Google Home Hub is the new entrant in the smart display space

So now we know that those rumors of Google working on smart display were true. Yes, the company has announced the launch of the Home Hub, which brings together a Google Assistant-powered smart speaker with a 7-inch touchscreen. Although the new smart display has some out-of-the-box features, it sure does miss out on a few basic ones.

For starters, there's no camera. Well, that's forgivable as Google is very much aware of privacy concerns caused by these smart home products, and wants its users to feel comfortable around them. But, this also means, you miss out on a basic feature like video calling.

The display has a new Home VIew dashboard that provides a quick glance at all the smart devices, whether you choose to see the Hub or Google's mobile Home app. The display smartly adjusts according to the lighting conditions throughout the day and is also capable of displaying your Google Photos album that updates as you click new images. What's new is that it eliminates blurry and badly exposed pictures, thanks to Google's machine learning tech.

The Google Home Hub will is available for pre-order for $149 and will ship in the US, UK, and Australia on October 22. It seems that Google believes the price of the device will be a key selling point. It comes at a lower price compared to other smart displays like Amazon's latest Echo Show by $50, and costs a tad higher than the original Home did at the time of launch. The aggressive pricing could be a good move from Google to pave way for smart displays into the mainstream.