Everything evolves fast in the world of AI, and the latest Google Pixel series gets more mature and useful AI features with a highly evolved Gemini AI assistant on board. And the best part is that we can see these AI chops trickling down to a wider range of Android devices shortly. Here is a glimpse of the latest AI features introduced with the Pixel 9 series.
Pixel 9 series gets vital AI power
Gemini attains maturity, Pixel by Pixel
Gemini gets chatty
Google’s personal assistant has now evolved to a level where you can have free-flowing conversations with your AI sidekick. The Gemini Live experience is available across Pixel devices including the new Pixel 9 smartphones and Pixel BudsPro 2 so that you can have hands-free discussions. You can interrupt or pause a conversation and come back to it later. You can have the conversations going with the Gemini app in the background with the phone locked.
Context-aware features
Gemini is deeply integrated with Android, and hence it offers advanced context-aware features, ready to interact with existing Google apps like Gmail, Google Messages and YouTube and ready for a few more that are coming shortly. Now Gemini can assist you in creating that special playlist for your friends on YouTube, add a restaurant mentioned in a video to Google Maps or update your shopping list and calendar.
Localised processing
Android system uses Gemini Nano, an on-device multimodal AI architecture to localise AI processing for sensitive use cases. Though the efficacy of this system is yet to be ascertained, Google insists that your data never leaves your phone for sensitive cases such as summarising audio from a phone call or organising your images using Pixel Screenshots app. Google also assures that your data is protected within an end-to-end secure environment whether within the device or in the cloud.
AI in your camera
The Pixel cameras have improved with the release of Pixel 9 series and now get improved AI capabilities. The new Add Me feature uses augmented reality so that you can include yourself in a group shot even if you can’t make it in time for the actual shoot. Besides improving general imaging quality with high-quality zoom up to 20x, new AI features now improve the Magic Editor, letting you retouch your photos with generative AI. Auto Frame helps you improve your composition in still photography.
Pixel Studio is your new creative hub
The new Pixel Studio app in the Pixel 9 phone is Google’s own image generator powered by an on-device diffusion model running on Tensor G4 and Imagen 3 text-to-image model in the cloud. It includes easy-to-use prompts, styles and stickers along with on-device editing. You can also share your creations via Gmail or Messages.
Loss of Pulse Detection on Pixel Watch 3
Come September, and your Pixel watch can save you in case of a cardiac event. The Pixel Watch 3 introduces Loss of Pulse Detection, which detects when the heart suddenly stops beating using an AI algorithm. The algorithm fuses pulse and movement signals to confirm a loss of pulse event and triggers a check-in to see if you respond. If there’s no response, it can call emergency services and share an automated message with details and location.
It's an interesting phase we are witnessing, and there are a lot more AI-powered features coming your way in the next few months. Google appears firmly in the competition with the massive reach of Android systems and acceptability of their rich app ecosystem.