Google on Monday revealed that it is building gesture controls and face recognition into its next-generation Pixel smartphone as it looks to fuel early enthusiasm for its upcoming flagship handset.
The Pixel 4 is expected to make its debut in October, along with a new iPhone, as competitors strive to win or keep fans in the competitive, cooling smartphone market.
The two new Pixel features teased by Google were billed as representing a “next step” in the Internet giant’s vision for a future in which computing power is available anywhere and when people want without having to think about it.
Alphabet Inc-owned Google said that the key technology would center around its motion-sensing radar called “Project Soli.”
“Pixel 4 will be the first device with Soli, powering our new motion sense features to allow you to skip songs, snooze alarms and silence phone calls, just by waving your hand,” Pixel product manager Brandon Barbello said in an online post.
“These capabilities are just the start, and just as Pixels get better over time, motion sense will evolve as well,” he said.
Google’s advanced technology and projects team has worked on Soli, a motion-sensing radar, for the past five years, he added.
Along with recognizing hand gestures, Soli would cue facial recognition sensors when a Pixel 4 is picked up to allow it to automatically unlock for its owner.
“Face unlock uses facial recognition technology that is processed on your device, so that image data never leaves your phone,” Barbello said. “The images used for face unlock are never saved or shared with other Google services.”
Soli sensor data are also kept on devices and not shared with other Google services, he said.
Google, Apple Inc and other smartphone rivals typically launch new premium models ahead of the year-end holiday shopping season. A Samsung event early next month is expected to reveal its new Note handset.
Separately, Qualcomm Inc said that it would work with China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊) in a partnership the US company hopes would cement its technology in the world’s biggest market for mobile gaming.
The largest maker of processors that power smartphones signed an agreement with Tencent to work on mobile gaming devices that would use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips.
The cooperation would include the development of augmented-reality and virtual-reality technology, the San Diego, California-based company said in a statement on Monday.
Tencent, whose WeChat (微信) social media service is used by more than 1 billion people across China, gets as much as one-third of its revenue from online gaming. Improving its ties to such a powerful force in the industry is important for Qualcomm as it looks to solidify its position as the leading provider of hardware for forthcoming 5G cellular services.
The faster data speeds and quicker responses of such networks would make mobile games more realistic and interactive, Qualcomm said.
Qualcomm and Apple are scheduled to report their latest earnings results today.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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