Watch this: Google Pixel 9, 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL Hands-On
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Gemini offers more opportunities to be impressed. A new Live feature lets you choose an AI voice and have a natural-sounding, back-and-forth conversation, so you can brainstorm an idea or practice for a job interview, for instance. You can also interrupt or change topics, and Gemini will follow along. This feature will roll out first to Gemini advanced subscribers, but Google says people who buy the Pixel 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL or 9 Pro Fold will get a year of the Google One AI Premium plan for free to access Gemini Live. (Sorry, Pixel 9 buyers: You don't get the free year of AI Premium.)
Gemini can also play a more active role in helping you plan your day-to-day by looking at a snapshot of an event flier, for instance, checking your calendar and making sure you're free that day and time. You can then ask Gemini to create tasks like setting a reminder to check ticket prices, or adding an item to your shopping list.
An AI-powered Screenshots app for Pixel will help you sift through and organize your many screenshots, and Gemini will summon the information you need from them, like the apartment code for your Airbnb or the Wi-Fi password that's buried somewhere deep within your gallery.
At a time when annual phone upgrades tend to feel predictable and marginal, AI -- as tired as we may be of hearing the phrase -- offers an opportunity to stir up some excitement and facilitate various tasks. That's the angle everyone from Apple to Samsung to Google appears to be taking. On the one hand, the companies may be releasing flashy, somewhat gimmicky features like Genmoji on the iPhone, Sketch to Image on the Galaxy and Best Take on the Pixel. But they're also touting more practical applications, like making it easier to converse with a virtual assistant, edit an image or draft a message.
As the shock factor and novelty of AI wanes, it seems those understated, AI-powered updates may end up grabbing the biggest spotlight.
Source: cnet.com