Google brings camera twists, bigger screens to Pixel.
Edge-to-edge screen format added; better low-light and closeup images promised
Google has finally pulled the wraps off its new flagship smartphones, the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. The announcement came Tuesday morning after a legendary amount of leaking, so much leaking that Google earlier this week had teased its followers on Twitter with an anticipatory video, sending the phrase “So you think you know” into the annals of virality.
Here are some highlights of the new phones:
• The Pixel 3 will go on sale starting at $799 and the Pixel 3 XL starts at $899;
• You also can also the 3 by paying $33.29 monthly for two years with zero percent APR Google Store Financing;
• The Pixel Stand, a wireless charger that works with the phone, will sell for $79;
• US residents can buy the phone starting on Oct. 19, and it’ll be in more markets on Nov. 1;
• Google hopes to go headto-head with the best phones of the market by including
what CNET calls “Google’s greatest weapon: its artificial intelligence;”
• The 3 will feature a 5.5inch display, while the 3 XL’s will be 6.3;
• Both sport Corning Gorilla Glass 5;
• According to the CNET report, Google’s VP of hardware, Rick Osterloh, kicked off Tuesday’s press event in New York City by touting all the artificial-intelligence prowess of the new phones and how they’ll work handin-hand with Google Assistant: “They come at the intersection of AI, software and hardware working together,” he said. “This approach is what makes Google’s hardware experience so unique and it unlocks all kinds of helpful benefits.”
• Osterloh showed off the Pixel 3’s “ability to use AI to improve the phone’s camera, relying more on data gathered from millions of Google Image searches than impressive hardware,” said the report;
• Google also announced its Pixel Slate, the tablet to take on Apple’s iPad, and Google Home Hub, which CNET’s Andrew Gebhart tried out this week, describing how his Google guide “opened the app, hit a button, and the nearby lights in
the room turned off. The Google Home app used to be primarily a place for setting up your smart speakers. Now, you can use it to both organize and control your smart home;”
• The Pixel 3’s new and improved camera is also getting rave reviews, including CNN’s, which said “the main draw of the Pixel 3 is its photography features. There’s a new wide-angle selfie lens on the front for group shots, but unlike other phones in the price range, the Pixel has not added a second back-facing camera. Instead it focuses more on computational photography: software-based
improvements for photos;”
• The two new phones support wireless charging for the first time;
• Google said in its press announcement that the new phones are “powered by AI to deliver more helpful, thoughtful and enjoyable experiences. That means a phone that answers for you when a telemarketer calls, a camera that uses AI to make sure you never miss the shot, and a more helpful visual and audio experience while charging, powered by the Google Assistant;”
Google said it was “taking a big step forward by introducing Playground, a new mode in the Pixel camera to create and play with the world around you. It helps you bring more of your imagination to a scene with cameos from your favorite superheroes, stickers that animate around you and fun captions that put words where the action is.”