Tech giant Google on Tuesday unveiled its new Pixel 9 smartphone series, which includes artificial intelligence (AI) technology, announcing that they would hit Taiwan shelves on Thursday next week.
The Pixel 9 series could help consumers better envision the potential of artificial intelligence, analysts said.
The phones are also expected to boost Google’s competitiveness against Apple Inc, which has teamed up with OpenAI to develop AI applications for iPhones, they said.
Photo: Reuters
The Pixel weaves users more tightly into Google’s online services, taking a page from Apple’s strategy with the iPhone and App Store.
The Pixel 9 models use Google’s Gemini AI capabilities, offering consumers an alternative to the iPhone’s Apple Intelligence AI.
The entry model Pixel 9 with a 6.3-inch Actua display, the more advanced 6.3-inch Pixel 9 Pro, and the 6.8-inch Pixel 9 Pro XL, would be available in Taiwan at starting prices of NT$26,490, NT$33,490 and NT$39,990, respectively, Google said.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold — the second generation of Google’s foldable smartphone — is scheduled to go on sale in Taiwan on Sept. 4 with a starting price of NT$56,990, the company said.
Pixels account for a tiny sliver of the global smartphone market dominated by Samsung Electronics Co and Apple, but Google said that its new line is a chance to answer what — after all the hype — AI can actually do for customers.
“I understand people’s skepticism,” Google senior vice president of devices Rick Osterloh said at the company’s campus in Mountain View, California, on Tuesday.
“There have been so many promises, so many ‘coming soons,’ and not enough real-world helpfulness when it comes to AI — which is why today we’re getting real,” Osterloh said.
However AI-infused Pixels also raise questions about how well Google is safeguarding personal data and how regulators would react to the tech giant’s push to make users even more dependent on its platform.
A US judge last week handed Google a major legal blow, ruling in a landmark antitrust case that it has maintained a monopoly with its dominant search engine.
Google said it has prioritized privacy, from protecting data used by its AI to letting users create password-protected private spaces for apps and other content.
Pixel 9 models let Gemini AI handle personal requests, sending no sensitive information off the device, it said.
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