The Made by Google 2024 event has reached an end, and after a busy rumor mill preceding the event, we have the full range of announcements and reveals from Google’s biggest hardware event of the year. Notably, this year’s edition is preceding Apple’s typical September iPhone reveal, with a focus on AI that anyone watching any tech event in the past couple years is well familiar with.
The event is done by the time you’re reading this, but you can catch up on the livestream archive right here, which kicked off at 10 a.m. PT. Let’s dive right into what the Google Pixel 9 lineup looks like, how Google’s Gemini AI will be incorporated in the devices and other updates for the Nest, Pixel Watch and Pixel Buds.
Our first impressions of Gemini Live
Our own Maxwell Zeff was on the ground at Made by Google, and pretty much summed up his first impressions of Google’s biggest reveal with his headline’s conclusion: “Better than talking to Siri, but worse than I’d like.”
Check out his full impressions here, but in short, it was swift and responsive — but still prone to hallucinations, going to far as to invent a nearby playground.
Every AI reveal you may have missed
As with seemingly every major tech event now, Made by Google was filled with AI promises, reveals and teases. With that high a volume of reveals, you may have missed some of the announcements that didn’t get an extensive demo and press release. You can run through the details on reveals like Pixel Studio, an image generation app, conversation summaries through Call Notes and more here.
Gemini Live’s stage demo was indeed live
Live demos aren’t always a guarantee, but Google kicked off its event with the promise of many live demonstrations of Gemini AI’s new capabilities that are launching Tuesday. And while the first demo had a rocky start in trying to respond to a prompt about Sabrina Carpenter, the subsequent demos on writing emails, building playlists and brainstorming ideas went more smoothly.
Gemini Live launches for Android
Google’s answer to OpenAI’s Advanced Voice Mode is going public — if you’re a Google One AI Premium subscriber. Gemini Live allows for conversational back-and-forths between users and the AI, reacting more realistically to human speech and ideally responding more like a human in turn. Google and OpenAI have both demoed their services over the past few months, though Gemini may have an advantage, as our AI expert Kyle Wiggers highlights:
“The architecture of the generative AI model underpinning Live, Gemini 1.5 Pro, has a longer-than-average ‘context window,’ meaning it can take in and reason over a lot of data — theoretically hours of back-and-forth conversations — before crafting a response.”
The Pixel 9 line gets better cameras and a Gemini AI infusion
There are now three phones in the standard Pixel 9 lineup, along with the addition of the Pixel 9 Fold Pro (more on that later). The Pixel 9 and 9 Pro are distinguished by a higher resolution for the latter, while the 9 Pro XL comes in at a bigger size (a 6.8-inch display versus 6.3 inches), and each comes with Gemini baked-in as the default assistant.
Google already announced the end of Assistant as the default virtual helper for its phones, and it comes alongside a number of other camera and hardware upgrades, which you can roll through in detail right here.
Google’s foldable sequel: The Pixel 9 Pro Fold
Google’s second foldable phone doesn’t reinvent the screen — it just makes it slightly bigger with an 8-inch display when fully opened. It’s thinner, with a larger external display and camera upgrades in line with the rest of the Pixel 9 lineup. It’ll still carry a steep price tag of $1,799, and yes, in case you thought we forgot, it of course comes with Gemini as its assistant. Unfurl the full Fold rundown here.
New AI-powered photo-editing tools
After launching the Magic Editor last year, an AI-powered tool for editing photos, Google announced a series of updates to its editing suite that will come to the Pixel 9 line of phones. Its screenshot app will let screenshots be searched through, Pixel Studio will allow AI-generated images to be made on the devices and the auto framing feature will recompose images to put the subject in focus. Get the rundown on all the other AI additions coming right here.
Google’s Pixel Watch 3 doubles your options
The Pixel Watch previously was only available in a 41 mm size, but this year, the lineup includes a 45 mm model. Both boast a larger display, thanks to the smaller bezels, and twice the brightness. You can get the full rundown here, with the requisite inclusion of AI, though pricing and availability have yet to be announced.
Pixel Watch 3 adds ‘loss of pulse’ detection feature
Google’s biggest health-focused announcement was around a “loss of pulse” detection feature for the Pixel Watch, which can detect when the heart is “not beating in life sustaining fashion” as a result of events like cardiac arrest, respiratory failure, overdoses and so on. If the Pixel Watch detects that event, a call will be placed with medical services providing the user’s location. As with any new health feature, there’s a lot of nuance to be had, and you can get a more in-depth breakdown here.
Pixel Buds Pro 2, infused with Gemini
Headphones are a natural fit for virtual assistants, and Google’s hoping to make the Pixel Buds Pro 2 compelling with the addition of Gemini Live, the aforementioned upgrade that makes it more compatible with natural language. They also come with a Tensor A1 chip, a first for Google’s headphones, which enabled a 27% reduction in size. Get a more detailed rundown on the $229 Pixel Buds Pro 2 here.
Trick kids into actually smiling for photos with Made You Look
Fussy kids make for lousy photos, and to help frazzled families, Google’s Made You Look feature uses a foldable screen’s front-facing camera to distract or entertain a photo’s subject. Initially it will just show something visually compelling, but Google teased that licensed characters like Joy from “Inside Out” will be added in future updates.
Pixel Weather makes its debut
This year’s new Pixel lineup is getting its own weather app, with — you guessed it — AI capabilities. Google claims that the app will be able to be customized to only show the weather information users want to see, in addition to AI weather reports and the standard suite of forecasts and features you’d expect from a weather app. Get more on the first look at the app here.
Nest Thermostats get a long-awaited update
Announced ahead of Made by Google 2024, Nest’s Learning Thermostat is getting its first refresh in nine years, following a difficult past couple years for Nest and the entire smart home category. The pitch for the new Nest is tied to, you guessed it, Gemini AI. Google Assistant will still be the name for the company’s smart home products’ assistants, but Gemini will be used to power more natural language interactions.
Get the full rundown on the new $280 Nest, including its revamped hardware, here.
RIP Chromecast, hello Google TV Streamer
The Chromecast line is officially dead, with its 11-year run ending with the announcement of the Google TV streamer, also ahead of Made by Google. The TV Streamer does a bit more than just stream though, with the ability to act as a smart home hub for Google Home and Matter-powered devices. And, like the Nest, it will stick with Assistant, though some Gemini-powered upgrades are promised. Get the full rundown on the $100 hub here.
Recap Made by Google with the TechCrunch Minute
If you’ve come this far and want to dive even deeper into today’s reveals, check out the latest episode of the TechCrunch Minute below.
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