After smart phones, laptops or wireless Bluetooth headphones, Google on Wednesday added a connected watch to its Pixel product line as part of a strategy to make its services accessible at all times on a variety of devices. .
The Alphabet subsidiary has already developed operating software for connected watches from other brands, but this time designed and made its own thing.
The watch, called the Pixel Watch, was unveiled at the annual Google I / O conference, organized by the tech giant in San Francisco, where the group also hung up a new tablet, showcased a new version of its headphones and showed a more affordable model of its smart phone.
Using artificial intelligence, the cloud and computer chips built for the occasion, Pixel range devices are intended to be easy to coordinate, explains Google’s head of devices and services, Rich Osterloh.
All of these things work together according to our perspective on ambient computinghe explained in a press presentation.
The Google watch will launch in the fall.
This will include health -related applications from Fitbit connected watches, a brand of connected items that specializes in physical activity. Google announced its acquisition for 2.1 billion US dollars (2.7 billion Canadian dollars) in 2019, with the goal of better competing with the Apple watch, a transaction that ended in 2021.
The Pixel Watch can sync with other devices using Android operating software or can have its own internet connection.
The group will also bring to market in the coming months a new version of its smartphone, the Pixel 7, with prices and features that still need to be detailed.
A smaller version of the Pixel 6 unveiled last year, the Pixel 6a, will be available on July 28 at a price of 580 Canadian dollars, in conjunction with the new Pixel Buds Pro earphones, equipped with an active ambient noise cancellation system. , at 260 Canadian dollars.
Google is also making a new tablet that should be released next year, the group believes the segment of large-screen portable devices remains interesting despite declining demand.
While Google’s search engine is extremely dominant and its operating software, Android, powers most smart phones in the world, the products the group itself has made are struggling to garner market share.
We work on many projects in the Pixel range and this represents investments in all types of technologymentioned by Rich Osterloh.
It’s like an iceberg, he says. Until now, You didn’t quite see what was going on beneath the surface but now you can start to see everything coming out.
Alphabet boss Sundar Pichai for his part gave an overview of the augmented reality glasses that Google makes, giving some details but showing how they can translate conversations in real time or display transcript.
On the software side, Google has introduced new artificial intelligence features that allow, for example, more conversations natural with his voice assistant. The group also added 24 languages to Google Translate, including Bambara, Lingala and Quechua, bringing translation possibilities to 133 languages.
Google users will now also be able to search by combining images captured by smartphones, voice or text prompts, for example, filming the chocolate bar aisle while asking which brands are nut-free. .
Source: Radio-Canada
