Google on Tuesday launched the latest Pixel smartphones, betting on its first custom-designed system processor and a new version of the Android operating system to lure buyers away from Apple Inc’s iPhone.
The Pixel 6 and 6 Pro differ only slightly in size, memory and camera specs, with both built around Google’s Tensor system-on-chip, a custom semiconductor that took four years of development.
Tensor is optimized for Google’s strengths in image processing and artificial intelligence, helping deliver faster and more accurate speech recognition and better battery life.
Photo: Bloomberg
While Google’s Android is the top smartphone operating system globally, the Alphabet Inc unit has a minuscule market share in mobile handsets.
The company is now trying to stand apart from the competition with its own processor, joining Apple in making such a move.
“Mobile chips simply haven’t been able to keep pace with Google research,” said Google Silicon senior director Monika Gupta at the company’s launch event. “And rather than wait for them to catch up, we decided to make one ourselves.”
The 6.4-inch Pixel 6 costs US$599 and the 6.7-inch Pixel 6 Pro costs US$899, both shipping on Thursday next week.
Google’s online store crashed as shoppers tried to order the new devices immediately following their announcement.
Outside of the iPhone, most smartphones rely on Qualcomm Inc and, to a lesser degree, MediaTek Inc (聯發科) for their processors, leading to a relative lack of differentiation.
In addition to the Tensor, Google’s new devices include the company’s Titan M2 security chip, tasked with handling jobs such as passcode protection, encryption and secure transactions in apps.
Android 12, the latest version of the software, marks what Google calls the biggest design change in its history. It features personalization through color palettes and redesigned widgets, and privacy indicators signal when an app is accessing the device’s microphone or camera.
Its safety features are to ensure that Google’s audio and language processing happens exclusively on the device.
“There is still a huge swathe of consumers who don’t know that Google makes phones or in some cases, that Android is a Google product,” CCS Insight lead analyst Ben Wood said. “Google is clearly excited about the chip it is offering with the Pixel, but history has shown that mass market consumers will care little about custom silicon.”
The pricier 6 Pro model has 12GB of memory, compared with the Pixel 6’s 8GB, includes an extra 4x zoom camera and has a larger battery.
The bigger device also has an adaptive display refresh rate, much like the iPhone 13 — scaling from 120Hz for fast-moving on-screen action or animations down to 10Hz to preserve battery life.
Google and Apple are competing in a much-changed smartphone market this year, as Chinese Android vendors from Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp (歐珀) to Vivo Communication Technology Co (維沃) to Xiaomi Corp (小米) have improved significantly in the chase to fill the gap left by sanction-stricken Huawei Technologies Co (華為).
Vivo, for instance, has collaborated with Carl Zeiss on its lenses and its recently launched X70 Pro+ flagship has four gimbal-stabilized cameras on its rear.
Google still has to prove that the Pixel can be more than a niche gadget for an audience loyal to its products and reliant on its services.
The company has asked suppliers to double their production this year to more than 7 million units of the Pixel 6 smartphones, the Nikkei reported, citing people familiar with the company’s plans.
After several years flying high as Asia’s best Nvidia Corp proxy, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is increasingly vying with other artificial intelligence (AI) stocks for investor attention. Stock traders are chasing a wider array of beneficiaries as mainstream usage of AI creates demand for hardware beyond the most-advanced chips TSMC makes for Nvidia. Subthemes from the deepening memory crunch to advances in robotics are also luring bids. At the same time, investment caps on single stocks are pushing funds to diversify, while retail investors long familiar with TSMC through its US depositary receipts are being offered a broader set of
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Nvidia Corp yesterday announced that CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) would attend an employee meeting in Taipei tomorrow to celebrate the launch of the company’s Taiwan headquarters project. Huang would attend a gathering at the site of Nvidia’s planned headquarters in Beitou Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區), the company said in a statement. After arriving in Taiwan on Saturday last week, Huang told reporters that he plans to meet with Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), and would attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Nvidia’s Taiwan headquarters tomorrow. Nvidia has not yet applied
RSS