all the rest, Google introduced a different kind of camera called Google Clips. The palm-sized device takes photos for you, using AI to find the candid moments you might want to capture—like that shot of your dog balancing a treat on his nose, or your toddler taking her first steps. Capture those moments as stills, videos, or GIFs, then export them to your phone over Wi-Fi.

When Google introduced its Daydream View VR headset last year, it only worked with the Pixel and you could use it to launch only 25 apps. Now, with a second-generation headset, Google's setting its sights a little wider. The new hardware comes with a wider field of view and a better overall viewing experience, and the face mask that feels more secure. (Also, you can now buy it in coral!) There's new content coming to Daydream, too, including a new original YouTube series in VR, adding to the 250 VR titles Google already offers. You can pre-order it now, starting at $99.

Google’s been inching closer and closer to the augmented reality future—especially after announcing AR Core, its AR software development kit, earlier this year. Those high-end cameras on the new Pixel phones? Those were built specifically to handle augmented reality. Google showed off some of that future today with a collection of AR stickers that will be available on the Pixel, which let you bring characters from shows like Stranger Things to life right before your eyes. OK, so it's not a mind-blowing use of augmented reality. But the Upside Down looks a lot freakier when it's right there in your living room.