The new series of Pixel 9 smartphones, new Pixel Watch 3, Pixel Buds Pro 2 and even the new Google nest lEarning thermostat. There’s was LOTS of eye candy here at Google’s 2024 product announcement in Mountain View, California today.
But there was one word that summarizes what Google announced and wants us to remember from today’s event in, it was Gemini.
Google’s AI assistant is layered into almost everything google is doing right now, including all its; backend technology, and now across all its new devices.
Watch my video from the Google Announcement
In addition to touting Gemini as a more natural and capable assistant, google launched Several new devices and showed off more that have evolved too.
Starting with 4 new Pixel 9 smartphones.
4 new Pixel smartphones
Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL and Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
The new Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL and Pixel 9 Pro Fold were all on display today.
The new phones are sleeker, thinner and all boast improved cameras for both photos and video.
For the first time, the *Pro model exists in two different sizes: Pixel 9 Pro (6.3”) and Pixel 9 Pro XL (6.8”), and Both have Google’s brightest Super Actua display and a new 42 MP front camera. But in a bit of a twist, other than display size, charging speed and power, Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL share all the same specs and features.
Pixel 9 is 35% brighter than Pixel 8 . Pixel 9 has about 20% longer battery life over Pixel 8.
With the camera: you’re getting the same main and ultrawide cameras as Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL. That’s a huge upgrade for the ultrawide lens, from 12MP on Pixel 8 to 48MP on Pixel 9. And the front camera now has autofocus for even sharper selfies. Plus, the
That boost to battery will be welcome because your phone is going to be working a lot harder now with all the on-device processing needed to power Google Gemini AI…
Google Gemini AI
The key idea behind how Gemini can be useful to an average user is in its ability to layer commands; you can ask it to summarize a YouTube video, turn that info into a to-do list in google keep, then schedule it for you in you calendar. And it does everything right on your phone.
If you’ve seen ChatGPT”s Pro version, you know it’s possible to talk and go more in-depth with your AI helper, and that’s the idea behind Gemini Live.
Gemini Live is available starting today and works like a free flowing conversation on Android devices like the new Pixel 9 series. You can talk to it more naturally and it talks back with the same finesse.
The only catch may be this will be a paid feature called Gemini Advanced —only for subscribers. [cost]
Rather astonishingly, the voices are impressive… they almost have personalities seem a lot more human, with more natural cadence, a more ralistic conversation rhythm and overall sound a lot more human. And that also means YOU don’t need to be robotic or overly specific in your questioning and commands either.
Gemini powers a lot more new tools and apps on the new Pixel devices.
Pixel Screenshots: smarter note keeping
One of the most impressive is Pixel Screenshots.
If you’re like me and you screenshot things to remember them and then can never find them again, this will fix that problem. Pixel Screenshot is smart, fully searchable, and can organize your screenshots according to what you’re looking for.
Coming soon: Call Notes
The new Call Notes feature also seems pretty helpful if you spend a lot of time on the phone. If you want, Call Notes will listen to your conversations, transcribe them and create summaries of the call or pull up pertinent details. For privacy, the notes are privately saved on your phone, and anyone on a call will get notified you’re using the feature.
There’s lots more that Google Gemini is going to be able to help you with… but for now, let’s also pull in some of the other new devices so you can see how they fit into this universe too…
Pixel Buds Pro 2
Google announced new Pixel Buds Pro 2, which are 24% lighter and 27% smaller than Pixel Buds Pro. There’s also what google calls a new twist-to-adjust stabilizer —its basically a rubber nib, folks, but it helps the buds Pro 2 stay in place better.
I got a chance to try them out for a few minutes and I can confirm they are suprememly comfortable —even more so than the original, which were already my go-to earbuds for everyday use. I do fel like they fill less space in the ear, at the same time they don’t feel like they could fall out thanks to that silicone fin…
Google claims the noise cancelling is twice as good as the previous generation, but I’ll want to spend more time before I weigh in.
Despite the smaller and lighter design, battery life sees a 20% gain; even with Active Noise Cancellation enabled, you get up to 8 hours of battery life on the Buds and 30 hours with the case.
Pixel Watch 3
On to the wearables…Let’s meet the new Pixel Watch 3.
Now available in 2 sizes, 41mm and a larger 45 mm size, it’ll be a bit easier to pick your fit.
With Actua displays these new versions are twice as bright as Gen 2, with a peak brightness of 2,000 nits — which should mean no more squinting and shading your Watch on a sunny day.The displays are bigger with smaller bezels: the 45mm watch showcases 40% more screen, and the 41mm offers 10% more screen than Pixel Watch 2.
Plus, a new better Battery Saver Mode extends battery life to up to 36 hours across both sizes… and they now charge 20% faster.
Loss of Pulse could save you
One of the cooler features of the watch though is the Loss of Pulse feature… which can actually detect if your pulse stops beating, which can happen if you have a heart attack. If it does, your Pixel Watch 3 will automatically call 911 for help and can transmit your location, meaning your Pixel Watch 3 could literaly save your life if you’re alone in an emergency.
New Nest Learning Thermostat was also on view.
There was a lot packed into today’s announcement at Google and it was really cool to be here… from getting a behinds the scenes look at the event, to hearing the news straight from the people who run the company, it was a real treat.
I’ll be getting hands-on with all the new devices in the coming weeks so if there’s a device in particular you want to know about or have questions about, make sure you post in comments or hit me up on social media.
