At a launch event in New York today, Google unveiled its latest Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro smartphones.
The company also introduced their upgraded Pixel Buds Pro and Pixel Watch 2.
Like with most of Google’s recent events, the spotlight was on Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the event kicked off with a summary of Google’s advancements in AI coming to their devices.
‘As Google’s AI gets better so do the devices,’ said Rick Osterloh, Google’s senior vice president, Devices & Services.
The star of the show was the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro which were unveiled as promised. However, there were no surprises on the design front, thanks to the leaked images that hit the internet weeks ago.
The bulk of the upgrade on the Pixel 8 line is internal, starting with Google’s Tensor G3 chip that promises to deliver ‘Google’s AI breakthroughs to Pixel users’.
One significant addition to the Pixel line is the new temperature sensor in the Google Pixel 8 Pro.
The upgraded processor on the Pixel 8 can run twice as many machine learning models concurrently, which lets you access its AI features on multiple apps.
You can type, edit and send messages with your voice and get your phone to read webpages out loud in a different language.
Other cool AI features include ‘Call Assist’ that has a virtual assistant that can answer and summarise calls for you and intelligent Call Screen that can cut down spam calls by half.
The highlight of the Pixel 8 line is the enhanced virtual assistant that can give contextual replies.
Pixels are known for having some of the best smartphone camera capabilities on the market and the biggest camera upgrade on the new line is for videos.
Google even took a dig at Apple by presenting two videos shot on an iPhone 15 Pro Max and Pixel 8 Pro to see the difference in quality.
Videos on the Pixel 8 will also benefit from computational audio and the ‘audio magic eraser’ feature to reduce distracting sounds.
Additionally, the ‘Best Take’ feature helps you choose the best expression for each person in a group photo. ‘Magic Editor’ lets you use generative AI to edit photos.
The Pixel 8 Pro has better camera capability than the Pixel 8 with higer specs like an ultrawide and telephoto lens and Pro Controls, great for professional photography.
It also features ‘Night Sight Video’ for the first time on a Pixel and ‘Video Boost’ lets you shoot the ‘best low light video on any smartphone’.
Assistant with Bard
The showstopper had to be Google giving us an early peek at Google Assistant enhanced with Google’s AI chatbot, Bard.
Google is calling it the ‘world’s most helpful personal assistant’, giving you a virtual assistant with reasoning capabilities on your phone.
They demonstrated how it can be used to catch up on emails, plan a grocery list or ask it to write social media captions for a picture.
The company said that Assistant with Bard will be coming soon to Pixel users as an opt-in experience in a few months.
In addition to the new flagship smartphones, Google also introduced other Pixel accessory updates:
Pixel Buds Pro
The first device we got to see was the Pixel Buds Pro with AI enhancements for smarter phonecalls and music listening.
With Bluetooth Super Wide Band and Clear Calling features, Google says it ‘enhances voices on any phone call’.
It can also automatically pause audio and switch on transparency so there’s no need to manually do that when you’re in the middle of a conversation.
Pixel Watch 2
Next, we saw the Pixel Watch 2, which promises to be a step up from the underwhelming first generation model introduced last year.
With Fitbit’s most advanced heart rate tracking, the Pixel Watch 2 features an all-new multi-path heart rate sensor.
The Pixel Watch 2 also offers automatic workout start and stop reminders that
can detect seven common workouts, including running, outdoor cycling etc.
New features include ‘Safety Check’ that allows you to schedule a timer for specific situations where you might want your friends or family to know where you are.
MORE : Leaked photo gives sneak peek of the new Google Pixel 8
MORE : Google Pixel Fold (2023): A slick, stylish debut
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