On Wednesday, Google unveiled new Pixel 10 smartphones, highlighting the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities into its Android mobile operating system.
The new product lineup included a foldable phone, an improved Pixel smartwatch, and earbuds, all synchronized to work with AI and each other.
“Pixel continues to be the best way for people to try out the latest bleeding-edge AI from Google,” product manager Tyler Kugler said during a briefing with journalists.
Pixel phones claim a small portion of the high-end smartphone market dominated by Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi. However, custom Google hardware provides an opportunity for the internet giant to showcase what is possible with its Android mobile operating system.
While Samsung routinely ranks as the world’s top smartphone seller, it powers its handsets with Android software from Google.
“Initially, Google Pixel devices were designed as a technological showcase to limit Android fragmentation and accelerate innovation,” said Forrester principal analyst Thomas Husson.
“Ten years later, the strategic challenge is still not to become the market leader, but to demonstrate the value of Google’s integrated ecosystem.”
The tactic aims to promote the use of Google’s platform by handset makers and mirrors the way Apple integrates its iPhones and other devices with its software.
Meanwhile, with Apple seen as lagging in the fierce AI race, Google has emphasized its efforts to integrate advanced AI throughout its offerings as it competes with powerhouses such as Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft.
“Its positioning remains premium, and its market share is less than 5 percent, but in the age of AI, it is a true laboratory of innovation,” Husson said of the Pixel smartphone line.
It is also “a means of countering Apple’s integrated hardware-software-services strategy while remaining a strategic partner for Samsung and the Android ecosystem,” Husson added.
AI built into new Pixel phones allows the Gemini AI assistant to look through the cameras to “see” what users see, answering questions or providing tips about locations, objects, or situations, according to Kugler.
Google is not the only one incorporating AI into phones. South Korean consumer electronics giant Samsung has made AI a centerpiece of its Galaxy smartphone line and recently released a new Galaxy Z Fold7.
Google’s product team described the new Pixel Watch 4 as a redesigned experience marking the biggest update to the line.
Features include smartwatch fitness tracking fine-tuned to distinguish between activities such as walking, bicycling, or tennis. The Pixel Watch also enables users to command the Gemini AI assistant from their wrist.
Gemini detects the mood of whoever is speaking to it and adjusts its responses accordingly, and can even “look” through the phone camera to offer photo suggestions, according to the Google team.
