Google Stadia, the new service from the search giant, which beams high-end console and PC games to any Chrome web browser, Chromecast Ultra TV dongle or Pixel 3 or higher smartphones from powerful Google servers — is to launch this week. Google has announced that Stadia will be available in 14 different territories, including in the US, Uk and Canada on 19 November. A minimum of 31 games from 21 different publishers will be available at launch, for an initial price of $130 that includes a hardware starter kit and three months of premium service, with $10 a month afterwards. A separate free tier is reportedly coming in 2020.
Reports say that preorders for the ‘Founder’s Edition’ have since sold out. If you are in one of the 14 territories and looking to play Stadia before the end of the year, your best bet now is the Premiere Edition.
Both Founder’s Edition packs and Premiere Edition ones are likely to ship before the end of November, but Google is sending out Stadia kits based on when you placed your order, so not all at once.
While there have been predictions that Stadia will be the ‘Netflix of games’, it turns out the analogy only goes so far. While Google intends to eventually have a back catalog of free games included for your $10 monthly fee, Stadia is not primarily a subscription service. The subscription only includes a single game as of today — Destiny 2. Mainly, Google is expecting you to buy, not rent, cloud games for the same retail prices you would find on other platforms like PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, and Steam.
On a related note, Google has also released the latest version of its Chrome Operating System, Version 78, which adds picture-in-picture (PiP) support to its YouTube Android app, as well as improves the operating system’s support for printers, and tweaks the settings menus.
YouTube’s picture-in-picture mode activates whenever the app is minimized or otherwise covered while a video is still playing. Chrome OS 78 also simplifies the process of printing from the operating system. The software now automatically lists compatible printers, without requiring you to manually set them up first. It should also now be easier to save specific printers to your profile for easy access.
Google has also tweaked the operating system’s settings menus by separating the respective menus for your device and browser. Settings for the device can now be found in the quick settings sheet, while that for the browser is accessed directly from the top right of the browser.
Chrome OS 78 also introduces virtual desktop support for the operating system with a feature called Virtual Desks. This virtual desktop feature has been kicking around in Chrome OS releases since at least August, and it lets you move apps into separate virtual workspaces.
In addition, the new operating system has a new ‘click-to-call’ feature, where it can automatically send phone numbers to your Android phone so you can call them without having to retype a number.
