Google’s latest Pixel phones have new camera AI tricks
Google announced two new Pixel phones and its latest Pixel smartwatch on Wednesday during its Made by Google event in New York City. The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are Google’s latest attempts to capture some of Apple’s market share.
Prices for the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro begin at $699 and $999, respectively. In comparison to last year’s Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, that’s a $100 increase. There is a small but growing market share for Google’s Pixel brand, and the company’s hardware business doesn’t generate much revenue for parent company Alphabet. Google ads generated $58.14 billion of the $74.6 billion in revenue Alphabet reported for the second quarter, for example. Google Cloud generated $8 billion in revenue as well.
On Oct. 12, the Pixel 8 phones and Pixel Watch 2, which start at $349, will be available for order online.
There is no difference between the Pixel 8 and the Pixel 8 Pro, as both run on Google’s new Tensor G3 chip. G3 is Google’s in-house chip, which allows the company to utilize artificial intelligence and machine learning in areas such as the phone’s camera.
New AI-powered editing tools are included with the Pixel 8 Pro. In addition to the popular Magic Eraser tool, which allows you to remove unwanted images from photos, Best Take is a new photo tool. Let’s say you take a series of group photos, Best Take lets you combine them into one where everyone is smiling and looking at the camera. In addition, Google says it’s improved its Real Tone photography feature to help better represent different skin tones.