- Google Execs has spoken hardware after the Pixel 10 -Launch
- Turn phones, smart rings and tablets are not on the way
- The company concentrates on phones and AI instead
We have just been treated with a number of new Google Pixel devices, including four different Pixel 10 phones, but we also have news about Google devices that are not coming -including a flip that is foldable and a sequel of the pixel tablet from 2023.
In a speech with Mark Gurman and Samantha Kelly at Bloomberg, Google’s vice president of devices and services Shakil Barkat confirmed that there are no plans for a Google Flip that is foldable to participate in the Pixel 10 Pro Fold.
Barkat also excluded a smart ring and says the Pixel Tablet series is on the break until a “meaningful future” can be considered the product category. It seems that Samsung will be left to release that kind of units for the time being.
The status of smart glasses is meanwhile “TBD” – it seems that Google is happy to stay focused for now. “Each time a new type of category of product is added, the end user maintenance continues,” says Barkat. “It’s already pretty painful.”
“Vanguard” by AI
Google Execs also used the interview to hype what they are working on. Rick Osterloh, head of Google’s hardware and Android departments, described Pixel 10 as a “super strong release” in what is now a “mature category”.
Pixel 11 is almost completed, apparently, while the work has started on Pixel 12. Google Design Chief Ivy Ross says the company is aiming for major visual changes to the pixel phones “every two to three years” – so see this space.
As you would expect, the Google team pushed AI as being the great innovation that will happen on phones over the next few years, via Gemini and features like Magic Cue, surfaces key info from your phone when you need it.
Osterloh says he wants Android to be “on the voice where AI goes” and that Google is not too worried about pixel sales: The phones account for approx. 3% of the US market currently compared to a 49% share of Apple.
