Interactive

Google Touts AI, VR in Pixel Smartphone, View Headset

Artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) are prominent features in the Pixel smartphones that Google unveiled during a news briefing in San Francisco Oct. 4.

The Pixel phones represent another effort by Google to manufacture its own smartphone in a market that’s largely dominated by Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones that use Google’s Android operating system and Apple’s iPhone. Google previously failed to gain much traction with its own Nexus-branded smartphones.

The initial Pixel models are the Pixel with a 5-inch screen, starting at $649 (or $27.04 a month for 24 months with Google Store financing) for a version with 32 GB of space, and the Pixel XL with a 5.5-inch screen, starting at $769 (or $32.04 a month) for a version with 32 GB of space. Consumers can opt for a version of each of them with 128 GB of space for an additional $100. They are available for pre-order now and will ship in November exclusively via Verizon in the U.S. and in unlocked form direct from the Google Store. The phones are available in a choice of silver, black and limited edition blue.

The Pixel phones are the first smartphones to feature the AI-based Google Assistant, Rick Osterloh, SVP of the company’s new hardware group, said. The intelligent personal assistant functionality was introduced by the company in May at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco.

Providing a demonstration at the Oct. 4 news briefing, Brian Rakowski, Google VP of product management, showed that consumers can use Google Assistant on the phones to play music, text message somebody using multiple compatible applications, make a phone call or book dinner reservations through the Open Table online reservation service. Because he often uses YouTube to access music, the phone automatically accessed YouTube to access the song he was looking for, he said.

Other key features of the phones touted by Google included their ability to provide 7 hours of battery life on only a 15-minute charge and a 12.3-megapixel camera that Google claimed is the best available on any current smartphone.

AI also plays a key role in the Google Home voice-activated Wi-Fi music-streaming speaker that the company provided an update on Oct. 4. The device is a competitor to Amazon Echo and, like its rival, can be used to get answers to many kinds of questions. Google Home was introduced at I/O in May and will ship Nov. 4 at $129. The device is capable of multi-room audio support, but if the user asks a question “only the device that hears you best will respond,” Rishi Chandra, VP of product management, said Oct. 4.

VR, meanwhile, is obviously the driving force behind Daydream, Google’s VR platform that was also introduced at I/O in May. Daydream View is its first VR headset and will ship in November, Clay Bavor, Google VP of VR, said Oct. 4. The device offers low latency, is more comfortable than rival products 30% lighter than competing devices, fits easily over the user’s glasses, is easy to use and connects wirelessly to smartphones that are easily placed inside of it, he said. The Pixel phones are both compatible with Daydream View.