Farewell, Google Clips

Amid a slew of updated hardware, Clips has gone missing from Google's online store. Odds are you probably don't remember what Clips is. If you do, odds are you're not surprised by this turn of events.

We've reached out to company to confirm whether this is, indeed, definitively the end for the niche device. All I can say for now is that the future doesn't look bright for a product neither reviewers, consumers nor Google itself figured out. One the company knew for sure what that the Clips was unequivocally not a life-logging camera. The answer of what it was, however, was a far more difficult one.

The device was a kind of showcase for the company's AI technologies, designed to capture candid life moments, so users weren't stuck behind their cameras. I reviewed it and if nothing else got this fun Gif of my rabbit, Lucy:

So not a total loss, I guess. Certainly not enough to justify paying $249, however. One colleague jokingly asking me ahead of this week's Pixel event whether a Clips 2 was on the way. I suppose we know the answer now. SensorTower notes in an email to TechCrunch that it estimates around 15,000 installs for the Clips app, which should offer some context for fairly dismal sales figures.

The discovery follows news that the company has discontinued its Daydream View, VR headset. Such is the Google circle of life. The lukewarmly reviewed first-gen Pixel Buds have been pulled from the store, as well. That line, at least, still has a future.