Android 13, a cheap phone and even a smartwatch: what news did Google present?

Every spring, Google organizes the I/O event for developers, where it traditionally demonstrates the most important innovations of its services and the Android platform. At its fourteenth conference, which began on Wednesday, the news technology giant flashed more than ever, alongside the introduction of the Android 13 operating system update to the budget Pixel 6A smartphone, the advanced Pixel Buds Pro headphones and several devices that will debut later this year or next, including a smartwatch. . According to analysts, despite the relatively minor changes in Android 13, the innovations revealed at the event will have a significant impact on the entire technology market.

Google, which has been in the shadow of electronics manufacturers for a long time, has in recent years begun to actively shape trends in the smart device industry. Last year alone, this company managed to increase the sales of its Pixel devices by 56 percent. and become the third largest manufacturer of premium smartphones in the US. Google's main idea is to shift the focus from technical specifications to advanced software solutions in everyday electronic devices, and the new Android 13, Pixel 6A and Pixel Buds Pro are a big step towards realizing this vision," says " Urtė Rasimavičienė, sales manager of Telia's smart devices.

An extension of Android 12 works

In last year's Android 12 operating system update, Google introduced many important changes that owners of supported smartphones have already noticed in the user interface design and device performance. Therefore, it is not surprising that in this year's versionIn last year's Android 12 operating system update, Google introduced many important changes that owners of supported smartphones have already noticed in the user interface design and device performance. Therefore, it is not surprising that in this year's version of Android 13, the search giant decided not to make drastic changes and to continue the work started last year.

A good example of this is the Material You design language that debuted in Android 12. It made it possible to match the color of the entire user interface to the selected screen background with one click of a button. Android 13 expands these personalization options by allowing you to match the design of application icons to the screen image, and for those who don't want to, four system color themes independent of the screen background. The appearance of the playing music controller and sound adjustment menu has also been slightly changed," the expert says, also mentioning the "Wallet" application, which was brought back after many years. It will allow you to store payment and discount cards, personal identification documents, tickets and even car keys in one application.

According to U. Rasimavičienė, some such updates were also made under the "hood" of the system. The most important of them are the optimized display of applications on tablets and foldable phones and the ideal compatibility of different smart devices, borrowed from Apple's textbook. From now on, wireless headphones will be able to automatically connect to the device you are using at the time, and it will be possible to write messages simply using the tablet next to the smartphone. Additionally, user privacy has been improved - for the first time in Android history, Android 13 will require applications to grant permission to send messages and no longer have one general permission to access all multimedia files, but separate ones for each type of multimedia.

According to the representative of Telia, Android 13 and the innovations it provides will be first available to Google Pixel smartphone owners, who will receive the update in the fall of this year, and by the beginning of next year it will also reach phones from other manufacturers.

Pixel 6A - More brains, less muscle

"In 2019, Google unexpectedly struck a goldmine when it launched its first lower-priced 'A'-branded Pixel smartphone. Although these models had slightly lower technical specifications than their direct competitors, flagship-quality cameras and well-optimized software more than compensated for all these shortcomings for users and thus led to the enormous success of the Pixel A series," recalls U. Rasimavičienė.

However, this year's Pixel 6A tweaks the time-tested formula for success a bit. It, like its predecessors, has a simpler body and screen than the more expensive Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, but it does not inherit more advanced cameras from the latter. Instead, Google opted to pack the same old 12MP sensors on this phone as the previous Pixel A series models, and carry over the innovative Tensor chip from its flagships.

Thanks to the advanced image processing algorithms it provides, the Pixel 6A can capture even more impressive shots both during the day and in total darkness, even with camera sensors that are years old. In addition, Tensor's artificial intelligence capabilities even allow you to automatically highlight blurred faces in a photo, remove unwanted objects from it, or perform real-time text translation on WhatsApp and other apps without the need to copy it to Google Translate without high battery consumption.

Smart headphones and an intriguing "Wait for the sequel"

Ceremonially presented on the stage, the Pixel Buds Pro are the most luxurious headphones ever offered by the manufacturer, but priced cheaper than the competitors' analogues, with a set of smart functions built inside that require even a six-core processor. The most interesting and mysterious feature of the product is the sensors that measure the pressure in the ear canal, which should help to avoid wearing discomfort due to the resulting pressure.

It is also announced that the smart algorithms of the Pixel Buds Pro will be able to adjust the music equalizer settings in real time according to the sound of the music being played, and with the help of the built-in microphones, you can talk to those around you without removing the headphones from your ears. In addition, according to Google, these headphones will pair extremely quickly with Android phones and offer a long-lasting battery.

But Google fired up fans' imaginations even more by announcing a few more products coming in the second half of this year or next year. The first of them is the Pixel Watch smart watch, which has been in the news since 2019, when Google unexpectedly acquired Fitbit, a manufacturer of this type of device. As is typical of devices created by Google, the Pixel Watch features a minimalist design, consisting of a virtually borderless round screen and a crown-like button that blends into the barely noticeable body. All that we know other than the design is that the WearOS operating system will work on it, and the user will be able to change the bracelet", says U. Rasimavičienė.

Following the watch is an even more unexpected teaser - just six months after the debut of the Pixel 6 flagships, Google has decided to reveal the exterior design of their successor, the Pixel 7, which, to be honest, hasn't changed that much. However, the icing on the cake was the news that Google will launch the Pixel Tablet next year.

The Pixel 6A and other Google news presented on Wednesday seem to draw a line in the current era of technological development. The company successfully proves that complex and expensive hardware solutions can be almost completely replaced by machine learning and artificial intelligence. Such trends in the near future will possibly help to stop the increase in the price of electronic devices and provide them with more functions that facilitate our daily lives", - the Telia smart device sales manager summarizes the Google event.