During Tuesday’s Made by Google event, Google unveiled four new phones, two smartwatch models, and a new pair of wireless earbuds. Artificial intelligence was at the center of the event, with Google unveiling new Gemini features for the Pixel 9, Pixel Watch 3, and Pixel Buds Pro 2.
I’m a longtime iPhone and Apple Watch user, and I have to say I was impressed with some of Google’s announcements. I’m also a little jealous that I can’t have similar features on my Apple products. In what follows, I’ll highlight the new Pixel features I want to see on my Apple hardware.
Gemini Live
There’s no question that the Gemini Live capability that Google announced on Tuesday is one of the event’s highlights. The feature lets you have voice conversations with the Gemini chatbot that sound more natural than ever. The AI voice sounds like a human is talking. You can interrupt the AI without it losing the train of thought. You can also change the direction of the conversation, and the AI will follow through.
Gemini Live is a part of Google’s Project Astra, unveiled at I/O 2024. That’s the multimodal Gemini experience that lets you interact with the AI via voice, images, and text. Gemini Live will get image support in the coming months.
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What I’ve described so far isn’t available on the iPhone, and I don’t think Apple will be ready to offer it for quite a while. Siri’s advanced intelligence is coming only later down the road via Apple Intelligence, but Apple lacks a chatbot of its own that can compete against GPT-4o Voice Mode and Gemini Live.
While I wait for Apple’s variant, Gemini Live will be available on various Android devices, not just the new Pixel 9 phones. You need a Gemini Advanced subscription to get it going, which costs $20/month. The alternative is preordering a Pixel 9 and enjoying a free year of Gemini Advanced.
Low-light panoramas
Whenever I stumble across great panoramic views, I feel I have to take a panorama photo, even though most of the time I won’t return to it. Still, it’s something I routinely do on the iPhone. Now that Google has unveiled the Pixel 9 phones and I know Night Sight panorama photos are happening, I want the iPhone to follow suit.
Maybe the iPhone 16 will get it, or maybe we’ll have to wait some more. Whatever the case, support for low-light panorama photos is an exciting upgrade for the Pixel 9 series.
Loss of Pulse Detection
This was one of the surprises at Google’s event on Tuesday. The Pixel Watch 3 packs a life-saving feature no other smartwatch has. Called Loss of Pulse Detection, the feature automatically calls emergency services when the Pixel Watch 3 algorithms determine the wearer’s heart might not be beating.
The Pixel Watch 3 will take into account physiological and motion data when detecting the potential loss of pulse to prevent false readings.
I’m not worried about experiencing a sudden loss of pulse, but this is the kind of feature every smartwatch should have. Loss of pulse events can occur in older adults when they’re alone. With nobody to call emergency services, these events can be fatal.
The Fitbit app’s new features for runners
I also loved what Google did with the Fitbit app to help users manage their workouts. You’ll be able to design running sessions that meet your needs on the Pixel 9 and then send them to the Pixel Watch 3.
Fitbit’s AI can also help you analyze past runs and suggest new workouts based on them.
Moreover, the Pixel 9 and Pixel Watch 3 will assess your form for the day by looking at various health parameters. A readiness score based on last night’s sleep, heart rate variability, and resting heart rate will inform you how prepared you are for a new training session. Then, there’s the Cardio Load, which tracks the heart during workouts to let you understand whether you’re doing too much or not enough.
Finally, the Morning Brief feature combines health data to help you decide how to tackle the day. Given last night’s lack of sleep, maybe you need a recovery run instead of a high-intensity drill.
I train for marathons using specific workouts that I schedule for particular days. But I believe AI algorithms like the Pixel 9 and Pixel Watch 3 propose could help me improve my workouts by warning me when it’s better to rest than to train hard.
The Pixel Watch 3’s heart rate sensor
I’ve been using an Apple Watch SE 2 while training and running my first marathon race. I’ve had no problems with it, even though I’m aware some runners advise against using an Apple Watch for running. I can’t objectively say whether my Apple Watch registered my health parameters correctly, especially the heart rate.
But I did find interesting Google’s focus on the Pixel Watch 3’s heart rate tracking abilities for running. Google says running is one of the toughest environments for tracking heart rate. The extra movement involved in running can lead to artifacts, so heart rate tracking has to consider these events. Google says it overcame all that, and Pixel Watch 3 features its most accurate heart rate tracking for running.
That’s certainly an exciting claim, and I hope Apple will want to dispute it with its own running algorithms for improving heart rate tracking.
I’ll also note that the Pixel Watch 3 will examine other running parameters to improve your running form. Understanding step cadence, vertical oscillation, and stride length is important, and the Fitbit app will take all that information into account to provide actionable feedback.
