Google has released the latest update to its Pixel family of smartphones and wearables. If you own a Pixel 9 in the United States, you will soon have access to a new version of Pixel Studio, which allows you to create stickers and images of people. Pixel Studio is an artificial intelligence image creation app that is exclusive to Pixel devices. “Simply enter a description of the person or scene you’d like to see, or choose a style, such as ‘video game’ or ‘3D cartoon,’” Google says about the new feature. The approach Google is taking is similar to the one Apple is currently using with Image Playground. There are no photorealistic images, so you won’t be able to use Pixel Studio to blow your friends and family away.
In addition to Pixel Studio, Google is offering other AI features for the Pixel family in the US and beyond. In particular, the real-time fraud protection that Google introduced to testers last fall is expanding to more devices, with additional functionality for Pixel 9 owners in the US.
If you have a Pixel 9, it will start verifying English-language calls to protect you from scammers. On the Pixel 6 and later, Google is expanding its fraudulent text recognition capabilities, and this feature will be available on phones in the US, Canada, and the UK. Meanwhile, users of the Pixel 9 and Pixel 8 Pro in Japan can expect to see much of the company’s AI suite of apps, including Pixel Screenshots and Pixel Studio, coming to their devices. Similarly, Google is making many of these features available to Pixel 9 users in Germany.
If artificial intelligence features aren’t your thing, this month’s new Pixel won’t leave you disappointed. For starters, Google is updating its Find My Device app to allow users to send and receive location data from friends and family “so you can have peace of mind knowing where they are or that they’ve gotten where they’re going safely.” This feature is coming to the new Pixel devices as well as the wider Android ecosystem. Another great new feature allows Pixel 9 owners to connect their phone to the new GoPro camera or another Pixel phone to stream video from different angles.
Google hasn’t forgotten about Pixel Watch users either. If you use the latest model, the company has received permission from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use the pulse loss detection feature. “This first-of-its-kind feature can detect when you’ve experienced a loss of pulse,” Google explains. Loss of pulse can be due to cardiac arrest, respiratory or circulatory failure, overdose, or poisoning. In any case, the Pixel Watch 3 will automatically call the emergency service if the user is unresponsive.
Google is also introducing menstrual cycle tracking on the Pixel Watch 3, and the entire family of watches will start tracking steps with greater accuracy and reliability. This is because Google has improved the underlying algorithm, which better recognizes when you deviate from your normal gait to do something like push a cart or wheelchair. “The improved algorithm ensures that your steps are not only accurately counted towards your daily goal, but that you get reliable information about your daily activity.”
The March Pixel starts rolling out today. As always, it may take a few days before the update is available to download to your device.
