Google hosted a presentation yesterday to unveil its new Pixel 8 smartphone and Pixel Watch 2.
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The Google announcement caps the autumn release season for big tech hardware, which saw the new Apple iPhone 15 release and the launch of Meta’s latest VR headset. Running on its own chip, Google’s Pixel 8 Pro will also carry out certain AI functions on the device itself instead of relying on transfers from cloud data.
At the launch event in New York, Rick Osterloh, SVP of devices at Google, said that the company’s AI teams had figured out how to “distil” AI models “into a version efficient enough to run on our flagship Pixel.” The device will expand to other AI features later, Osterloh said.
“Assistant with Bard combines personalised help with reasoning and generative capabilities,” said Monika Gupta, vice president of product management at Google.
Another spokesperson at Google said its artificial intelligence technology is “miles ahead” of the competition. Michiel van Eldik, Google vice president for devices in Europe, said the company’s AI innovations were how it could beat its rivals and that they gave them an advantage in the hardware business.
Big Tech’s hardware release season has featured many promises of AI enhancements, including Amazon teasing an upgrade of its Alexa voice assistant to function in a more human-like and “smart” fashion.
“We have probably 15 or 20 years of experience in AI, and that’s where we can truly differentiate in the hardware business,” he told the PA news agency. Our products are on par, if not better, than any other player out there. If you look at RAM, if you look at display, if you look at batteries, for example”.
“So our story today is very much about artificial intelligence. The message to the user is that we will give you services nobody else has. It’s not about hardware for us anymore; it’s about bringing that great innovation that Google has and the best of Google to the consumers out there”.
Google says it has increased call quality using AI, with the device able to filter out spam calls, block background noise, and improve sound quality.
“Pixel was part of Google’s influence over the mobile market, but Google was never competing with the Apples or Samsungs of the world,” explained Joseph Teasdale at Enders Analysis. “It never contributed much to Google’s top line”.
The company will now seek to make a harder push at the dominance of Samsung and Apple in the smartphone space.
