Speaker 1: Initial thoughts on the Google Pixel three. What's going on?
Speaker 1: I'm Rich Tamiro. This is Rich on Tech. I just
Speaker 1: got out of Google's big event in New York City
Speaker 1: to unveil their new slate of products, including the Google
Speaker 1: Pixel three, the Google Home Hub, and the Pixel Slate.
Speaker 1: At the event, I got to go hands on with
Speaker 1: all the new devices, but in this podcast, I'm going
Speaker 1: to concentrate on the major new features of the Pixel
Speaker 1: three and my initial thoughts on the device. The Google
Speaker 1: Pixel remains one of my favorite smartphones. I review a
Speaker 1: lot of them, and I always say it's a boring phone,
Speaker 1: but in this case, it works. It doesn't have all
Speaker 1: the content creation features I enjoy on the iPhone, or
Speaker 1: the apps, or the slick integration of I Message, Apple
Speaker 1: Watch in FaceTime, but the Pixel definitely has the superior
Speaker 1: camera technology and mobile operating system. The Pixel three cranks
Speaker 1: everything up a notch. The design is very similar to
Speaker 1: what you had before, but you can hold these devices
Speaker 1: better in your hand. There's also wireless charging built in
Speaker 1: the screen seems to be better, and there is even
Speaker 1: a pair of USBC headphones in the box, a l
Speaker 1: E Luja. Now there are just two sizes the five
Speaker 1: point five inch and the six point three inch, and
Speaker 1: three colors clearly white, just black and not pink. Yeah,
Speaker 1: those are the names, and the not pink, by the way,
Speaker 1: looks pretty pink to me. The main difference is that
Speaker 1: the bigger model has a notch and the speakers on
Speaker 1: these devices are forty percent louder. Now many of the
Speaker 1: improvements with the Pixel three have to do with the camera.
Speaker 1: There are so many fun little camera tricks on this device.
Speaker 1: For starters, there's something called top Shot. This is sort
Speaker 1: of the live photo features on iPhone. Basically, they've had
Speaker 1: motion capture before on the Pixel but you couldn't really
Speaker 1: do anything with it except watch a little video of
Speaker 1: before and after you captured your photo. Now this new feature,
Speaker 1: top Shot, puts it.
Speaker 2: To good use.
Speaker 1: Basically, it's already snapping a bunch of shots while you
Speaker 1: take the picture, but you can now go back and
Speaker 1: pick a better picture than the one you originally snapped
Speaker 1: from a little film strip style of frames. Google will
Speaker 1: even use its artificial intelligence to suggest which frame you
Speaker 1: should actually switch to. That's a great little feature. Then
Speaker 1: there's something called super Zoom. This lets you zoom in
Speaker 1: on a shot and still get a clear image. Google
Speaker 1: again is using a burst of photos and runs them
Speaker 1: through an algorithm.
Speaker 2: To create a clearer picture.
Speaker 1: They say that similar technology was used to image the
Speaker 1: surface of Mars, and now this technology.
Speaker 2: Is in your pocket. Gotta love Google.
Speaker 1: The company also had some fun at Iphon's expense. They
Speaker 1: showed two photos taken at dusk, one on the iPhone
Speaker 1: ten s, the other on the Pixel three, and the
Speaker 1: iPhone photo was really dark, like not very good, while
Speaker 1: the Pixel photo was so bright it kind of looked
Speaker 1: like it was taken at an entirely different time, like
Speaker 1: during the day. Google says you'll never have to use
Speaker 1: your flash again with this feature, which they call night Sight.
Speaker 1: They say it'll work by a campfire or kind of
Speaker 1: a selfie in a bar, any dimly lit place. This
Speaker 1: feature is actually coming soon, it's not on the phone
Speaker 1: just yet. I rarely use a flash when I'm taking
Speaker 1: pictures on my Pixel, and to be honest, the only
Speaker 1: time it's ever turned on is when I hand my
Speaker 1: phone to someone to take a picture and they immediately
Speaker 1: turn it on like they found a big mistake on
Speaker 1: my device because it was turned off. I usually just
Speaker 1: smile and pretend it was my oversight, but in reality,
Speaker 1: you rarely need a flash on the pixel right now,
Speaker 1: So with this new night site feature, I think it's
Speaker 1: going to be really cool when it comes to taking
Speaker 1: pictures at night. Google also mentioned how Pixel users are
Speaker 1: often designated the official photographer at any event they attend,
Speaker 1: and I can definitely vouch for this.
Speaker 2: It happens to me all the time. Everyone knows that
Speaker 2: the Pixel.
Speaker 1: Captures great shots, but I find that people are still
Speaker 1: very reluctant to switch from the iPhone because they're in
Speaker 1: the ecosystem too deep, or they just don't want to
Speaker 1: bother with something that's new, and I totally understand this. Also,
Speaker 1: the iPhone is still an amazing overall device with lots
Speaker 1: of aspects of it that work nicely, while the Pixel
Speaker 1: is primarily focused on the camera and all of the
Speaker 1: cool artificial intelligence things you can do with it. Selfies
Speaker 1: are easier thanks to a new group selfie care. There
Speaker 1: are actually two lenses on the front of the Pixel
Speaker 1: three one is your typical one is a wider angle,
Speaker 1: and while you're taking a selfie, you can pop out
Speaker 1: to get a wider angle view and fit many more
Speaker 1: friends into the picture. I tried this out at the
Speaker 1: Pixel event. It's very substantial how much wider you can
Speaker 1: get on the front facing camera. There's also a new
Speaker 1: photo booth mode. This automatically takes pictures as you pose
Speaker 1: for the camera. Kind of reminds me of what Samsung
Speaker 1: has where you can hold your hand wide open in
Speaker 1: front of the phone and it will start taking a picture.
Speaker 1: This is very similar, except all you have to do
Speaker 1: is smile or make sort of any gesture that looks
Speaker 1: like you want to take a picture, and the photo
Speaker 1: booth kind of recognizes that and it will snap your
Speaker 1: pictures as many as you want. Now, in portrait mode,
Speaker 1: you can also edit the depth of field after the fact,
Speaker 1: or you can even pick what you want in your
Speaker 1: photo to be blurry and what you want to be
Speaker 1: in focus, and again you can change this after the fact,
Speaker 1: and you're no longer limited to Google Photos creating those
Speaker 1: color pops for you. You can now tap on any
Speaker 1: photo to make the subject in color and the background
Speaker 1: in black and white. If you had a previous picturel
Speaker 1: you knew about the augmented reality stickers, the AR stickers,
Speaker 1: well that was two techy for most people. They now
Speaker 1: call this playground. These are little animated objects that you
Speaker 1: can drop into your pictures. There's a bunch of new
Speaker 1: characters that actually interact with you on screen. For instance,
Speaker 1: I played with a cloud over my head. When I smiled,
Speaker 1: the cloud smiled. When I frowned, he started to rain.
Speaker 1: That was pretty cute. Then when iron Man was dropped
Speaker 1: into my selfie apparently Google has some new deal with Marvel.
Speaker 1: He would literally reposition himself to get into the camera
Speaker 1: frame and pose depending on my facial expressions. This is
Speaker 1: really cool stuff, again, all powered by AI, and it's
Speaker 1: not something that's going to make you purchase the phone,
Speaker 1: but it's kind of like the animojis on the iPhone.
Speaker 1: It's just an added benefit and you'll have a lot
Speaker 1: of phone with it, especially when you show your friends.
Speaker 1: One feature that parents and animal lovers will appreciate motion
Speaker 1: auto focus. You can now tap on a moving object
Speaker 1: in a photo and it will stay in focus. And
Speaker 1: since this is good Google and they're leaning heavily on
Speaker 1: artificial intelligence, you know that this feature is going to
Speaker 1: work really well. And as usual, all the pictures you
Speaker 1: take on the pixel will get you free unlimited storage
Speaker 1: in Google Photos for everything. You upload before February first,
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two. And yes, I know that everyone gets
Speaker 1: free unlimited storage in Google Photos, but this is for
Speaker 1: all of your pictures and videos at original resolution, which
Speaker 1: means yes, including four K.
Speaker 2: Take that iicloud.
Speaker 1: One thing I'm very happy that Google added to the
Speaker 1: pixel three is lens recognition for a variety of objects
Speaker 1: without having to enter a special mode. Yes, you can,
Speaker 1: finally just open the camera, point it at a QR code,
Speaker 1: any kind of text and email address, a web address,
Speaker 1: and more, and instantly a little button will pop up
Speaker 1: on the screen so you can follow the URL, navigate
Speaker 1: to the website, and search for more info. This is
Speaker 1: awesome and I think a lot of people are going
Speaker 1: to be pleasantly surprised at just how useful this can be.
Speaker 1: For instance, let's say you want to send someone an email.
Speaker 1: Instead of trying to type in their email address and
Speaker 1: making a bunch of mistakes, all you have to do
Speaker 1: is aim your phone at their business card, tap their
Speaker 1: email address, that pops up, and you are composing an
Speaker 1: email in seconds. I try this with my own business card.
Speaker 1: It is amazing. It is fast, it is accurate, and
Speaker 1: I really hope that people start to use these features
Speaker 1: more often. Speaking of email, Gmail Smart Composed feature is
Speaker 1: now on the Pixel three first. It will come to
Speaker 1: other mobile devices in Gmail, but they're giving it a
Speaker 1: little headstart on the Pixel three. This is the feature
Speaker 1: where Google uses artificial intelligence to help you write or
Speaker 1: finish sentences in Gmail. I use it a ton on
Speaker 1: my desktop Gmail, which by the way, is different from
Speaker 1: smart Replies. Those are just the three little replies you
Speaker 1: get at the bottom of your email when you reply
Speaker 1: to someone. This actually completes your sentences, and it's going
Speaker 1: to be interesting to see just how useful it is
Speaker 1: on mobile, Probably more useful than on the desktop because
Speaker 1: no one really wants to type on their mobile phone.
Speaker 1: It has gotten really good at helping me complete my
Speaker 1: thoughts and has definitely learned the way that I write
Speaker 1: and how I say things. So I'm looking forward to
Speaker 1: using the smart Composed feature more on my pixel now.
Speaker 1: Another new feature on pixel is called This is where
Speaker 1: you can just flip your pixel over and it goes
Speaker 1: into do not disturb mode. So this can be handy
Speaker 1: at a restaurant or a meeting where you don't want
Speaker 1: to have to fumble with the volume or vibrate or
Speaker 1: silent mode. All you gotta do is flip your phone
Speaker 1: over on the table and that's it.
Speaker 2: Super fast, highly effective, and if you've set.
Speaker 1: Up do not disturb properly, your most important calls or
Speaker 1: text will still come through if necessary. Speaking of calls,
Speaker 1: if you're frustrated with unwanted robo calls, telemarketers, or pr
Speaker 1: folks in my case, just kidding, Google has a new
Speaker 1: call screen feature that means you'll never have to pick
Speaker 1: up the phone for a number you don't know ever again.
Speaker 2: Hear me out on this one. It is so cool.
Speaker 1: When you get a phone call from a number you
Speaker 1: don't know, all you have to do is tap a
Speaker 1: button on the screen called screen call.
Speaker 2: Wait, say that ten times fast.
Speaker 1: The pixel will answer the call all by itself and
Speaker 1: then use an automated voice to gather information from the caller. Hi,
Speaker 1: your calling is using a screening service from Google, and
Speaker 1: we'll get a copy of this conversation. Go ahead and
Speaker 1: say why you're calling now as the caller speaks. This
Speaker 1: is the crazy part. You see a real time transcription
Speaker 1: on the screen, so you can decide if you want
Speaker 1: more information from that caller or if you just want
Speaker 1: to send the call to voicemail or market as spam.
Speaker 2: This is a really cool feature.
Speaker 1: I saw it demoed several times in depth at Google,
Speaker 1: and I just wanted to keep seeing this thing in
Speaker 1: action because this is very useful. It's kind of like
Speaker 1: having your own personal assistant screen your calls in real time,
Speaker 1: and at any time you can just pick up the
Speaker 1: call and talk to the person yourself.
Speaker 2: Love it.
Speaker 1: There's also a new Pixel stand for the Pixel three.
Speaker 1: This functions as a wireless charging DOC because the Pixel
Speaker 1: now has Chi wireless charging built in. Thankfully. The doc
Speaker 1: also has some fun little tricks like Google Assistant shortcuts
Speaker 1: on the screen, so with one tap you can perform
Speaker 1: actions that AI predicts, like calling someone or playing your
Speaker 1: favorite play. Also, music looks really cool when it's playing
Speaker 1: on the stand. You get all the album Martin stuff
Speaker 1: on the screen, and it will even show an ever
Speaker 1: changing array of photos while your phone is charging, sort
Speaker 1: of turning your phone into a digital photo frame.
Speaker 2: One cool demo I.
Speaker 1: Saw is that if you have a nest to low
Speaker 1: video doorbell and the Pixel three and the Pixel stand. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I know that's a lot of Google, but it happens
Speaker 1: when someone rings.
Speaker 2: Your video doorbell.
Speaker 1: The video stream will immediately show up on your Pixel
Speaker 1: screen without you doing anything, so you can see who's there.
Speaker 2: Overall, Google has addressed.
Speaker 1: Many of the major shortcomings of the last version of
Speaker 1: Pixel by adding wireless charging, a pair of headphones that
Speaker 1: just makes life easy in the box, and improve screen
Speaker 1: and better software features, all while continuing to build upon
Speaker 1: the core camera functionality, which is best in class. When
Speaker 1: I think Pixel, I think of a device that does
Speaker 1: a lot of the heavy lifting for you.
Speaker 2: Think about it.
Speaker 1: It's using AI to surface shortcuts for you so it
Speaker 1: can give you directions to your next meeting. It's finishing
Speaker 1: typing your emails for you. It's recognizing objects and text
Speaker 1: on screen and helping you effortlessly capture amazing looking pictures.
Speaker 1: The Pixel might not have the glitz and the glamour
Speaker 1: associated with iPhone, but it has a much more muted
Speaker 1: confidence for users knowing that they are getting a world
Speaker 1: class camera with cutting edge smarts built right in. The
Speaker 1: Pixel three is in stores October eighteenth for seven hundred
Speaker 1: ninety nine dollars. The Pixel XL starts at eight hundred
Speaker 1: ninety nine dollars. Again Verizon is the exclusive carrier, although
Speaker 1: all Pixels are sold unlocked for use on any carrier.
Speaker 1: You can also purchase the device from the Google Store online.
Speaker 1: This strange arrangement with Verizon is just one of the
Speaker 1: things holding back this device because there's a lot of
Speaker 1: confusion in the real world about the purchase process and
Speaker 1: also whether this device will work on various carriers. But overall,
Speaker 1: I think if you get a Pixel three, you're going
Speaker 1: to be very happy with this device if you're primarily
Speaker 1: interested in taking the best pictures and having sort of
Speaker 1: an effortless Android experience, which offers all the customization you
Speaker 1: can want in a smartphone.
Speaker 2: Thanks so much for listening to the podcast.
Speaker 1: If you want to see more of my coverage of
Speaker 1: the Google Pixel three, you can go to my website,
Speaker 1: rich on tech dot tv, or check the show notes.
Speaker 1: I'm Rich Demiro in New York City. Thanks so much
Speaker 1: for listening. Share this podcast with your friends if you
Speaker 1: learn something that is.
Speaker 2: The best way we can grow here.
Speaker 1: I'm Rich Demiro.
Speaker 2: I'll talk to you real soon.