This year’s Made by Google event saw the launch of the company’s new Pixel phones, smartwatch, and earbuds, though most of the 90 minutes were spent discussing just one thing—AI.
Earlier this year at WWDC, Apple, too, focused on AI, so it wasn’t a big surprise that Google went all out to showcase its Gemini Nano AI model, promising to make a billion-plus devices smarter. In fact, the evening was buzzing with “er” words—bright-er display, smart-er AI, fast-er processors, and tough-er hardware construction so all that high-tech goodness is well protected in the event you drop your phone. And of course, it wouldn’t be a launch event without at least one demo fail, and we got that too. Here’s what was revealed and how it went down.
Pixel 9: The Holy Trinity and then some
The new generation of Pixel 9 phones come with a 6.3-inch base, followed by the Pixel 9 Pro at the same size, and the 6.8-inch Pixel 9 Pro XL. Finally, there’s the ginormous Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which unfolds to become an 8-inch tablet. Right now, they are all being launched and will be available from August 22, with prices going from ₹79,999 for the Pixel 9 to ₹1,09,999 for the Pro. The Fold is an eye-watering ₹1,72,999, though it goes on sale a little later, through Flipkart, Croma, and Reliance Digital.
These phones come with new cameras, Google’s updated Tensor G4 chip, better battery life (for all those Reels binges), and for customers in the US, a satellite SOS feature for when your camping trip takes a horribly wrong Blair Witch Project turn. The Fold also has other cool features that make use of both screens, such as a Made You Look feature that shows colourful Pixar-inspired cartoons on the rear display, so that your kids (or pets?) will look at the camera for once. Hopefully.
The phones also look a lot nicer than previous Pixel iterations, and thanks to the AI features, both taking photos and editing them is going to be better than ever (though photography purists might lament the loss of authenticity).
AI: How Sabrina Carpenter brought AI down
Understandably, Google’s Gemini AI was the star of the show—indeed, if you asked it to generate a summary of the event omitting any mention of AI, you’d probably just get a blank page. But that doesn’t mean everything went off smoothly—the AI froze during one of the demos, and remained uncooperative until a backup phone was trotted out. The prompt that caused all the trouble? Asking the AI to look at a concert poster for Sabrina Carpenter and check the calendar to see if it’s free for when she comes to San Francisco. It’s a cool demo, but you know what is much faster? Just doing it yourself.
Blips and quibbles aside, though, it’s true that the demos showcased a lot of powerful AI tools, and having them in every Android phone now means that whether we are ready or not, AI is going to become a lot more accessible. For some, it may be time to dig up that old Nokia 1100.
Google did repeatedly stress that it’s using a “private cloud” and that much of the AI will be working on your own device, to ensure privacy, much like Apple also promised at its event.
The bottom line
Whether Google’s steering us towards a utopian future where our devices anticipate our every need or simply paving the way for our eventual AI overlords, one thing’s for sure: the future of tech is looking mighty interesting. The Add Me feature that lets you take a picture, then get into the frame yourself is something that looks fun, and the Call Notes recording and transcript feature (showcased using the trending broccoli haircut) which looks as handy as it sounds creepy.
Overall, the event was a whirlwind of innovation, with a side of did they really just do that? Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go ask Gemini to generate an AI image of me using all these new devices at once.
