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Google unveiled a number of new hardware products during its “Made by Google” event on Tuesday at its headquarters in Mountain View, California.

The devices, which include the Pixel 9 line, complete with the foldable Pixel 9 Pro Fold, the Pixel Watch 3 (with new health and safety features), and the Pixel Buds Pro 2 earbuds, launch about a month before Apple’s annual iPhone event.

Google (GOOG) almost certainly scheduled the show to get ahead of Apple’s (AAPL) annual hype train and ensure its products stay top of mind for at least a few weeks. But in some ways, selling hardware isn’t exactly the primary purpose of the search giant’s latest devices.

Of course, Google won’t come out on top in any sales, but the main reason for the company’s hardware initiative is to showcase its AI capabilities.

Google devoted a large portion of its event to ostensibly its new phones and accessories, and gave a detailed look at how its generative, AI-powered Gemini platform will serve as an intelligent assistant that’s actually, well, smart. We’re talking about doing everything from summarizing your phone calls to helping you plan trips.

That’s not to say that Google’s new hardware isn’t top-notch. Quite the opposite: Not only are the phones slimmer this time around, but they also come with powerful cameras, processors, and displays that, on paper, make them formidable opponents for any Android competitor, not to mention Apple’s iPhone. And the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is shaping up to be one of the most interesting foldable devices ever.

However, all of this is secondary to Google’s efforts to defeat Apple, Microsoft and all other competitors and claim the crown as AI king.

Everything revolves around AI

Google’s Pixel line has always included some of the most impressive smartphones and watches on the market. But Google has no plans to become the world’s largest device retailer. It leaves that to its Android partners, including Samsung and Motorola, as well as Apple.

Instead, the company is using its hardware to demonstrate its software capabilities, something it has done for years with its Pixel phones and before that with its Nexus line of devices, to give consumers and other Android manufacturers a better understanding of how the company’s various services and platforms work together to deliver a uniquely Google experience.

And now, with its Pixel 9 phones, Google is looking to prove that its AI software is second to none. It’s doing that by putting Gemini, its generative, AI-powered virtual assistant, front and center. Now, when users say “Hey, Google” or long-press their phone’s power button, Gemini will be invoked instead of the company’s old Google Assistant.

The story continues

Gemini promises a number of new, exciting capabilities, including the ability to easily pull information from other apps via app extensions. For now, the company is focusing on its first-party apps, including Gmail, Google Maps, and Google Calendar, and will integrate extensions into YouTube Music, Keeps, and Tasks in the future. The idea is that Gemini will “talk” to your apps, so you don’t have to.

For example, Google says you can ask Gemini to check your Gmail account for the time and location of your friend’s surprise birthday party. The assistant will then pull the invite from your Gmail account and provide you with all the relevant information without you ever having to open the app. You can then ask Gemini to tell you how long it will take you to get to the party, and it will show you an estimate along with the route there via Google Maps.

Take a photo of a concert poster and ask Google if you can come to the show when the artist is in town. Google will then check your calendar for any scheduling conflicts and tell you whether or not you can come.

In another example, Google showed how a user can watch a clip on YouTube of someone crocheting flowers and then ask Gemini to teach them how to crochet the same flowers. Or if you’re planning a trip to London and watch a travel vlog about the city’s restaurants to find the best places to eat, you can ask for all the places mentioned in the video and add them to Google Maps so you have a variety of dinner options when you land.

Chatting with Gemini – for a fee

Google is also rolling out its Gemini Live service to iPhone and English-speaking Android users with Gemini Advanced subscriptions in the coming weeks. The feature is built into Gemini and allows you to talk to the assistant in real time, as if you were talking to someone on the phone.

It’s hard to say how well these options will resonate with consumers. Sure, I can ask Gemini to pull information from my Gmail or get directions in Maps, but I’m not sure I’ll talk to Gemini Live any more than I now talk to Google Assistant or Apple’s Siri, which I rarely do.

I usually only use both assistants to check the score of yesterday’s Mets game or set a timer for whatever I’m cooking in the oven. And to subscribe to Gemini Advanced, I’d have to sign up for a Google One AI Premium account for $19.99 per month. Sure, that includes 2TB of cloud storage and Gemini for Gmail and Google Docs. But that’s still an expensive proposition.

And all this just weeks before Apple launches its iPhone 16 lineup, the first iPhone lineup since the Apple Intelligence service was announced at the WWDC event in May.

Like Gemini, Apple Intelligence is designed to work with your various apps and services, giving you AI writing tools, summaries of emails and SMS threads, and deep app integrations that can pull data from your email and calendar. Apple is also launching a smarter version of Siri with a new look and a less robotic voice.

There’s still no guarantee that these generative AI features will resonate well with consumers or work as advertised. After all, there are plenty of cases where generative AI apps go wrong. But if Google has its way and Gemini lives up to expectations, its Pixel phones will serve as a springboard to make it the next big thing among Android users. And maybe win over some Apple fans, too.

Email Daniel Howley at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.

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