SIX APPEAL
Can Google’s new Pixel smartphones break into the bestseller bracket?
GOOGLE took the tech world by surprise this week by revealing its next generation of smartphones – the Pixel 6 series.
The phone in its different versions won’t hit the market until the autumn, and the full spec of the devices will be unveiled later.
But Google has shown off the phone early, and revealed some of the most important details.
The most important is a biggie, too – Google has followed Apple in designing its own chips to power the devices.
Google already has powerful self-designed chips running in the data centres that power its search engine, and it has taken some of this knowhow for its new smartphone engine, which it is calling Tensor. And it’s not just a processor, it’s what they call a “system on a chip” (SoC).
Essentially what this means is that all the important bits of silicon that power the device are housed on a single chip.
Typically this will include the general processor, a graphics processor, and other essentials – Apple’s SoCs, for example, also feature an image processor and a Neural Engine to manage machine learning artificial intelligence.
And it’s AI and machine learning that has forced Google’s hand.
It believes the future success of devices like mobile phones will be determined by how good they are at artificial intelligence and the machine learning that powers it.
Obviously, given its vast experience and power in this field Google has a big advantage in this space. And it’s trying to bring it to its mobile ecosystem.
And the Tensor SoC is Google saying we’re not going to be comparing phones by how good its cameras are from now on – the future will be all about AI.
Aside from the new SoC, the Pixel 6 has undergone a radical redesign over the previous generations.
Google has veered from low-end to midrange offerings from the Pixel range over the years, but the 6 will be a high-end device.
Although no price has been revealed yet, you can certainly expect a £1,000-plus device.
It comes in two versions – the regular Pixel 6 has a 6.4in screen, very narrow bezels on the front with a hole-punch front-facing camera.
On the back there’s a raised camera housing strip that goes all the way across the back of the device – it boasts a wide and ultra-wide camera. The Pixel 6 Pro will have a 6.7in display, but matches the look while adding a telephoto camera unit to the back. Other differences will include a faster refresh rate for the screen and more memory for the Pro.
All in all it marks out a bold move for Google, whose Pixel phones have not been bestsellers despite being solid devices.
It will be interesting to see if the Pixel 6 can buck the trend.