A folding phone, a new tablet and a lot of artificial intelligence: what Google presented at its big event for developers | CNN Business

CNN
—

Google on Wednesday unveiled its latest lineup of hardware products, including its first foldable phone and a new tablet, as well as plans to roll out new AI features to its search engine and productivity tools.

The updates, announced at its annual Google I/O developer conference, come as the company simultaneously tries to push beyond its core advertising business with new devices while struggling to defend its search engine from the threat which means a wave of new AI- motorized tools.

In a sign of where Google’s focus currently lies, the company spent more than 90 minutes teasing a long list of new AI features before mentioning hardware upgrades.

Here’s what Google announced at the event.

Google became the latest tech company to unveil a foldable smartphone. Like other foldables, the $1,799 Pixel Fold features a vertical hinge that can be opened to reveal a tablet-like display. But Google calls the Fold the thinnest foldable on the market.

“It took some smart engineering work to redesign components like our speakers, our battery and haptics,” Google product manager George Hwang said on a call ahead of the announcement. The company packed a Pixel phone into a body that’s less than 6mm, roughly two-thirds the thickness of its other Pixel phones.

The Pixel Fold is very much a phone first: when unfolded, it opens into a 7.6-inch display and swings on Google’s custom 180-degree hinge. According to the company, this hinge mechanism is completely moved from below the screen to improve its resistance to dust and decrease the overall thickness of the device.

The Google Fold includes features you’ll find on a Pixel, such as long exposure, blur, a magic eraser, which allows users to remove unwanted or distracting objects. It also has Pixel Fold-specific tools such as dual-screen live translation, which allows the user to communicate in another language with the help of quick audio and text translations on the outer screen.

Google said it optimized its core apps to take advantage of the larger screen, but “there’s still work to be done” because “optimizing for a new foldable form factor takes time,” Hwang said. “It’s a process we’re committed to and one that requires heavy investment with our Android developer partners,” Hwang added.

Google is far from the first to adopt foldables, but it may have waited to release its own version until the technology became more advanced. Early versions of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold, for example, had issues with the display and most apps weren’t well optimized for the design.

But even now, the future of foldables remains uncertain. Most apps are not yet optimized for foldable devices; prices are still very high; and Google’s main rival, Apple, has yet to accept the option.

Despite strong consumer interest in flip phones, and the resurgence of ’90s-style flip phones among celebrities and TikTok influencers, the foldable market is relatively small, with Samsung dominating the category, followed by others such as Motorola , Lenovo, Oppo and Huawei. According to ABI Research, foldable and flexible displays accounted for about 0.7% of the smartphone market in 2021, and in 2022 it was expected to drop to just 2%.

The Pixel Fold will be available in the US, UK, Germany and Japan. The company said the device will start shipping next month.

On the surface, the 7a looks similar to the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, with the same Pixel camera bar on the back. It comes with the typical advancements you’d expect to find with any smartphone upgrade: better display, advanced camera, and longer battery life. But the 7a now features a Tensor G2 processor and a TItan M2 security chip, bringing advanced processing and new AI features. It also offers wireless charging for the first time on an A model.

The Pixel line has long been known for its cameras, and the 7a is no exception. It’s packed with upgrades, including a 64-megapixel main camera, the largest sensor in a Pixel A series yet, which will help improve image quality, low-light performance, and other features. It also offers a new ultra-large 13-megapixel camera to capture even wider photos and a new 13-megapixel front-facing camera. For the first time, each camera supports 4K video.

The 7a also supports many important Pixel features, including blur, a magic eraser, and improved night vision that’s twice as fast and sharp as its predecessor. It also allows users to capture long exposure and enhanced zoom.

The Pixel comes in a variety of colors, including charcoal, snow, sea, and coral, and starts at $499 via the Google Store on May 10.

The Pixel Series A line has long been aimed at cost-conscious people who want good features at a reasonable price, but their reach is limited. Google sells eight to ten million Pixel devices each year, according to ABI Research.

“In general, smartphones were really meant for Google to show how software, and now AI capabilities, could be effectively optimized in hardware and improve the Android user experience” , said David McQueen, an analyst at ABI Research. “Google has intentionally kept sales volume low as it also has to consider its relationship with other smartphone manufacturers that use the Android operating system.”

While phones were a key focus at the event, Google also updated other parts of its hardware lineup.

Google introduced the Pixel Tablet, which is meant to be used around the house, from turning off the lights in the house to setting the thermostat without getting off the sofa.

The tablet, which has rounded edges and corners, comes in three colors: porcelain, hazel and pink, and is priced at $499. It will be available on June 20.

Under the hood, the 11-inch tablet is powered by Google’s Tensor G2 chips, which bring long-lasting battery life and AI features to the device. It also offers a front-facing camera, an 8-megapixel rear camera and a charging dock.

Google is also moving ahead with plans to bring AI chat features to its main search engine amid a renewed arms race over the technology in Silicon Valley.

The company said it is introducing the next evolution of Google Search, which will use an AI-powered chatbot to answer questions “you never thought search could answer” and help users get the information they want faster than never

With the update, the look and feel of Google Search results will be noticeably different. When users type a query into the main search bar, they’ll automatically see a pop-up window with an AI-generated answer in addition to displaying traditional results.

Users can now sign up for the new Google Search, which will be launched in the US for the first time, through the Google app or the Chrome desktop browser. A limited number of users will have access to it in the coming weeks, according to the company, before it increases.

Google is expanding access to its existing chatbot Bard, which works outside of the search engine and can help users with tasks such as outlining and writing essay drafts, planning a friend’s baby shower, and getting ideas for lunch based on what’s in the fridge.

The tool, which was previously available to early adopters via a US-only waiting list, will soon be available to all users in 120 countries and 40 languages.

Google also releases extensions for Bard from within its own services, such as Gmail, Sheets and Docs, which allow users to ask questions and collaborate with the chatbot within the apps they use.

Google also announced PaLM 2, its latest large language model to rival ChatGPT creator OpenAI’s GPT-4.

The move is a big step forward for the technology that powers the company’s AI products and promises to be better at logic, common sense reasoning and math. It can also generate specialized code in different programming languages.