When Google released its first Android smartphone in 2008, the company’s founders slid onstage in roller skates. One of them, Larry Page, said the device was as advanced as a computer had been a few years before.

Executives left the skates behind but kept to the tone of that pitch: Google crammed all the cutting-edge technology it could into the latest Pixel phones. The devices are chock-full of artificial intelligence, to let users engage with a conversational assistant, edit people into photos and search for information found in their screenshots, the company said in blog posts.

Google is hoping the features will help the four new phones — including the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro and the double-wide Pixel 9 Fold — finally overcome consumer apathy to its smartphone ambitions. It is Google’s latest attempt to make a splash in a smartphone market dominated by its partner Samsung, as well as by Apple, which has already detailed the AI capabilities coming to the next generation of iPhones.

Google’s effort to make itself a significant player in consumer hardware has been an uphill climb. It has about 5 per cent of the smartphone market in the US and generally less than that in other major markets, like Britain, Germany and India, according to Statista.

The company gets most of its revenue from advertising on its search engine and YouTube video platform. Recently, a federal judge ruled that Google had acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in online search, in a decision that could upend the company’s lucrative business model. Google said it would appeal the decision and “remain focused on making products that people find helpful”.

Google has tried to use the excitement around generative AI chatbots and features to reset the competition. In April, Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive, announced that he was merging its teams that develop Android with those that engineer Pixel devices and other hardware. The hope was that combining the two would make it easier to incorporate more AI into the products and speed up decision-making. Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro XL launched on August 22 and the other two will launch on September 4.

Google suggested that its AI features would arrive sooner than Apple’s, which said it would add AI to its smartphones by this fall. Rick Osterloh, Google’s senior vice-president who oversees hardware and Android, said he understood “people’s skepticism” when it comes to the rollout of AI.

“There have been so many promises, so many ‘coming soons’ and not enough real-world helpfulness when it comes to AI,” Osterloh said, “which is why today, we’re getting real. We have lots of live demos of products, features and AI experiences that are starting to ship with Android and our new Pixel devices.”

Google said that the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which has two screens — one outside and a wider screen when unfolded — would bring users “the best of Google’s AI”. The device starts at $1,799 while the rest of the lineup starts from $799 to $1,099, the final price depending on size and specifications.

While Google’s share of the smartphone market is small, it has recently made some strides. The company’s 4.6 per cent of the smartphone market in 2023 was up from 3.6 per cent a year earlier, according to research firm IDC.

The company showcased Pixel Watch 3 and Pixel Buds Pro 2, headphones incorporating the company’s Tensor A1 computer chips. Google said they were designed for its AI and advanced audio processing.

The company is hoping that its latest product blitz will be helped by its AI. It has incorporated its Gemini chatbot, formerly named Bard, into the Android operating system.

One service, Gemini Live, will allow phone users to have audio conversations with the chatbot and ask complex questions or learn what kinds of jobs might be suited to their skill set and degree, the company said. It is available to those who pay to subscribe to Gemini. Google said it would give phone customers a free year of its premium AI plan for access to more features.

Gemini will also connect with new apps in the coming weeks, including Calendar, Tasks and more features on YouTube Music, to make it a more helpful assistant.

Google acknowledged that all these efforts would bring AI deeper into users’ private lives. It said that it would safeguard their data by not sharing it with other companies and give users control over what Gemini can have access to.

“We’re infusing AI into everything we do,” wrote Sameer Samat, Google’s president of the Android Ecosystem.

NYTNS