Google beat Apple by releasing new smartphones full of AI.
At the Made By Google event on Tuesday, Google combined the Pixel 9 release with celebrity appearances and Apple bashing. Keke Palmer and NBA star Jimmy Butler were on stage and Google executives showed off what the Pixel camera can do.
At the event, Google unveiled four new Pixel phones embedded with Google Assistant’s Gemini AI: the $799 Pixel 9, the $999 Pixel 9 Pro, the $1,099 Pixel 9 Pro XL, and the $1,799 Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which opens up into an 8-inch tablet.
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The Pixel 9 is Google’s first line to ship fully with Gemini Nano multimodality, meaning users can access the AI assistant via voice, text, code, image, and video. Users do not need to have a network connection to access the Gemini Nano and the Pixel 8 Pro, released last year, use the same system.
The Made By Google event usually takes place in October, and moving it up to August, one month before Apple’s expected release, could be Google’s attempt to outdo Apple, Bloomberg considers.
Apple is reportedly introducing Apple Intelligence and bringing AI to iPhones this fall for the 15 Pro, Pro Max, and any new iPhones. The new, upcoming phones could encourage existing Apple users to upgrade their older iPhones for AI features.
Apple currently dominates the $61.5 billion US smartphone market, with the iPhone taking 58.81% of the market share compared to the Google Pixel’s 4.6%.
What exactly can Google’s AI do?
Google has taken tasks that users turn to on their phones, like checking the weather, and empowered them with AI. For example, the new Pixel Weather app features an AI weather report, while Call Notes offers AI-generated phone call transcripts that are saved on the phone, not in the cloud, for security.
Pixel Screenshots saves phone screenshots in a separate app so users can search through them with AI, and never lose them in their camera roll. Pixel Studio’s image generator creates new images instantly, and Google demos how to use the app to create party invitations.
Google Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL. Credit: Google
Google’s pre-event advertising asked Gemini to write a farewell letter and start “Dear Dearest iPhone.”
But the first Gemini demo took three tries to get it working. However, Google used that as an opportunity to take another advantage at Apple by insisting that it was a live demo – referring to Apple’s pre-recorded demo.
Google also said the Pixel 9 has “the world’s first AI-powered camera” and compared the image taken by the new Pixel 9 Pro XL to the iPhone 15 Pro Max without naming Apple.
.@Google do a LIVE Gemini demo, again it’s a live playable demo @The apple making canned demos and videos. It worked on the 3rd attempt. #MadeByGoogle pic.twitter.com/BRKv6J3vGc
– Anshel Sag (@anshelsag) August 13, 2024
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