Microsoft Is Scared

One of those surprises was the brand new Pixel C, a “convertible,” Android-powered tablet hybrid.

Google’s getting sneakier these days, there is no denying it. In the jam-packed event that happened on Tuesday, Google slapped up with some pretty nifty things and some unexpected surprises.

One of those things was the brand new Pixel C, a “convertible,” Android-powered tablet hybrid.

Just like the Chromebook Pixel, the Pixel C is being marketed as the premium device, which means it comes with a hefty price tag; it starts at $499, and the keyboard alone is $149.

Don’t let the name fool you though. Pixel C is not a Chromebook, despite even the optional keyboard. Pixel C is a lean, mean Android tablet machine.

This is a pretty big deal for a couple of reasons, but first among them is the fact that this is the first Android tablet that Google made in-house with absolutely no outside hardware assistance. The second is that it will be powered by Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

This is a pretty big deal for a couple of reasons, but first among them is the fact that this is the first Android tablet that Google made in-house with absolutely no outside hardware assistance. The second is that it will be powered by Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

So even though it’s not a Chromebook, it comes from the same team, which means that all the benchmarks are incredibly impressive. It’s by far one of the most powerful tablets to date, with a 10.2-inch display with an excellent screen resolution of 1,800 x 2,560, and a pixel density of 308 pixels per inch.

Under the hood, it has Nvidia’s Tegra X1 chipset (one of the most powerful on the market), with a quad-core CPU and Maxwell GPU, and it’s been paired with 3GB of RAM.

Obviously, everyone is comparing this to the Microsoft Surface Pro, and for a good reason. There is a lot of similarities. But pretty importantly, the Pixel C comes up short because there is no trackpad, which can be a bit frustrating in your moments of hyper-productivity.

As of now, the only tablets we ever see in the workplace are iPads, and usually for designers, photographers, illustrators, etc. Google is clearly positioning the Pixel C to fill not just the Android void, but void in tablets for professionals altogether.

It’s new and shiny and flagship-y, so obviously it will also have a USB Type-C port. Apparently, though, Google has been plotting this for a long time because there will be a slow change to unify and standardize both charging and IO.

The starting price of $499 is for the 32GB model and $599 for the 64GB model. Although the availability and release dates aren’t official yet, apparently it will definitely arrive in time for the holidays.