Google teases Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro with new Tensor AI chip

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in General Discussion
Google has teased its Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro smartphones ahead of a launch later in 2021, smartphones using a new custom-designed Tensor chip.

Google's Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.
Google's Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.


Posted to Twitter on Monday, the thread offered quite a few details about Google's upcoming smartphone launches, replacing the current-generation Pixel 5 series. Rather than a complete device breakdown, the posts focused on the imaging capabilities, as well as its processor.

For the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, Google is opting for a "Camera Bar," a black bump that stretches across the width of the smartphones, with metal accents at the top and bottom. While the Pixel 6 will include two cameras, the Pixel 6 Pro will have three, adding a telephoto lens with a 4x optical zoom.

The releases will also be the first to use Google's first own-designed system-on-chip, the Tensor. Akin to Apple's use of the Neural Engine on the A-series chips in the iPhone, such as the A12, the Tensor will be able to process "Google's most powerful AI and ML models directly" onboard the device.

Google claims the chip will help enhance the image processing capabilities of the camera, as well as speech recognition and other features. For speech recognition, Google touts advances in voice commands, translation, captioning, and dictation.

Here's a sneak peek at the newest Google Phones powered by Google Tensor - the brand new chip designed by Google, custom-made for Pixel.

Meet:
#Pixel6
#Pixel6 Pro

Both are coming later this year.

We'll tell you a little about them in this

(1/13) pic.twitter.com/SRhzvRA7WC

-- Made By Google (@madebygoogle)


Google also says the Pixel 6 is built "with the most layers of hardware security in any phone," clarifying it is "based on count of separate hardware security layers." The thread doesn't go into detail about what this entails.

The thread also promoted the Material You UI that Google introduced at Google I/O, which it plans to use on the smartphones.

As for when to expect the release, the search giant says the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro will arrive in the fall. This would put it directly against the "iPhone 13," which Apple is expected to introduce in its annual fall event.

Read on AppleInsider
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 28
    Who cares? Even in the Android world, Google's phone launches do NOT generate ANY interest or whatsoever, mostly due to Google's failings on multiple levels (Pricing, Features and Availability). Only Google can tell us whether they are taking the smartphones seriously and failing miserably at that OR it is a hobby and they are not taking it seriously and that no one should take them seriously either.
    lordjohnwhorfinlkruppapplguywatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 28
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    Separate hardware security layers.

    ”No one will harvest your data but us!!”
    lordjohnwhorfinwilliamlondonpulseimageswatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 28
    Eric_WVGGEric_WVGG Posts: 966member
    They sure look cool though. Dig that yellow/blue one, I wonder if you could pick top/bottom colors at checkout?

    I'd take that bar over the wobbling that the squircle creates when you put your iPhone on a table. Probably makes it less likely for your thumb to enter the edge of a picture, too.
    byronlwilliamlondon
  • Reply 4 of 28
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    Eric_WVGG said:
    I'd take that bar over the wobbling that the squircle creates when you put your iPhone on a table. Probably makes it less likely for your thumb to enter the edge of a picture, too.

    Great point. It's way too easy and common for a finger (or shadow from one) to get in the way of an image.
  • Reply 5 of 28
    coolfactorcoolfactor Posts: 2,239member
    Who thinks these look good? They almost have a retro feeling to them. Modern? Futuristic? No.

    And case makers will have a fun time wrapping around that bar.
    muthuk_vanalingamwatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 28
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Interesting way of dealing with a camera bump.  Obviously I'd prefer no bump at all, but I think I prefer it to Apple's way.
    byronl
  • Reply 7 of 28
    waveparticlewaveparticle Posts: 1,497member
    Interesting, how does the camera bar communicate with the "Pixel phone"?
  • Reply 8 of 28
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Interesting, how does the camera bar communicate with the "Pixel phone"?
    ?

    It's part of the Pixel phone.  It'll communicate in the same or similar way to how any other camera on any other smartphone communicates with the phone that it is the camera for.

    How does the iPhone camera communicate with the iPhone?  The Pixel camera bar will do that.
    byronl
  • Reply 9 of 28
    byronlbyronl Posts: 356member
    looks great. really curious to see what the chip brings to the phone and how it compares to apple chips 
  • Reply 10 of 28
    waveparticlewaveparticle Posts: 1,497member
    crowley said:
    Interesting, how does the camera bar communicate with the "Pixel phone"?
    ?

    It's part of the Pixel phone.  It'll communicate in the same or similar way to how any other camera on any other smartphone communicates with the phone that it is the camera for.

    How does the iPhone camera communicate with the iPhone?  The Pixel camera bar will do that.
    iPhone camera is mounted on the same board as the AX chip? 
  • Reply 11 of 28
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    crowley said:
    Interesting, how does the camera bar communicate with the "Pixel phone"?
    ?

    It's part of the Pixel phone.  It'll communicate in the same or similar way to how any other camera on any other smartphone communicates with the phone that it is the camera for.

    How does the iPhone camera communicate with the iPhone?  The Pixel camera bar will do that.
    iPhone camera is mounted on the same board as the AX chip? 
    Yeah?  Why would you think the Google Pixel camera wouldn't be mounted on the same board as the Google Pixel CPU?  I'm pretty darn sure it will be.

    I'm not sure what you've misunderstood here.
  • Reply 12 of 28
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Who cares? Even in the Android world, Google's phone launches do NOT generate ANY interest or whatsoever, mostly due to Google's failings on multiple levels (Pricing, Features and Availability). Only Google can tell us whether they are taking the smartphones seriously and failing miserably at that OR it is a hobby and they are not taking it seriously and that no one should take them seriously either.
    Pixels apparently don’t sell very well at all. My guess is hobby just to say they sell a phone. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 28
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,621member
    Who thinks these look good? They almost have a retro feeling to them. Modern? Futuristic? No.

    And case makers will have a fun time wrapping around that bar.
    I think they look very ugly. Like something from a faded 70's sci-fi film.

    But...

    There will be no camera bump wobble for those who dislike that, and once encased in your favourite case, could look much more modern. 
    muthuk_vanalingamnetrox
  • Reply 14 of 28
    waveparticlewaveparticle Posts: 1,497member
    crowley said:
    crowley said:
    Interesting, how does the camera bar communicate with the "Pixel phone"?
    ?

    It's part of the Pixel phone.  It'll communicate in the same or similar way to how any other camera on any other smartphone communicates with the phone that it is the camera for.

    How does the iPhone camera communicate with the iPhone?  The Pixel camera bar will do that.
    iPhone camera is mounted on the same board as the AX chip? 
    Yeah?  Why would you think the Google Pixel camera wouldn't be mounted on the same board as the Google Pixel CPU?  I'm pretty darn sure it will be.

    I'm not sure what you've misunderstood here.
    I do not misunderstand. I do not understand how the camera communicate with the CPU. It looks like it is separated far away from the CPU. 
    Beats
  • Reply 15 of 28
    crossladcrosslad Posts: 527member
    avon b7 said:
    Who thinks these look good? They almost have a retro feeling to them. Modern? Futuristic? No.

    And case makers will have a fun time wrapping around that bar.
    I think they look very ugly. Like something from a faded 70's sci-fi film.

    But...

    There will be no camera bump wobble for those who dislike that, and once encased in your favourite case, could look much more modern. 
    And put a case on an iPhone and there is no camera bump wobble. 
    Beatswatto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 28
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,328member
    Very retro looking in an odd sort of way, like a mini credit card embossing machine from the 70s - if the bar moved. The camera bar totally looks like an afterthought that was tacked on and glued on to the back of the case because the original designers forgot that they needed to have a camera. Doh! They must have spent all of 15 minutes on that design concept.

    To be fair, Apple's later iPhones with their big corner humps and multiple lenses and sensors look no less dorky. I do look forward to the day when smart phones can have smooth backs again, instead of hanging all the junk outside of the trunk for all to see as we've been dealing with over the past several releases. Yeah, I know the physics and optics can only be dealt with in so many ways, but I believe they will eventually find a better way to to make it all work and also be aesthetically pleasing once the limits of current battery technology no longer place such high internal volume demands on device designs. 

    Unlike some others here who are concerned about a case, I believe that the right kind of case, a leather one that's flush with the camera bar, would significantly improve the backside look of this phone.
    edited August 2021 muthuk_vanalingamwatto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 28
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,621member
    crosslad said:
    avon b7 said:
    Who thinks these look good? They almost have a retro feeling to them. Modern? Futuristic? No.

    And case makers will have a fun time wrapping around that bar.
    I think they look very ugly. Like something from a faded 70's sci-fi film.

    But...

    There will be no camera bump wobble for those who dislike that, and once encased in your favourite case, could look much more modern. 
    And put a case on an iPhone and there is no camera bump wobble. 
    But there will be those who dislike cases. 
  • Reply 18 of 28
    Who thinks these look good? They almost have a retro feeling to them. Modern? Futuristic? No.

    And case makers will have a fun time wrapping around that bar.
    They look like a holdover from the 80’s. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 28
    waveparticlewaveparticle Posts: 1,497member
    The camera bar maybe a good starting point from the design point of view. Camera has become a major feature of smartphones especially in the Android world. Making it a prominent component of the phone instead of trying to hide it away from the user is a good design idea. 
  • Reply 20 of 28
    chadbagchadbag Posts: 1,999member
    At least the design is "original".  

    It's got that going for it. 
    watto_cobra
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