Google Ramps Up Smartphone Push With Latest Pixel Devices

Google will reportedly make a more aggressive push into consumer devices with the upcoming launch of its latest Pixel smartphones.

The company signaled this effort by moving up the launch of the phone from October to August, scheduling it before the debut of the next iPhone from its rival, Apple, Bloomberg reported Monday (Aug. 12).

Google will unveil its latest phones Tuesday (Aug. 13) at its hardware launch event, according to the report.

The company is doing so at a time when generative artificial intelligence (AI) features have created an opportunity to boost consumer interest in smartphones and encourage them to update their devices more frequently, according to the report.

Apple and Samsung have made similar moves, with Apple promoting a new suite of features it calls “Apple Intelligence” and Samsung positioning its Galaxy smartphones as being “AI-first” offerings, the report said.

Google has embraced AI in the camera software for its Pixel lineup and has developed a mobile chip called Tensor that it uses to differentiate its smartphones from others, per the report.

The company has also worked to speed the movement of its AI to its Android partners, the report said.

Android President Sameer Samat told Bloomberg: “It allows us to take some of our AI innovation and actually bring it to more of the ecosystem more quickly. It’s all been about trying to move faster around our AI endeavor and improving the consumer experience.”

When Google introduced its Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro smartphones in October, the company emphasized new features powered by AI and said the new devices were engineered to offer a more helpful and personal experience for users.

These AI-powered features enabled users to summarize web pages, measure their body temperature and process more data directly on the device itself and in the cloud.

Apple unveiled its Apple Intelligence suite of AI features in June, saying they would revolutionize the iPhone, Mac and iPad experience — all while keeping the user’s data secure.

With Apple Intelligence, the company said, generative AI is combined with a user’s context to deliver “truly helpful intelligence.”