Three new year's resolutions Google needs to keep in 2017

Alphabet and Google began to embrace practicality in 2016 as the two closely related entities changed course on a number of efforts. After many years of teasing its own self-driving car, it chose instead to become a vendor of car technology. But in more pedestrian device pursuits, the company shifted toward going its own way. It took its virtual reality endeavors to the next level with Daydream, took ownership of its vision for Android phones with the Pixel, and threw its weight around the home with its answer to the Amazon Echo and its tripartite router solution Google Wi-Fi. Here are some things Google could do in 2017 to shore up its path. As I discussed in my column on Apple's new year's resolutions, the home environment allows providers to pick up a different set of requests than in the mobile environment offers.