A forty five-minute drive from Taipei’s essential monetary district, residence to Taipei 101, one of many tallest buildings on the earth, lies the sprawling Google campus. Situated on the TPark campus in New Taipei Metropolis, Taiwan, it’s Google’s largest {hardware} engineering hub exterior the USA, housing labs devoted to core {hardware} engineering and growth testing. That is the engineering hub the place lots of the options that make their method into Pixel telephones and companion gadgets such because the Pixel Watch and Pixel Buds are first designed and prototyped.
One wonders why anybody ought to care a few Pixel smartphone over Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy S and Fold sequence or Apple Inc.’s iPhone. In any case, Pixel holds lower than 3 per cent of the worldwide telephone market share, regardless of it being seen because the fastest-growing smartphone model with the broader market dealing with slower demand.
However Google’s goal with Pixel isn’t about gross sales numbers, as many may assume, a typical purpose for any main company. As an alternative, the aim runs a lot deeper: to showcase the perfect of Android by way of software program and Synthetic Intelligence, designed on {hardware} that’s distinctly Google. This units Pixel other than Android licensees reminiscent of Samsung and Xiaomi, regardless that these firms ultimately get among the options that Pixel first will get by itself gadgets.
“Silicon is likely one of the hardest issues to get proper as a result of you’re looking a few years forward. There’s a variety of fact-finding concerned to know the place groups like Google DeepMind are headed, the place the Android working system crew goes, and the way we expect consumer behaviour, expectations, and experiences will evolve. You must put all of that collectively, take an informed guess about the place the world might be, after which design silicon that’s prepared when all of these items come collectively,” mentioned Ventak Rapaka, Vice President of Product Administration for the Pixel Ecosystems at Google, when requested whether or not Google designs software program first for Pixel gadgets, prioritises {hardware}, or develops {hardware}, software program, and silicon in parallel.
Google’s TPark campus in New Taipei Metropolis, Taiwan. (Picture: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Categorical)
Google has a bonus over each its opponents and its OEM companions with Pixel, putting the corporate in a singular place. The world’s prime tech firm not solely develops Android, the working system put in on greater than three billion gadgets globally, lots of them smartphones, but additionally designs its personal silicon (for instance, Pixel telephones use Tensor processors) and builds AI options powered by the corporate’s Gemini AI fashions.
“It’s a collaboration and a continuing iterative collaboration throughout the total stack,” Rapaka informed indianexpress.com final week in an interview at a Google campus in Taipei.
Rapaka, who returned to Google early final 12 months after a short hiatus, was instrumental within the growth of the unique Pixel smartphone in 2016. In reality, it was Rapaka who steered the concept of a Pixel telephone to Google CEO Sundar Pichai. He at present oversees all the Pixel portfolio, together with smartphones, watches, and different related gadgets.
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“{Hardware} is analogous, although it’s much less of a runway, however when you design it, you could be certain everyone seems to be aligned earlier than shifting ahead, making certain that each one companions see the world in the identical method. On the identical time, it’s important to stay reactive as issues change. The Pixel crew is lucky to have entry to among the brightest minds within the business throughout the working system, DeepMind, and our companions and suppliers which permits us to plan far into the long run whereas nonetheless being responsive as issues evolve,” he mentioned.
Google opened 4 testing labs for choose media in Taiwan final week. (Picture: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Categorical)
“I believe the massive distinction is the power to spend money on a really deep, full-stack method with a multi-year product horizon. That wasn’t unattainable with Nexus, but it surely’s loads simpler with Pixel as a result of now we have one vertical crew,” he mentioned.
The launch of a high-end Pixel telephone line marked the top of the Nexus sequence, a once-popular smartphone lineup within the early 2010s amongst geeks and Android followers, developed with accomplice manufacturers and identified for its “pure Google” software program expertise and frequent updates.
A multi-year growth lifecycle
“There’s typically a need to unravel an issue in software program, which then results in requests to the {hardware} crew – asking whether or not, in two or three years, we will have this functionality within the system. Typically it really works the opposite method round, the place we hear from groups growing new {hardware} applied sciences a few new functionality they’ve achieved, and so they ask, ‘Is that this one thing you assume we will construct on? What sort of software program experiences may we create with this?’ We then collaborate on that entrance and brainstorm collectively. It actually goes each methods, however the important thing piece is {hardware} as a result of it has a multi-year growth lifecycle and requires deep planning and coordination,” mentioned Erik Kay, Vice President of Engineering, Android Platforms at Google, including that {hardware} and software program affect one another bidirectionally.
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Michael Specht, Product Supervisor for the Pixel digital camera, exhibits unique digital camera options reserved for Pixel smartphones throughout a strolling tour of Jiufen, a historic cliffside city in Ruifang District, New Taipei Metropolis. (Picture: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Categorical)
Whereas Pixel telephones mix {hardware} and software program as Rapaka and Kay emphasised to ship an expertise nearer to what Apple Inc.’s iPhone gives, even Google acknowledges that smartphone design has hit a plateau and that the majority trendy telephones work and behave equally. Nevertheless, Google’s massive pivot towards synthetic intelligence may make Pixel telephones considerably totally different beneath the hood with every new era, even when the exterior modifications should not drastic. The most recent case is the Pixel 10 sequence, which may simply be mistaken for final 12 months’s Pixel 9 lineup, barring new color choices.
AI on the centre of all of it
AI could also be a buzzword in tech proper now, however Kay described synthetic intelligence as a “instrument” to enhance the consumer expertise. In reality, he mentioned AI has been foundational to just about each product Google gives for a very long time, even when many firms are solely rolling it out now. He pointed to options reminiscent of Circle to Search, AI-powered theft detection that robotically locks a telephone after suspicious motion, and automatic rip-off detection in calls and messages, which helps shield customers with out requiring specific intervention. In response to Kay, the main focus has been on making AI seamless and pure, deeply built-in into the consumer journey.
Google executives Erik Kay (left) and Venkat Rapaka (proper) tackle the media at a Google workplace in Taipei. (Picture: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Categorical)
Pixel telephones have lengthy featured AI-driven capabilities, notably in pictures, however Google is now making synthetic intelligence the pièce maîtresse of the Pixel expertise. It’s a method that performs on to Google’s strengths, which helps clarify why the corporate is investing a lot time, vitality, and cash into AI. A part of the rationale why Pixel customers get first entry to many of those AI options (actually, some stay unique to the Pixel gadgets) earlier than they ultimately roll out to the remainder of the Android ecosystem.
Rapaka pointed to Google’s deep investments in analysis and its tight integration of AI and {hardware}, citing the Tensor chip, as key enablers of options reminiscent of voice recognition and computational pictures. Pixel telephones include a number of unique options, together with Magic Cue, a proactive assistant that pulls related info from throughout apps, reminiscent of surfacing lodge reservations throughout calls or suggesting contextual replies in Messages utilizing knowledge from Calendar or Gmail; Digicam Coach, which makes use of generative AI to assist body higher photographs; and Professional Res Zoom, which improves distant photos whereas deliberately avoiding individuals. You gained’t discover these options on every other Android smartphones, together with flagship fashions from top-tier manufacturers.
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Google’s Taiwan workplace is primairly used for the event of the Pixel gadgets. (Picture: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Categorical)
Nevertheless it’s not simple to persuade shoppers to ditch their Samsung smartphones or iPhones for a Pixel telephone. Google has struggled to influence customers to modify to Pixel, regardless of years of funding in AI and {hardware}. Nevertheless, a resource-rich firm like Google can proceed investing to make the Pixel model a stronger competitor to the iPhone. Consultants and business insiders say Pixel may nonetheless develop into a hit, given sufficient time and the best strategy – maybe by lower-cost {hardware}, an expanded set of options, and extra companion gadgets throughout totally different value factors. It’s Pixel 9a, an entry smartphone within the Pixel sequence and solely to get replaced with the Pixel 10a later this month, was a shock hit within the US in the course of the vacation season, in line with Counterpoint. That exhibits there’s a marketplace for a Pixel telephone within the mid-range premium phase, nonetheless.
The longterm benefit
Google could also be going all in on AI as a part of its broader technique (it has to given the competitors and billions of {dollars} at stake), however Pixel, as a model, nonetheless occupies an necessary place. It acts because the heartbeat of the Android ecosystem, positioned proper at its centre. With companions reminiscent of Samsung and Motorola counting on Google for key providers and AI options, and with firms like Apple nonetheless struggling to seek out their footing in AI, this offers Mountain View (Google’s world HQ) a transparent benefit as AI goes mainstream.
Regardless that Apple has lately introduced that it’s going to crew up with Google to make use of Gemini fashions and cloud expertise for future Apple foundational fashions, Rapaka mentioned Google will proceed to take care of unique Pixel experiences to protect premium differentiation going ahead.
Google debuted the Pixel lineup of gadgets in 2016. (Picture: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Categorical)
“A whole lot of what Google at massive builds, we convey to market in the absolute best method, but it surely’s finally for everybody, so individuals ought to count on to see it on different gadgets as effectively. On the identical time, there are experiences we construct explicitly and uniquely for Pixel customers like ProRes Zoom, Digicam Coach, or Magic Cue. A few of these could ultimately make their approach to different gadgets, which is nice, however we’ll proceed constructing distinctive experiences for Pixel,” he mentioned.
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Google needs Pixel to succeed, and any massive firm is extra more likely to again a product with confidence when it’s absolutely dedicated. However at its core, Google stays a software program firm. When the primary Pixel telephone was launched, its most necessary characteristic was the brand new Google Assistant, which changed Google Now and Google Voice Search beforehand obtainable on different Android smartphones with a extra deeply built-in sensible assistant. That is still true at present. Newer Pixel telephones function showcase gadgets for Gemini and different AI instruments, debuting first on Google-branded {hardware}. This strategy may assist Google refine its personal AI gross sales pitch, no less than till the model Pixel will get extra mainstream.
On the identical time, Google can’t behave like Apple, regardless that Pixel telephones have been initially meant to rival the iPhone. In any case, Google controls Android, an working system utilized by a variety of producers. It’s nonetheless a win for Google if firms like Samsung or Vivo promote extra smartphones powered by Gemini and AI instruments, as that expands attain and finally helps drive income and market share.
Kay highlighted that Android is constructed round an “open ecosystem” spanning telephones, watches, tablets, TVs, and automobiles, with a give attention to gadgets that join naturally and work effectively collectively. Google’s imaginative and prescient, as executives like Kay and Rapaka made clear, is to make sure Android gadgets perform as a single ecosystem, and the corporate has taken a sequence of steps to make that occur by improved cross-device and cross-OS interoperability.
An illustration of how Google checks a Pixel telephone’s name high quality at its secret {hardware} lab in Taiwan. (Picture: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Categorical)
With Pixel on the centre of the Android ecosystem, Google is planning to broaden AirDrop-style assist to extra Android gadgets past the newest Pixel 10. The characteristic permits customers to ship and obtain information and pictures between Apple gadgets and Android telephones utilizing Fast Share. “We spent a variety of time and vitality ensuring we may construct one thing that was suitable not solely with iPhones, but additionally with iPads and MacBooks,” Kay mentioned. “Now that now we have confirmed it out, we’re working with our companions to broaden it throughout the remainder of the ecosystem, and it is best to see some thrilling bulletins very quickly.”
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Smartphones should not going anyplace
As Google doubles down on Pixel and continues to broaden the smartphone lineup, together with foldables and could also be its personal sensible glasses sooner or later, Rapaka made it clear that smartphones aren’t going anyplace regardless of many anticipating that sensible glasses may finish the period of telephones.
“Telephones are so good at so many issues. They’re the Goldilocks type issue. When you consider all of the multipurpose capabilities a telephone brings, immersive leisure, connectivity, and native compute, there’s loads they’ll do. I don’t assume telephones are going anyplace. Simply take a look at laptops: they haven’t gone anyplace since telephones confirmed up. In reality, I imagine the laptop computer market is greater now than it was when telephones first launched. I don’t assume that’s going to vary. That doesn’t imply different varieties of gadgets gained’t emerge, however telephones are undoubtedly right here to remain.”
Google’s branding, with out being related to one other producer, was at all times the intention behind a Pixel telephone. Now, the combat with Apple is on for the highest premium smartphone participant. (Picture: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Categorical)
Rapaka predicts that gadgets will develop into extra autonomous and context-aware. “I believe they are going to be capable to do much more issues for us, generally extra autonomously than we think about at present. To try this, they might want to construct a lot richer context concerning the buyer, the consumer, and their environment,” he mentioned. “It is best to count on extra of that agentic kind of expertise to indicate up throughout different facets of Gemini and Android providers, however we’re nonetheless early,” Kay added.
Every Pixel telephone goes by a number of checks at Google’s {hardware} labs in Taiwan. (Picture: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Categorical)
Google’s prime executives proceed to place Pixel telephones as showcases for unique AI options and full-stack integration, highlighting the corporate’s {hardware}–software program synergy whereas nonetheless supporting the broader Android ecosystem. AI is one thing Google is firmly dedicated to, at the same time as questions stay about how the corporate will monetise its AI providers. On the {hardware} entrance, Google has made notable progress, notably with its Tensor chips, which have now been upgraded to the fifth era and may be seen within the Pixel 10 sequence. The processor is developed in-house (after beforehand counting on third-party designs) in collaboration with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s main cellular chipmaker, a transfer that carefully resembles Apple Inc.
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However why ought to anybody purchase a Pixel telephone?
Maybe the query Google nonetheless must reply is why shoppers should purchase a Pixel telephone over an iPhone, or select a smartphone from its accomplice like Samsung. That isn’t a straightforward problem, even for Google, an undisputed chief in AI and software program.
The brand new gearless, high-strength hinge inside the newest Pixel 10 Professional Fold.(Picture: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Categorical)
The stakes are excessive: Apple continues to carry out strongly regardless of the absence of a transparent AI technique, with the iPhone delivering year-over-year development in income and earnings. On the identical time, OpenAI is poised to grab the following massive alternative with an AI-based system at present being designed with former Apple design chief Jony Ive, the person behind the iPhone, iPad, and different iconic merchandise.
The most recent Pixel 10 lineup has proved that Google has come a great distance, and the gadgets themselves have been well-received, but it surely stays to be seen if Pixel gadgets can transfer past geeks and fans to develop into really mainstream in the future.