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.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his