Google is a few months early this year from its traditional release schedule in the fall and has now announced its new series of Pixel 9, hoping to nail a more competitive smartphone marketplace. Launched at an event in Mountain View, California, the new Pixel phones focus on artificial intelligence as a differentiator to provide a smarter, integrated user experience.
Rick Osterloh, the Senior Vice President of Devices and Services at Google, introduced the new series while reflecting on the company’s vision to build what he described as the “Gemini era.” The new phase of Google’s direction is focused on practical AI applications, integrable seamlessly with everyday user life.
Image Source: Envato
The Pixel 9 series consists of a number of models, whereby each model has its own focus. The Pixel 9 has a 6.3-inch display, and it will be available for $799—so there’s nothing budget-y about this one. So for people looking for a bigger screen, maybe the Pixel 9 Pro XL, with its 6.8-inch screen. Then there’s the Pixel 9 Pro, with a more advanced camera setup for the photography fanatics.
However, the most innovative among them is the Pixel 9 Pro Fold—a foldable smartphone that underscores growing market share.
Of course, it’s the deep AI integration that’s one of the stronger suits that come with the Pixel 9 series—searching within screenshots and enhanced Gemini AI chatbot capabilities. Now, here comes the company’s pitch: better multitasking and the streamlining of user interaction across different apps. The other spotlight includes how the company is focusing on performance and user experience with the new Tensor G4 chip and updates to the Google camera technology. However, even with these technological advancements, Google occupies only a tiny space within the world market for smartphones. Indeed, in the 2nd quarter of 2024, estimates by IDC place it at occupying less than 1% of the smartphone market, an area dominated by Samsung and Apple. Meanwhile, in the United States, Google occupies the modest 4.5% market share.
The Pixel series, though not as strong in terms of sales, usually gets the upper hand to showcase the Android operating system, which becomes the owner of more than 80% of the world’s smartphone market. Besides the Pixel 9 series, Google also took out time to reveal the updates for its other devices, including the Pixel Watch 3 and Pixel Buds Pro 2. The new smartwatch features heart rate monitoring that can call emergency services automatically if it detects a problem; this feature will be available in the UK and EU. The Pixel Buds Pro 2 continue Google’s push into the increasingly crowded wireless earbud market.
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