– The Made by Google Event is on Tuesday, August 13th—much earlier than usual.
– Expect new Pixel phones and accessories.
– The big story will probably be Android 15 and AI.
August has already been a busy month for Google product announcements, but apparently, it’s only just getting started and is bringing its Made by Google event forward by around two months.
We’ve already seen the demise and replacement of the Chromecast and a new Nest thermostat from the advertising giant. But at Made by Google next week, we expect to see lots more, from new Pixel phones and home devices to—of course—AI. Let’s take a look at the predictions.
“As a tech enthusiast, I’m particularly excited about the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. The Pixel Fold was already impressive, and the upcoming Pro version, with its potentially thinner design, could set new standards in the foldable market,” Rob Stevenson, founder of Backup Vault, told Lifewire via email.
Pixel Peeping
Well, we say predictions, but thanks to plenty of leaks, and Google’s own pre-announcements, we already have a good idea of what we will see on Tuesday, August 13th. First is the Pixel 9, the latest version of its flagship Android phone. The Pixel started out as a curiosity but has since become a solid alternative to the iPhone for folks who don’t want to use Apple stuff or just prefer Android.
“The Pixel line has evolved far beyond its initial perception as merely a tech demo. With each iteration, Google has not only showcased its latest software innovations but has also delivered solid hardware that competes on the mainstream market,” software developer Philip Alves told Lifewire via email. “The Pixel’s tight integration with Google’s services and its leadership in camera technology have made it a compelling choice for consumers looking for a seamless Android experience.”
The new phones will likely use Google’s home-grown Tensor chips, probably the G4, and—going on a Tweet from Made by Google’s Twitter account—it’s built for “the Gemini era,” which means it will be packed with AI, more of which in a moment.
The most interesting part of the phone lineup is the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which folds along a vertical spine like a book, and has a screen on the front so you can easily use it folded. Thanks to the large memory requirements of AI, these phones may also see a boost in RAM, up to 16GB.
We may also see a Pixel Pro XL. Most of what you need to know about it is already contained in its rumored name.
Home and Away
The Pixel Watch 3 is a bit less exciting. It’s mostly the same as the current version, only with a higher 60Hz screen refresh rate for smoother animations. A leak says that the screen will have a variable refresh rate, like the Apple Watch, which will allow it to run much slower when needed, and save battery.
Pixel Buds Pro 2 may come in four colors, gray, pink, green, and another gray, and may come in a bigger case, but we don’t know much beyond that so far.
We also expect to see some changes to Assistant. This could be a full-on AI makeover, or perhaps just a few tweaks. Google’s Assistant is already way better than Siri, so Google doesn’t have to do much here. On the other hand, a voice assistant is the perfect place to shove new AI features nobody wants.
Android 15 and AI
Google already announced the details of Android 15 and Google Gemini at May’s Google I/O developer conference, but we expect to see more details next week. You may have noticed that Google is all-in on AI, so this should be quite a feast. Project Astra, for example, is a conversational AI assistant that builds a timeline of your day through your phone’s camera, and can answer questions like, “Where did I leave my glasses?”
But that’s not all that people are looking forward to.
“I’m interested to hear about Gemini AI and its integration with the Magic Editor tool,” Edward Tian, CEO of AI-detection site GPTZero, told Lifewire via email. “Some of the expected new capabilities include things like easily removing or adding people to photos, changing backdrops, and even making easy edits with voice control, the latter of which could be a great improvement as far as accessibility is concerned.”
Another interesting idea is the Gemini Overlay, which can interact with whichever Android app you’re using. You could ask it to pull information from a YouTube video, for example, without watching it yourself. And another big story will be Circle to Search, where you can draw a circle around pretty much anything on the screen and have the AI assistant help out. There are also non-AI catchup features like sending messages via satellite.
Google’s AI game is definitely more advanced than Apple’s so we’re interested to see exactly what’s new. Also interesting is the fact that Google has moved this event from its regular fall date up to the middle of the summer. Is this to pre-empt Apple’s fall iPhone release? Or is Google just too excited to wait to show off all the new stuff? We will find out next week.
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- Made By Google Will Focus On AI
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