Yesterday’s Made by Google new product event was held earlier this year. Google was no doubt eager to announce, ahead of the holiday season, that it has joined Samsung as a leading smartphone manufacturer with system-level artificial intelligence across its flagship phone line. The mobile-optimized Gemini Nano AI tech, added in limited fashion to the Pixel 8 Pro, will now drive features across the Pixel 9 line, which has gone all-pro with three new models — the Pro 9, Pro 9 XL and Pro 9 Fold — all powered by Google’s latest Tensor 4 processor, designed to enhance AI functionality. Samsung has had AI-first phones since the Q1 debut of its Galaxy S24 line.

“Google’s Pixel 9 lineup is officially here, and the company can’t stop talking about the AI features it’s got coming,” writes The Verge, detailing all AI features, but first pointing out that “on the hardware front, Google boosted the RAM for all of its new phones to accommodate memory-hungry on-device AI,” with the Pixel 9 getting 12GB of RAM, and the rest 16GB of memory.

In its live blog of the Made by Google event, The Verge says Google described the Pixel 9 Pro Fold as “the pinnacle of mobile computing,” with its super-thin eight-inch inner screen, “which the company calls the biggest screen you can buy on a phone.”

As for the AI-specific features, The Verge reports “Google’s new Pixel Screenshots feature is a little like Microsoft’s Recall feature that uses AI to track everything you do on your computer via constant screenshots, except it’s more of a manual affair,” requiring an active screenshot that will let you “conversationally search for the information later.” Google is couching this feature as exclusive to Pixel devices.

Google also “took a cue from Apple,” whose mobile AI is set to debut with the iPhone 16. The Verge points out Gemini mobile has “the ability to respond to you based on what’s on your phone screen when you ask it.”

After summoning Gemini AI, “you can tap ‘Ask about this screen’ or ‘Ask about this video’ to direct the model to what you’re looking at for contextual replies.” This can be used to have Gemini do things like create a “list of restaurants from a YouTube travel video to Google Maps,” according to The Verge.

Tom’s Guide, which also live-blogged the Made by Google event, says it was “one of the busiest, most device-filled announcements from the company in recent memory, which could give Google a leg up with Apple’s iPhone 16 launch reportedly happening next month.”

Google’s Pixel Watch 3, “with Fitbit & Google AI Running Insights,” also debuted, as detailed by CNET, as did the next-generation Pixel Buds Pro 2, which The Verge suggests are “better in every way that matters.” For more details regarding Google’s new products and features, check out the following company announcements:

• The New Pixel 9 Phones Bring You the Best of Google AI
• Introducing Pixel 9 Pro Fold: Google’s Newest Foldable Phone
• 9 Things to Know About Pixel 9 Cameras
• Google Pixel Watch 3: Bigger, Brighter, Fine-Tuned for Fitness
• Meet Pixel Buds Pro 2, the First Buds Built for Gemini
• 4 New AI-Powered Pixel and Android Accessibility Updates

Related:
Google Debuts AI-Powered Phones in Latest Attempt to Best the iPhone, The New York Times, 8/13/24
Google’s Pixel Watch 3 Has a Bigger Screen, and Pixel Buds Pro 2 Are Smaller, Ars Technica, 8/13/24
The Google Pixel’s Best Accessibility Features are Now Easier to Use, Gizmodo, 8/13/24
Google’s Gemini Live AI Sounds So Human, I Almost Forgot It Was a Bot, The Wall Street Journal, 8/13/24
Google’s Android Chief on AI Phones, Antitrust and Apple (Video), The Wall Street Journal, 8/13/24
Android’s AI Advantage: Inside Google’s Plans to Beat Apple (Video), The Wall Street Journal, 8/13/24
Google’s Pixel 9 Phones Are the First to Get Satellite SOS for Android, The Verge, 8/13/24
Pixel Watch 3 Adds a Life-Saving ‘Loss of Pulse’ Detection Feature, TechCrunch, 8/13/24