The latest Google shutdowns: Daydream VR, Google Clips

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  The Daydream View. It's cloth!

Google's big hardware event happened yesterday, which saw the announcement of the Pixel 4, Pixelbook Go, Nest Wi-Fi, Nest Home Mini, and new Pixel Buds. While the "Made by Google 2019" event was going on, Google was quietly shutting down enough products that it could have also held a mini "Killed by Google 2019" event that same day. Pour one out for the Google Daydream VR headset and the Google Clips camera.

Google Daydream now sleeps forever

Google Daydream View launched in 2016 and was Google's swing at proper phone-based virtual reality. Like the Samsung and Oculus collaboration Gear VR, the Daydream View was a cheap, light, "dumb" headset that featured VR lenses and little else. You slotted a smartphone into the front, and the phone switched to a VR mode, rendering a stereoscopic image that was blasted into your eyeballs through the lenses. You already have an expensive smartphone, so why not dip your toe in the VR waters with a cheap $100 headset.

Google kills product

• The latest Google shutdowns: Daydream VR, Google Clips
• Google is killing YouTube's "Hangouts on Air" this year
• Google Hardware quits the tablet business, again
• This week's dead Google product is Google Trips, may it rest in peace
• Google kills its Twitch killer-the YouTube Gaming app shuts down this week

View more storiesGoogle originally experimented with phone-based VR with Google Cardboard, but the Daydream View added key features, like a head strap, a controller, and a material that wasn't literal garbage. Unlike Cardboard, Daydream made it so you'd actually want to stay in VR for more than 5 minutes. There was even a second-generation Daydream View headset released in 2017.

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