Google Pixel 9 launch event live coverage: all the news

There’s one thing about the just-announced Google Pixel 9 that’s hard to convey in photos — its camera bar is prominent. Bigger than ever before. It’s roughly as thick as two US quarters stacked together — nearly a third as thick as the entire rest of the phone. It’s so big even the vanilla Pixel 9 is now roughly as thick as a “Pro” iPhone, with a far more prominent camera module.

I’ve never felt a bump quite like it, but I don’t hate it! I argued in 2022 that Google’s camera bar was a good thing: the first major smartphone design element that’s truly Google’s own. In an era when most everyone’s phone is a simple rounded rectangle, it’s a playful way to stand out, giving the phone a cute robot face.

At Google’s gadget launch this week, it took almost half an hour before Google actually talked about its new gadgets. There’s a lot to be excited about inside the new Pixel 9 lineup and the Pixel Watch 3, but Google’s event made its true priorities clear. AI matters more to Google than Pixel, more than Android, more than just about anything.

On this episode of The Vergecast, we talk about all of Google’s AI announcements, and what they might mean for how you use your devices going forward. Is this a paradigm shift? Since so much of Google’s focus is on the Pixel’s camera, we also talk about the ongoing “what is a photo” apocalypse, and whether what we’re capturing is even photos anymore.

Google’s Tuesday event was ostensibly about Pixel hardware. Really, it was about AI.

Google’s Rick Osterloh made that clear from the moment he walked onstage, where his initial remarks focused a lot more on Google’s artificial intelligence efforts than devices:

In between the reveal of new Pixel phones and AI features at its event today, Google snuck in a few burns targeted at Apple. Some were subtle — others far from it.

While it’s not uncommon for companies like Google to draw comparisons to competitors during big events like this, Google seemed to sprinkle references to Apple all throughout its showcase. Maybe that’s because Google has become especially competitive in the AI industry, which Apple has only just barely begun to dip into.

At its most recent Made by Google event, the monopolistic search giant announced four new phones: the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold. This is more phones than Google has ever sold at once — especially when you throw in the midrange Pixel 8A from May — making the decision on which to get somewhat confusing.

So, we thought it might be helpful to explain the key differences and similarities between the four new models and succinctly lay out all the finer specs for you to peruse. Hopefully, this will help you choose between the new Pixels, which are set to launch in waves on August 22nd and September 4th.

Apparently, turning the cliched “enhance!” meme into reality wasn’t as easy as Google might have initially expected. Today, the company confirmed in a blog post that Zoom Enhance is finally rolling out to the Pixel 8 Pro and will also be present on the Pixel 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL, and 9 Pro Fold at launch.

Google announced the AI-powered Zoom Enhance during last year’s Made by Google event, but we’ve made it all the way to a new generation of phones, and only now is the software feature ready for release. “When you pinch in, Zoom Enhance can intelligently sharpen and enhance the details of your images, so you can get closer than ever, even when you forget to zoom” is how Google’s hardware chief, Rick Osterloh, explained the feature last October.

Now that Google has officially announced the Pixel Watch 3 after a deluge of leaks and rumors, Android users have even more wearables to choose from. Google’s latest smartwatch will arrive on September 10th and start at $349.99, with the last-gen Pixel Watch 2 hanging around for $249.99. Sadly, Google has dropped the original model from its lineup, though you can still buy it on sale from third-party retailers.

With almost identical names and similar domed displays, it can be confusing to distinguish which watch is which — never mind which to buy. Yet, they’re more different than they appear, with each wearable offering more features and capabilities than its predecessor. The new Pixel Watch 3 offers several advanced running features, for instance, along with a 45mm configuration that’s likely the best option for those with larger wrists. Nonetheless, if price is your main concern, the last-gen model still has plenty to offer.

A week ago, I was on a three-day road trip when all the audio cut out in my car. From podcasts to directions — even the turn signal wasn’t clicking. My copilot struggled to find a solution via Google. It took me at least five minutes. Today, it took Gemini Live, the just-keep-talking-to-it version of Google’s voice assistant, about 15 seconds to come up with a solution that worked. Naturally, the moment felt magical. In The Verge’s first interaction with the assistant, rolling out today, it felt like the promised cleverness of digital assistants is finally being delivered.

But then Gemini Live kept talking. And talking. The Verge team was packed in a glass booth, and as Gemini Live droned on, a friendly Google employee encouraged me to “go ahead and interrupt it.”

Google just wrapped up its Made by Google hardware event, where we got an official look at the refreshed Pixel 9 lineup and updates across Google’s other devices. Even though the Pixel event confirmed many of the leaks we’ve seen over the past several weeks, Google still shared some announcements we haven’t heard about yet.

Here’s a roundup of all the exciting news from Google’s Pixel 9 event.

Google announced a new image generation app during its Pixel 9 event today. The company says the app, called Pixel Studio, will come preinstalled on every Pixel 9 device.

Pixel Studio, much like Apple’s forthcoming Image Playground app that’s set to roll out on iOS 18 at some point after the operating system launches, lets you create an image from a prompt. Users can edit images after the fact, using the prompt box to add or subtract elements and change the feel or style of the picture.

Google has announced Pixel Screenshots, a new AI-powered app for its Pixel 9 lineup that lets you save, organize, and surface information from screenshots. Pixel Screenshot uses Google’s private, on-device Gemini Nano AI model to analyze the content of an image and make it searchable.

During a demo at its Pixel launch event, Google showed how you can take a screenshot and then save it to a collection, like “gift ideas.” You can also search through all your other screenshots by typing in a keyword, like “bikes” or “shoes.” Pixel Screenshots will then pull up all relevant results.

Google is following Apple in launching a way to use your phone to communicate via a satellite in an emergency. During its big Pixel 9 reveal event on Tuesday, the company shared details of Satellite SOS, which will let you contact emergency responders and share your location when you don’t have cellular service.

The new Pixel 9 lineup will be the first Android phones to be able to use Satellite SOS, Google’s Brian Rakowski said onstage. (Google partnered with Skylo on the feature.) The feature launches first in the US “regardless of your carrier plan,” Rakowski said, though it won’t be available in Hawaii and Alaska, per a support page. According to fine print shown during Google’s livestream, the service will be included “at no additional charge for the first two years after activation of devices.”