Following the news that Google has unveiled its Pixel 8 series of smartphones; Anisha Bhatia, Senior Technology Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view:
“Google will offer seven years of security and OS updates on its new Pixel 8 series of smartphones. This is longer than what Android rival Samsung offers, enhancing the appeal of the Pixel phones launched at its Made by Google event and allowing for a longer shelf life in times of financial tightening. Lengthening a device’s market stay is a clever strategy on the part of Google, which is following Apple’s example – long-lasting Google hardware will become enablers of its services, especially its artificial intelligence (AI).
“Google’s computational photography has always been a Pixel strength, and the AI updates behind the Pixel 8 Pro camera, as well its new temperature reader, will make the phone stand out from rivals. Rival phones have temperature sensors built in, but they are largely used to monitor the battery and processor’s heat. The sensor on the Pixel 8 Pro can measure the temperature of objects and surfaces currently – and body temperature once FDA approval comes in – a first for any smartphone. The $999 Pixel 8 Pro, though $100 more expensive than the 7 Pro, enhances its power and efficiency with Google’s newest homegrown Tensor G3 chipset and one of the largest battery capacities for a flagship phone at 5,050mAh.
“Google’s AI services and its Large Language Models (LLMs) also found a place at the Made by Google event, with the announcement of Assistant with Bard, a generative AI version of its Google Assistant. This new assistant interacts with Google’s other services like Gmail and Docs to find and summarize information providing personalized assistance to its users. Google’s AI gives it an edge over hardware rivals Samsung and Apple, which have been largely left behind in the gen AI race.”
