Aside from the early event this year, Google’s use of “magic” to tease the Pixel 9 Pro is what stands out to me.
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There’s “Don’t miss the magic” on the Google Store homepage and “Get ready for magic at #MadeByGoogle” serving to social post this was widely shared. Compared to last year, the teaser (and event invitation) now makes an explicit reference/connection to AI, implying that Gemini will be responsible for these magical experiences.
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“Magical” product experiences range from something that “just works” to something so futuristic that you’re surprised it’s possible with today’s technology. To date, Google has tagged three features with “Magic”. The first two are in Google Photos — Editor and Eraser — while the third is in Google Messages — Compose.
Looking at what Google is planning, I think Gemini Live is the most likely thing to lead that “magic” quota for the Pixel 9 series. Live is pitched as a way to have more natural conversations with Geminis. The “state-of-the-art speech technology” is credited as allowing you to “speak at your own pace or interrupt the answer mid-way with clarifying questions.”
The feeling of talking to a real person—with 10 voices to choose from—may be enough to wow people and encourage mainstream use of Gemini, especially for those unfamiliar with text-based chatbots. For me, the most interesting aspect of Gemini Live on mobile is whether it serves as a precursor to the availability of next-generation smart displays and speakers.
Then there’s Project Astra’s upcoming camera capabilities that let you point at the world and ask questions. As we wrote last week, Google’s goal is to make an AI assistant for the real world. Being able to point your phone at something and add a voice request to get help is a key part of this. However, the “later this year” timeline for the Astra makes me think it won’t be ready in time for the Pixel 9 launch, with a feature drop in December looking more likely.
Meanwhile, the feature I’m most excited about is Ask Photos, powered by Gemini. Launching this Google Photos feature on the Pixel 9 makes a lot of sense. It basically turns your image and video library into a repository of knowledge for you. I feel it can be much more useful in my personal life than Gemini.
Since this is the Pixel, we need new camera capabilities, and I think Zoom Enhance should be the highlight feature. Announced at the end of last year’s keynote, it’s not yet on the Pixel 8 Pro. At this point, Google may keep it as the Pixel 9 Pro’s flagship feature, especially in advertising.
Last year, the Call Assist suite – Call Screen, Direct My Call and Hold for Me – benefited from new AI that is claimed to reduce spam calls by an average of 50%, a more natural-sounding voice and the ability to ask if there’s a call urgent. More features here seem inevitable as technology improves.
The next big update to the Gemini Nano is multimodality, where the model can handle audio, images and videos. Examples the Android team shared at I/O are dynamic suggestions where Gemini understands what’s on your screen, TalkBack for rich image descriptions, and real-time fraud alerts.
Android – which is now part of the same division as hardware – being mentioned in the keynote was very new. Since this merger is still relatively 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 do you think is magical about the Pixel 9? Tune in below!
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