Google brings live translation for phone calls and tons more AI to Pixel 10 series
The Google Pixel 10 series is officially out and, to no one's surprise, numerous AI features are packed into the new phones.
The event took a very different approach from previous keynotes, by bringing on a whole lot of star power to explain how people can use AI features on their Pixel devices in everyday life. Usefulness was definitely the theme of this year's Made By Google event.
Rick Osterloh, senior VP of devices and services, described today's offerings as "personal intelligence," referring to the ways Google's various AI features cater to users' individual lives. Osterloh also mentioned an "agentic universal AI assistant" coming later this year, so stay tuned for news on AI features designed to be more proactive and do tasks on your behalf.
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With the help of Jimmy Fallon, podcast mogul Alex Cooper, YouTube star Karen Polinesia, and others, Google showed off some sleek demos of the Pixel 10 series' AI features. Here's a roundup of the major features announced today.
Voice translate
One of the more exciting live demos was the Google Pixel 10's new Voice Translate feature, which translates conversations in real-time. Fallon and Polinesia held a live conversation where Fallon spoke in English and Polinesia spoke in Spanish, and the Pixel 10 translated the conversation, matching their voices and tones.
This is similar to a live translation in the Meet feature Google launched at I/O last spring. However, while that feature required a Google AI Premium subscription, Voice Translate is freely available on Pixel 10 phones thanks to a combination of AI models powered by the Tensor G5 chip. This also means translations are processed on device, keeping your conversations private.
Magic Cue
Think of Magic Cue as an AI assistant that proactively finds information you might need to look up. It works across apps like Gmail, Calendar, Screenshots, and Messages to suggest relevant information. The live demo showed how a question about where to meet for dinner pulled up information about a preexisting dinner reservation in Fallon's calendar and recommended the message to send. This also worked with flight info and photos.
We anticipate that some users might find these "helpful" suggestions a little too invasive, so Google says you can turn Magic Cue off and control what apps it has access to.
AI features for the Google Pixel 10 camera
For those who strive to be more creative, why not outsource all the creativity to your phone? That was definitely the message Google sent when demo-ing new AI features for the Pixel 10 series camera.
Ask Gemini for photo editing help: With Cooper's help, Google showed how you can edit photos by typing directions in Gemini, like fix the lighting or the framing and voila, a perfect photo every time.
Camera Coach: If you're trying to take the perfect shot, but don't know where to start, Google also introduced something called Camera Coach. You could experiment with different angles, lighting, and frames yourself to develop your own personal photography style, or you could let Camera Coach tell you what to do. With this setting, Camera Coach guides you with different shot options and then gives you step-by-step instructions on how to achieve that shot.
Pixel Journal
This one wasn't announced during the live event, but it's sure to be polarizing. Pixel Journal is a journaling app, like the one Apple introduced a few years ago, but with an AI boost. The app uses "on-device AI to give you writing prompts that help you process your thoughts, and it offers insights into your patterns and progress over time," said the announcement. So if you're struggling to share your thoughts, just ask AI to write them for you.
We can imagine how this could be helpful for people trying to get started with journaling, but it also seems a little dystopian to have AI do it on your behalf. Isn't the point of journaling about learning to articulate your feelings? It's unclear exactly how involved Google's AI gets in your journaling practice, so we're definitely keeping an eye on this one.
Ask AI to take a Message
Google has continued to build on call screening features for the Pixel, and now that comes with asking AI to take a message. The feature, aptly named Take a Message, will transcribe any voicemails from missed calls and provide any next steps from the message.
Google AI Pro subscription
If you buy a Pixel 10 Pro, Pro XL, or 10 Pro Fold, Google will give you a full year of its AI subscription, Google AI Pro. Google's lower tier subscription normally costs $20 a month and gets you more premium access to Google's various AI tools. This includes access to more advanced Gemini models, Google's AI filmmaking tool Flow, its podcast-style teaching tool Notebook LM, Gemini Gmail, Docs, other Google apps, and more.
Topics Artificial Intelligence Google
Cecily is a tech reporter at Mashable who covers AI, Apple, and emerging tech trends. Before getting her master's degree at Columbia Journalism School, she spent several years working with startups and social impact businesses for Unreasonable Group and B Lab. Before that, she co-founded a startup consulting business for emerging entrepreneurial hubs in South America, Europe, and Asia. You can find her on X at @cecily_mauran.
