Radar is a time proven, reliable, accurate, and relatively mature technology for distance and speed measurement that doesn't suffer from some of the issues that affect optical and acoustic technology based systems. Nonetheless, it's still impressive to see it scaled down to a smartphone form factor for personal use applications.
Yes, first implementation of gesture-based computing on a smartphone only to be dismissed as a “party trick” by the author.
Didn't the Amazon Fire Phone have gesture support? How is this the first implementation?
Radar is a time proven, reliable, accurate, and relatively mature technology for distance and speed measurement that doesn't suffer from some of the issues that affect optical and acoustic technology based systems. Nonetheless, it's still impressive to see it scaled down to a smartphone form factor for personal use applications.
Yes, first implementation of gesture-based computing on a smartphone only to be dismissed as a “party trick” by the author.
It is a party trick, at least from Google's weak implementations and based on the fact every single review/hands-on that couldn't get it to work reliably.
Yeah, seems like it's an iffy project after being miniaturized so much to fit that sensor strip in the forehead. More party trick at the moment tho all the reviewers seem to be in agreement that it does make the face unlock function much, much faster.
I've suspected from the get-go that Soli, at least this initial version and software, would be of limited value. No idea what if anything can be done with it via future software update. Then again aren't the testers using beta handsets, not production units? Conceivable that consumer devices might work a bit more reliably. Give it a couple of weeks.
EDIT: Android Central has a slightly different take on the Pixel's Soli Motion Sense.
"Motion Sense doesn't really feel all that special. You can use it to silence alarms, dismiss or answer a call, or change tracks in your music player by waving your hand in front of the phone. It can also be used to trigger the camera system for Google's new facial recognition to unlock your phone. We've seen something similar as far back as 2013's Moto X. there is a difference, though, and it's in the capabilities.
Other phones used "air gestures" to do similar things with IR sensors or even through the camera(s) on the front of the phone. None were perfect by any means and that's because the tech used had some limitations. IR sensors or cameras can't detect motion at as high of a resolution as Soli can and it takes more power to keep a camera or bank of IR sensors always on. Soli can definitely do a lot more than Google is showing us so far.
It's probably prudent to start with the most basic set of gestures when releasing new tech like Motion Sense. However, since Soli can also do things like identify the material of an object, count cards as they are dealt, or even identify a product based on its weight, it stands to reason Google can open it up to do a lot more. We expect to see significant improvements to Motion Sense once the Pixel 4 is a bit more mature and Google is sure everything is working as expected."
Yep. A brand new way for Google to spy on customers....
Both offer very high resolutions which most users will be happy to view, with Google edging out the pixel density race at 537ppi to 458ppi. Again, it probably doesn't make much difference to users unless they're using specialist equipment to take a very close look, but this matters to some people.
Google has also elected to use a flexible OLED panel, which is an interesting choice for a flat device without a curved display.
That's because the Pixel has the Active Edge feature where squeezing the sides activates certain functions. The screen thus needs to flex.
Does the Pixel suffer from similar issues to the Galaxy 10? Mac Rumors: "A major flaw in Samsung's Galaxy S10 smartphone has been discovered that basically means any fingerprint can unlock the device with the help of a cheap screen protector."
Which one's the knockoff? Oh the one with the chin and forehead.
IDK who it was on here the Google guy or the Huawei guy who said the knockoffs had solved the notch problem by adding a forehead and chin!! LOL!
Is there a notch problem? As far as I know they work as intended.
EDIT: BTW I'm looking at the pic AI posted and I'm not seeing a chin on the Pixel. Maybe a slightly larger bezel there than on the sides, but certainly no chin as I understand one.
There is no real "problem". The complaint is that it exists.
This discussion was before this Pixel 4. Not sure if he mentioned Pixel 3 or Huawei iWannabe.
Radar is a time proven, reliable, accurate, and relatively mature technology for distance and speed measurement that doesn't suffer from some of the issues that affect optical and acoustic technology based systems. Nonetheless, it's still impressive to see it scaled down to a smartphone form factor for personal use applications.
Yes, first implementation of gesture-based computing on a smartphone only to be dismissed as a “party trick” by the author.
I wouldn't even call it a party trick. Sammy tried this before and iKnockoff fans were screaming "Innovation!" before Sammy abandoned(surprise!) the feature months later. This is no better than bumping phones which would apparently be the death of Apple.
Both offer very high resolutions which most users will be happy to view, with Google edging out the pixel density race at 537ppi to 458ppi. Again, it probably doesn't make much difference to users unless they're using specialist equipment to take a very close look, but this matters to some people.
Google has also elected to use a flexible OLED panel, which is an interesting choice for a flat device without a curved display.
That's because the Pixel has the Active Edge feature where squeezing the sides activates certain functions. The screen thus needs to flex.
Does the Pixel suffer from similar issues to the Galaxy 10? Mac Rumors: "A major flaw in Samsung's Galaxy S10 smartphone has been discovered that basically means any fingerprint can unlock the device with the help of a cheap screen protector."
I've not ever heard of that and the Pixels have been out for years. The new Pixel 4 doesn't have one to be concerned about either. Same as the iPhone, FaceID and no fingerprint sensor. I'm guessing you thought it had an underscreen one?
BTW the Galaxy 10 is not the same phone as the Samsung S10e you asked the same question about either.
Radar is a time proven, reliable, accurate, and relatively mature technology for distance and speed measurement that doesn't suffer from some of the issues that affect optical and acoustic technology based systems. Nonetheless, it's still impressive to see it scaled down to a smartphone form factor for personal use applications.
Yes, first implementation of gesture-based computing on a smartphone only to be dismissed as a “party trick” by the author.
Samsung had gestures in a smartphone years back, and it was a party trick then, too. Being first to put in tech for the sake of tech offers little value.
Radar is a time proven, reliable, accurate, and relatively mature technology for distance and speed measurement that doesn't suffer from some of the issues that affect optical and acoustic technology based systems. Nonetheless, it's still impressive to see it scaled down to a smartphone form factor for personal use applications.
Yes, first implementation of gesture-based computing on a smartphone only to be dismissed as a “party trick” by the author.
Samsung had gestures in a smartphone years back... Being first to put in tech for the sake of tech offers little value.
Google says a proximity sensor and software related to phone calls shuts off the radar for those evolutions.
This sounds like suck a gimmick feature!!! Also it's not the first phone to have this dumb hand waving thing. Didn't the Amazon Fire phone do the same type of things? It didn't use RADAR, but the cameras that were around the front of the phone. I know I've seen this hand waving over the phone in the past. Google is not first, just first in the way they're doing it. It's still a Gimmick I'd never use. Unless you have a phobia of touching the screen, what's the point?
Google says a proximity sensor and software related to phone calls shuts off the radar for those evolutions.
This sounds like suck a gimmick feature!!! Also it's not the first phone to have this dumb hand waving thing. Didn't the Amazon Fire phone do the same type of things? It didn't use RADAR, but the cameras that were around the front of the phone. I know I've seen this hand waving over the phone in the past. Google is not first, just first in the way they're doing it. It's still a Gimmick I'd never use. Unless you have a phobia of touching the screen, what's the point?of
Of course they're not the first. They've had a chance to see what led to others failing at it. Can you think of any other company who has been known to wait until they figure out how to do something "better" than the other guys did?
I will probably get flamed for saying this but I had been an Apple user for a long time and then bought a chromebook and now recently a Pixel 3a (which for me I think is better than the Pixel 4). I paid $400 for the phone and could have gotten $100 more off if I had paid for it all at once. The chromebook I think I paid $275 for it back in 2015 and it still runs great. It does most of the things I need. Google guys are smart. The way they designed their hardware and software.
Well, I decided to get an iPhone XR and use it instead. Unfortunately, things for it were more complicated, some things didn't work, others were slow and some non-existent. Google search and assistant, and Google maps run circles around the corresponding apps on the iPhone so I put them on the iPhone thinking that would make up for any difference. It didn't. Apps, download very slowly on the iPhone. I was using a safelink wireless card which shows up as Tracfone. It did show up as such but I wasn't able to access Google.com and the assistant was unable to search for some reason on the Tracfone LTE network. Any android feature I wanted to access I had to go through a number of steps to get it done and sometimes it didn't work. It also seems to me that some things apple has made more complicated. Like turning the phone off and on.
Things I like about the Pixel are that it doesn't have any bloatware. Updates no problem for it. Downloads are quick. Google search, assistant and maps are superior and very easy to access on it. You can squeeze the phone to bring up assistant. I prefer the fingerprint identification as opposed to the face one. I always feel weird looking at my phone when I have to pay somewhere. The camera is also supposed to be great although I don't use it too much. The only negative with the camera is that it doesn't have hardware zoom but I can live without that.
The Pixel 4 and some of the other phones look like they've gone overboard with the cameras. I don't like the way that 3 or more cameras look on the backs of the phones. I suppose if you are a photographer or something, maybe you could use features from those that don't exist on single camera phones.
As far as hardware numbers go the Pixel 3a can do anything I need it to without working hard. The numbers that manufacturers put out are usually higher than anything a user can perceive or really needs for everyday use.
Reading about Apple throttling the hardware on some old phones really gets me too.
So the first reviews are no longer embargoed. In general (emphasis) Google's new Pixels are being praised for a lot of features. Hardware? Pretty much nailed it.
Camera? Amazing as expected and the telephoto is (IMO) surprisingly far better than if it were done in software as many other cameras do. Not much mention of not having wide-angle, but c'mon would it have been so hard to keep a wide-angle lens there too?
Face unlock is fast and reliable, even faster than the iPhone. The "eye's open" option has also been announced as coming soon in an update so for those who were concerned it won't be one. Sidenote: Google should have deprecated the old API re: fingerprint ID in 3rd party apps sooner than they did. As is new app updates that would have used a fingerprint to authenticate, ie Paypal or Square, aren't required to add face ID until updates after Nov. 1st. Stupid timing since the Pixel 4's start shipping this week. In the meantime Pixel 4 users can't use their fingerprint to approve financial transactions since it doesn't exist, and for at least a few weeks can't use face ID either. ID and password is going to be a PITA in the meantime.
Soli is hit or miss so Google is going to have to do some tutoring on it for now. Over at Android Police they figured it out. In general reviewers have been using big ol' sweeping motions when a simple flick of the wrist is pretty much 100% reliable. So far Motion Sense has limited utility, but Soli (radar) does help with quite a bit of the Pixel 4 functionality beyond just Motion Sense.
BUT!! Everything is compromised by a far too small battery on the 4, and only a middling one on the XL. Dumb not to make the battery larger since the Pixels are relatively thin and light anyway. No one would have been concerned with "more battery" and a slightly thicker phone. When all is said and done the big com[plaint is going to be battery life, and with good reason. Not a smart choice Google.
Face unlock is fast and reliable, even faster than the iPhone.
iPhone FaceID is super fast (not to mention more secure which makes it more reliable), especially iPhone 11 generation. Any faster than that can only be measured with special equipment which makes the above statement questionable.
Comments
Didn't the Amazon Fire Phone have gesture support? How is this the first implementation?
BTW the Galaxy 10 is not the same phone as the Samsung S10e you asked the same question about either.
Camera? Amazing as expected and the telephoto is (IMO) surprisingly far better than if it were done in software as many other cameras do. Not much mention of not having wide-angle, but c'mon would it have been so hard to keep a wide-angle lens there too?
Face unlock is fast and reliable, even faster than the iPhone. The "eye's open" option has also been announced as coming soon in an update so for those who were concerned it won't be one. Sidenote: Google should have deprecated the old API re: fingerprint ID in 3rd party apps sooner than they did. As is new app updates that would have used a fingerprint to authenticate, ie Paypal or Square, aren't required to add face ID until updates after Nov. 1st. Stupid timing since the Pixel 4's start shipping this week. In the meantime Pixel 4 users can't use their fingerprint to approve financial transactions since it doesn't exist, and for at least a few weeks can't use face ID either. ID and password is going to be a PITA in the meantime.
Soli is hit or miss so Google is going to have to do some tutoring on it for now. Over at Android Police they figured it out. In general reviewers have been using big ol' sweeping motions when a simple flick of the wrist is pretty much 100% reliable. So far Motion Sense has limited utility, but Soli (radar) does help with quite a bit of the Pixel 4 functionality beyond just Motion Sense.
BUT!!
Everything is compromised by a far too small battery on the 4, and only a middling one on the XL. Dumb not to make the battery larger since the Pixels are relatively thin and light anyway. No one would have been concerned with "more battery" and a slightly thicker phone. When all is said and done the big com[plaint is going to be battery life, and with good reason. Not a smart choice Google.
iPhone FaceID is super fast (not to mention more secure which makes it more reliable), especially iPhone 11 generation. Any faster than that can only be measured with special equipment which makes the above statement questionable.