Besides the early event this year, it’s Google’s use of “magic” to promote the Pixel 9 Pro that really stands out to me.
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There is “Don’t miss the magic” on the Google Store homepage and “Get ready for magic at #MadeByGoogle” serves as the social post which was widely shared. Compared to last year, the teaser (and event invite) already makes an explicit reference/connection to AI, with the implication that Gemini will be responsible for these magical experiences.
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“Magical” product experiences range from “it just works” to something so futuristic that you’re amazed it’s possible with today’s technology. So far, Google has labeled three features as ‘Magic’. The first two are in Google Photos – Editor and Eraser – while the third is in Google Posts – Compose.
Looking at what Google has in the pipeline, I think Gemini Live is the most likely to lead that “magic” quota for the Pixel 9 series. Live is promoted as the way to have more “natural conversations” with Gemini. “State-of-the-art speech technology” is praised for allowing you to “speak at your own pace or interrupt mid-answer with clarifying questions.”
The feeling of talking to a real human — with 10 voices to choose from — could be enough to wow people and encourage underlying Gemini usage, especially for those unfamiliar with text chatbots. For me, the most interesting aspect of Gemini Live on mobile is whether it serves as a precursor to availability on next-generation smart displays and speakers.
Then there’s the upcoming Project Astra camera capabilities that will let you point at the world and ask questions. As we wrote last week , Google’s goal is to build an AI assistant for the real world. Being able to point your phone at something and add a voice command to get help is a key part of that. However, the “later this year” timeline for Astra makes me think it won’t be ready in time for the Pixel 9’s launch, with a December Feature Drop seeming more likely.
In the meantime, the feature I’m most looking forward to is Ask Photos powered by Gemini. It makes a lot of sense for this Google Photos feature to launch on the Pixel 9. It essentially turns your library of images and videos into a repository of knowledge about you. It feels like it could be much more useful in my personal life than Gemini.
Because it’s the Pixel, we need new camera capabilities and I think Zoom Enhance has to be the headline feature. Announced at the end of last year’s keynote, it’s still not on the Pixel 8 Pro. At this point, Google could very well keep it as the headline feature of the Pixel 9 Pro, particularly in advertising.
Last year, the Call Assist suite – Call Screen, Direct My Call and Hold for Me – benefited from new AI said to reduce spam calls by 50% on average, a more natural-sounding voice and the ability to ask if a call is urgent . More features seem inevitable here as technology improves.
The next major update for Gemini Nano is multimodality where the model can handle audio, images and videos. The examples shared by the Android team at I/O include dynamic suggestions where Gemini understands what’s on your screen, TalkBack for rich image descriptions, and real-time scam alerts.
Android — now part of the same division as hardware — mentioned in the keynote was very new. Given that merger is still fairly recent, I doubt this is the year we’ll see true integration, so the new Gemini Nano could be the extent of that work.
What would you consider magical for the Pixel 9? Let us know below!
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