Google unveils new phones and other gadgets powered by AI

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California — Alphabet's Google on Aug 13 unveiled a lineup of new Pixel smartphones with deeper integrations of its artificial intelligence technology as it races to incorporate AI into its hardware.

The event at Alphabet's Bay View campus in Mountain View, California, bucks a tradition Google has maintained with every iteration of Pixel — its flagship smartphone launched in October 2016 — to announce the new version in the autumn.

The earlier timing is Google's latest bid to keep up with rivals in injecting AI features into its consumer-facing products and comes ahead of Apple's planned launch of a new iPhone in September.

In June, Apple announced that devices including its latest version of iPhones would get upgrades that include "Apple Intelligence," a slew of generative AI-powered features within native applications, and an integration with ChatGPT, the chatbot developed by Microsoft-backed OpenAI.

"We've seen a lot of AI announcements in a short burst of time as of late. I don't think you want to sit on it too long if you're Google," said IDC analyst Linn Huang.

New AI integrations announced on Aug 13 include a Pixel-only feature that lets users search for information stored in screenshots. Android users can also now pull up Gemini, Google's chatbot, as an overlay on top of another app to answer questions or generate content.

"There have been so many promises, so many coming soons, and not enough real-world helpfulness when it comes to AI, which is why today we're getting real," said Rick Osterloh, Google's senior vice-president of devices and services. "We're fully in the Gemini era."

Employees showcased several live demos of new Gemini functions, such as a voice conversation feature, though an attempt to use Gemini to cross-reference a picture of a concert poster with the calendar app took three tries and two devices to run successfully.

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Pixel 9, the base 6.3-inch display model, will retail at a starting price of US$799 (S$1,058), which is US$100 more than the previous model. This and the 6.8-inch Pixel 9 Pro XL will begin shipping later in August, a company spokesperson said. The Pixel 9 Pro, which comes with added features like a better camera, and the foldable Pixel 9 Pro Fold will ship in September.

The new gadgets are available to preorder on Aug 13.

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Google holds less than 1 per cent market share in global smartphone shipments as of the second quarter of 2024, according to IDC. It trails far behind Samsung's market share of 18.9 per cent and Apple's market share of 15.8 per cent, according to IDC. That is in part because Google has entered fewer markets and is focused on higher-end price segments.

In the United States, Google's 4.5 per cent share makes it the fourth-biggest smartphone maker, according to IDC.

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But the Pixel line has also enabled Google to show off advances and spur the developer ecosystem around its Android operating system, which is used by device manufacturers like Samsung.

Android represents one of several frontlines where Google is battling competitors to embed AI in ways that consumers will use. In May, it debuted a swath of upgrades to core products like its search engine.

The company's engineers redesigned the Pixel's exterior and included camera upgrades as well as Google's new Tensor G4 chip.

Google announced new versions of its smartwatch, the Pixel Watch 3, and Pixel Buds Pro 2 wireless earbuds on Aug 13 as well.

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