Every October, some Pixel users may be the same as us, watching Google's annual hardware and software launch with a less excited attitude, because Google has never been tight-lipped on confidentiality matters.
Are there any surprises after the overwhelming revelations? Not a lot, but it's worth paying attention to - here's a quick look at what's in store for the Made by Google hardware launch event in 2023.
Pixel Buds Pro: Software Update
Google is first to update the Pixel Buds Pro, the true wireless noise-canceling headphones under the Pixel brand - but not a new model, and not one that gives the charging case a new connector or lets you buy a headset to listen to lossless music. The Pixel Buds Pro has been pushed out with the following new Features:
- Conversation Detection
- Hearing Wellness
- The low-latency mode for gamers
- Clear Calling
- Super wide band support
When it comes to software updates, Google also mentioned AI-related updates for the Pixel Fold and Google Home, such as real-time translation interactions that take advantage of the dual screens, and Home highlights that summarize, distill, and retrieve key information.
Pixel Watch 2: Catching up with Fitbit
Pixel Watch 2 continues last year's formula in terms of design, waterproof rating, and motion tracking, and even made a special reminder at the launch event that 'one generation's band will work in the second generation'.
As for updates, the second generation has upgraded the chip and sensors that are most critical for wearables. The chip has been updated from the outdated Samsung Exynos 9110 to Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon W5+ platform (Wear 5100 processor) with a Cortex M33 co-processor that is claimed to provide 24 hours of all-day battery life with the AoD always-on display on. The back sensor has been upgraded to a multi-path optical heart rate sensor, and new cEDA electronic sensors for evaluating the surface signals of the skin, as well as a skin temperature sensor that works with Fitbit's proprietary algorithm to provide more accurate heart rate detection.
The Pixel Watch 2's main focus on skin temperature and pressure sign detection is part of the Fitbit Sense experience, so it seems that the Pixel Watch's integration of the Wear OS ecosystem into the Fitbit experience is basically complete.
Pixel 8 series: Big Models and Extra-long System Updates
Let's talk about the hardware part that was spread before the launch.
The main change on this side of the Pixel 8 is the slimmer body. The polished glass back panel and matte metal camera module are similar to the Pixel 7, and the screen has been replaced with a 6.2-inch Actua OLED with a 60-120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 2000 nits. But slimming does not mean reducing the configuration, on the contrary, the Pixel 8 this time in a smaller body stuffed with a larger capacity battery, but unfortunately the storage configuration is still 8 + 128GB starting.
In terms of software experience, because the Pixel 8 is equipped with the Google Tensor G3 processor, the main enhancement is still focused on the TPU and AI aspects, around the Pixel 8 Pro new sensor triple camera computational photographic capabilities and system level AI functions are naturally the core selling point of the Pixel 8 Pro.
On paper, the Pixel 8 Pro gets a ƒ/1.65 aperture, 50-megapixel main camera sensor this time around, which is claimed to have improved low-light shooting capabilities; a 48-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens that can be used for ultra-wide-angle, macro, and even astrophotography at the same time; a 5x optical telephoto lens that's also 48-megapixel, with support for up to a 30x hybrid zoom; and a front-facing camera that has a field of view of The front also features an ultra-wide-angle lens with a field of view of more than 95 degrees.
Of course, Google has also brought some neat little features for photo editing. For example, the Magic Retouch tool allows you to adjust the brightness, background, and even drag and drop to change the position of the subject:
OTOFLY has lacunched Pixel 8 Pro case. Here are 7 colors for you to choose.
But more than the camera, the real showstopper is the last few 'teasers'.
Google Assistant is getting access to big models. The project is called Assistant with Bard, which aims to bring Bard's reasoning and generating capabilities into cell phones, providing new capabilities of listening, speaking, reading (including reading screen content) and even directly executing commands and completing tasks, such as summarizing the user's information scattered among Google services to provide a summary of key information, and generating plans based on the composite information in different applications. The live demonstration always gives people a sense of "ah when the Google Now should be like this".
The Pixel 8 series is the first Android phone to ship with Android 14, and it's also the first Pixel phone to get 7 years of update support. Read more about Google pixel 8.
