Google's CES Parade Was Literally Rained On

While Google has a water-resistant phone in the Pixel 2, its CES booth was anything but. According to Tech Crunch, Google had to shut down its two-level outdoor booth once it began to rain at the Las Vegas trade show. Even though Las Vegas is the driest city in the country, Mother Nature always has her idea of fun.

CES 2018 is the first that Google has ever attended, and they're likely planning something huge. Tech Crunch pointed out that signs and monorails were painted to read "Hey Google" and "Google Assistant," and Aaron Aupperlee found a massive gum ball machine that Google built that gives out prizes like Google Home devices. All of this implies that the company is about to drop big Google Home and/or Google Assistant news at CES, but we unfortunately need to wait at least another day to find out what they have in store.

On the bright side, the latest forecasts predict Las Vegas will be back to sunny and dry for the rest of the week, so hopefully Google can reopen their booth soon.

There is a little sun peeking through the clouds, though, as Lenovo announced a partnership with Google to create a new Smart Display, in the vein of Amazon's Echo Show. This device has a physical lens cover, so Big Data won't be able to spy on you. This makes it a much more secure option than Amazon's offering, which also lacks YouTube support.

Even though the rain put a damper on things, the silver lining lies in Google's commitment to Google Assistant. If they feel strongly enough about it to trot it out at CES, it bodes incredibly well for the smartphone users who are invested in the Android ecosystem. The fact that they appear to care about users' privacy is also a huge plus. We look forward to seeing what Google floods the showroom floor with whenever they're able to dry themselves off.

How do you feel about Google saving their booth for a rainy day? Are you excited to see what they unveil in the coming days? Let us know in the comments below.