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Google rolls out Pixel 9 phones earlier than usual as AI race with Apple heats up

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Google rolls out Pixel 9 phones earlier than usual as AI race with Apple heats up
News

News

Google rolls out Pixel 9 phones earlier than usual as AI race with Apple heats up

2024-08-14 03:40 Last Updated At:03:50

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — Google on Tuesday unveiled its next generation of Pixel phones, providing the maker of Android software a head start on the next iPhone in the race to bring more artificial-intelligence services to devices that have become people’s constant companions.

The showcase held near Google’s Mountain View, California, headquarters took place two months earlier than when the company typically rolls out the next models in its Pixel phone line-up, which made its debut eight years ago.

Although Pixel phones still represent a sliver of worldwide smartphone sales, they are still closely watched because they serve as Google’s platform for demonstrating the latest advances in the Android operating system that powers virtually every phone not made by Apple.

And Google left little doubt that the Pixel 9 phones are meant to be a vessel for the AI technology that is expected to reshape the way people live and work, just as smartphones in general have done over the past 15 years.

“We are obsessed with the idea that AI can make life easier and more productive for people,” Rick Osterloh, a Google senior vice president who oversees the Pixel phones, said Tuesday.

That's similar to the theme Apple is accentuating as it prepares to make AI a centerpiece of the iPhone.

That moment is expect to arrive shortly after Labor Day when Apple traditionally takes the wraps off its next iPhone. The next model, the iPhone 16, is expected to be a big attraction because it will be equipped with the special chip needed to run a suite of AI features. Those features are designed to make Apple's virtual assistant Siri smarter and perform a wide variety of other tasks that the company is promising will bring more joy to people's lives, while still protecting their privacy.

But Apple's plans for AI remain hazier than Google's vision, and Google is also rolling it out more broadly, including on Samsung phones powered by Android, said Emarketer analyst Grace Harmon. That may increase the pressure on Apple next month when it unveils the next iPhone.

Not surprisingly, the Pixel 9 lineup is also packed with AI technology, a shift that the Google began last October when it released that year’s model. This generation of phones will be the first centered around the Gemini technology that’s become the focal point of its push into AI.

Just as Apple is aiming to do with Siri, Google has designed its Gemini assistant to be more conversational, providing it with a range of 10 different human-like voices. It's able to handle even more tasks, especially if users are willing to give it access to email and other documents.

In another move mirroring Apple, Google is equipping the Pixel 9 lineup with a special chip enabling many AI-powered services to be handled on the device instead of remote data centers, with the aim of boosting personal privacy and security.

In on-stage demonstrations Tuesday, the Gemini assistant speaking in a voice called “Ursa” was able to come up with helpful ideas for a fun way to use invisible ink when asked to come up with creative ideas.

But the Gemini assistant also stumbled when shown a picture of a poster for singer Sabrina Carpenter, and when asked to let the questioner know when she was performing a concert in the area. After coming up blank on the first two requests, the Gemini assistant provided the requested information.

The Pixel 9 phones also will feature “Magic Editor,” AI technology capable of completely transforming pictures by quickly and seamlessly adding a person who wasn’t in the original photo, or by altering the photo's landscape or background.

The more advanced Gemini Assistant will require a $20 monthly subscription that will be free for one year for all buyers of the next Pixel 9 phones, which will begin shipping Aug. 22 before becoming more widely available next month. The $240 benefit that Google is offering with a free one-year subscription to its Gemini Advanced service makes it more likely Apple won't be able to charge for its suite of AI services, Emarketer's Harmon said.

The standard Pixel 9 will sell for $800, a $100 increase from last year, while the Pixel 9 Pro will sell for $1,000 or $1,100, depending on the size. The next generation of a foldable Pixel phone that Google introduced last year will sell for $1,800.

The event also signaled that Google intends to conduct business as usual even as its internet empire is being threatened by a judge’s recent decision declaring its dominant search engine to be an illegal monopoly.

The landmark ruling will trigger another round of court hearings to determine the measures that Google must take to create a more competitive market – a process that could result in Google being banned from engaging in some deals or, in the drastic scenario, being ordered to spin off its Android software or relinquish other key pillars bolstering the nearly $2 trillion market value of its corporate parent, Alphabet Inc.

Besides its latest phones, Google also took aim at several other popular Apple products with its next Pixel Watch and wireless earbuds.

FILE - A sign is displayed on a Google building at their campus in Mountain View, Calif., on Sept. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

FILE - A sign is displayed on a Google building at their campus in Mountain View, Calif., on Sept. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A$AP Rocky turned down a final prosecution plea offer of 180 days in jail, risking the possibility of a guilty verdict and years in prison as jury selection began at his trial on Tuesday.

The agreement offered to the 36-year-old hip-hop star, fashion mogul and actor was to plead guilty to one of two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. Los Angeles County prosecutors would also recommend a seven-year suspended sentence, three years of probation and the six-month jail term.

But Rocky, whose legal name is Rakim Mayers, told a judge he respectfully declined.

He is accused of firing at a former friend near a Hollywood hotel in 2021, and could get a maximum sentence of 24 years in prison if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty.

Rocky's attorney Joe Tacopina also revealed for the first time in court Tuesday that the defense plans to call witnesses to testify that a firearm seen on a security video is a starter pistol that Rocky carried as a prop for security.

A panel of more than 100 prospective jurors were summoned to the downtown Los Angeles courtroom and packed into the gallery. Opening statements will come once 12 of them and alternates are seated. That won't be until at least Wednesday, when selection is set to resume. Cameras will be allowed in the courtroom starting with openings.

The Grammy-nominated hip-hop star's longtime partner is Rihanna, and the couple have two toddler sons together. Tacopina suggested that it's unlikely the pop star will show up in court.

Rocky has been named one of the celebrity chairs of the Met Gala in May, and has a major role in a Spike Lee-directed film with Denzel Washington to be released soon after. But his life could be upended with a conviction.

Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold has said he hopes to seat a jury quickly, and is keeping strict limits on how long attorneys can question prospective jurors.

“Mr. Mayers is an entertainer," Arnold told the prospective jurors. "His stage name is A$AP rocky. His life partner is also an entertainer. Her name is Rihanna. Because Mr. Mayers is an entertainer, a celebrity, that cannot harm him, and it cannot benefit him."

Of the initial 12 jurors questioned, four said they knew who Rocky was, and 10 said they knew who Rihanna was.

In 2023, another judge ruled after a preliminary hearing that Rocky should stand trial on charges that he fired a gun at Terell Ephron, a childhood friend who testified that their relationship had soured and a feud came to a head on the night of Nov. 6, 2021. Ephron testified that bullets grazed his knuckles.

Initial questioning on Tuesday revealed that the recent Los Angeles-area wildfires have affected many of the potential jurors' lives, including one woman who is fostering many displaced animals, and at least one man who had to evacuate. The judge himself revealed he had to evacuate from his home for 11 days.

“Luckily the house didn’t burn down," Arnold said.

One man was excused early in the process because he said his anti-gun feelings were too strong for him to be fair.

Tacopina tried to explore the potential jurors' feelings about hip-hop artists and their music, and several said they had negative feelings, though not overwhelming ones. Some cited parenting as the reason.

“I used to love it but then I had a kid,” one panelist said.

Deputy District Attorney John Lewin, questioning for the prosecution, told those with negative feelings, “You will not be called upon to render a verdict on how you feel about rap music, do you understand that?" All said yes.

Tacopina, who like his client Rocky is from New York and has represented President Donald Trump, also asked whether anyone on the jury is rubbed the wrong way by New Yorkers, bringing laughs throughout the room.

“When I get up here with this ridiculous accent, which I try not to have but I do, is anyone going to have a problem?" he said. “I will point out that we gave you guys the Dodgers a few years ago.”

No one conceded any negative feelings.

“I love LA," the lawyer added.

FILE - A$AP Rocky, left, and Rihanna attend The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala in New York on Sept. 13, 2021. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - A$AP Rocky, left, and Rihanna attend The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala in New York on Sept. 13, 2021. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Rapper A$AP Rocky at Pre-Grammy Gala And Salute To Industry Icons in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Feb. 9, 2019. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Rapper A$AP Rocky at Pre-Grammy Gala And Salute To Industry Icons in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Feb. 9, 2019. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Rapper A$AP Rocky appears in a Los Angeles Superior courtroom on Aug. 17, 2022, where he pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool, File)

FILE - Rapper A$AP Rocky appears in a Los Angeles Superior courtroom on Aug. 17, 2022, where he pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool, File)

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