Google on Monday unveiled a new flagship Pixel smartphone powered by its first mobile chip to put artificial intelligence in people's hands.

Pixel 6 models set for release later this year, with superfast 5G wireles capability, will debut Google's own Tensor chip crafted along the lines of processors it made for data centers to enable computers to think more like people do.

"It's basically a mobile system on a chip designed around artificial intelligence," Google devices senior vice president Rick Osterloh said during a briefing at the company's headquarters in Silicon Valley.

"We're really excited about it. We're setting the stage to really grow the business."

Google's Pixel line has captured scant share in a global smartphone market dominated by Samsung, Apple and Chinese manufacturers.

Pixel phones have been seen as a way for Google to showcase the capabilities of its free Android mobile operating system, setting a standard for other smartphone makers.

"We've always thought about our hardware products in the context of driving computing forward," said Google chief executive Sundar Pichai.

"Our custom Google Tensor chip, which has been four years in the making and builds off of two decades of Google's computing experience, does exactly that."

The Pixel 6 hardware and software mix ramps up the smartphone's ability to understand what people say in another step toward a future of "ambient computing," according to Osterloh.

The phrase refers to being able to access the internet or computing power conversationally at any time as portrayed in the 2013 science fiction romance film "Her."

"It's basically this notion that you should be able to naturally interact with computers all around you," Osterloh said.

"We see the mobile phone being the center of that for the foreseeable future."

The smarter chip was also put to work improving photo and video capabilities in a nod to hot trends in sharing images and short-form snippets online, a demonstration showed.

An array of sensors for photography are in a band on the back of the smartphone, with the Pixel 6 having a 6.4 inch, edge-to-edge screen and the Pro model being slightly larger.

Google's shift to Tensor comes as the world faces a global chip shortage that has hobbled production of products ranging from cars to computers.

"In some ways, it's fortunate in that we kind of control our own destiny," Osterloh said of the chip crunch.

"We think we can manage through it and see it getting better toward the end of the year."

The Pixel 6 release date and pricing were not disclosed.

Related Links
Computer Chip Architecture, Technology and Manufacture
Nano Technology News From SpaceMart.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Concepts for the development of German quantum computers
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jul 14, 2021
The DLR Quantum Computing Initiative has now been launched. Around 50 concepts have already been submitted to the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR), and more are being prepared. In their concepts, companies, start-ups and research institutions set out the future challenges that they foresee in the field of quantum computing. DLR had asked interested market participants to put forward their ideas for the development of a quantum computing ecosystem. This proce ... read more