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Made by Google event – live: Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel Watch 3 announced
The tech giant unveiled four new phones, the Pixel Watch 3, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 and new Gemini AI features
Google’s annual Made by Google presentation has come to a close. As anticipated, this year’s show was all about bringing Gemini AI to every corner of the Google product portfolio.
That includes the freshly unveiled Pixel 9 range, which this year includes a folding phone in the form of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. There’s also the new Pixel Watch 3 with much-improved workout tracking features, and the Pixel Buds Pro 2 (£219, Amazon.co.uk), which get a significant upgrade to active noise-cancellation, plus the ability to have ongoing chats with the Gemini assistant in your ear.
We also saw live on-stage demos of many of Gemini’s new features, like Pixel Screenshots, which lets the assistant effectively memorise and recall important information for you just by saving a screenshot. Magic Editor on Pixel 9 also gets an overhaul with more ways to use generative AI to improve your shots, reframe your subjects, add yourself into group shots and add goofy little details.
Our Made by Google liveblog rounds up some of the biggest updates and news from the event.
Google Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro Fold, Pixel Watch and more set to be unveiled
Good morning!
In seven hours, Google will take to the stage at its headquarters in California to show off some shiny new products, and we’ll be right there, ready to go hands-on with every new device.
What do we expect to see? Firstly, the Google Pixel 9 Pro and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold are already confirmed to be making an appearance at the event, but beyond that, the rumours suggest we could see a Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, as well as a Google Pixel Watch 3 and a new pair of Google Pixel Buds 2 Pro. We’ll be breaking down the latest rumours about the upcoming devices ahead of the event, so stay tuned.
How to watch the Made by Google ‘24 event
The Made by Google event takes place today on Tuesday, 13 August at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California. The keynote presentation and product announcement kicks off at 10am Pacific Time. That’s 6pm in the UK.
You can live stream the Made by Google keynote over on Google’s official YouTube channel, at the Google Store page, but for your convenience, we’ve popped the livestream below. It’ll go live at 6pm tonight.
What’s new with the Google Pixel 9?
Confirmed to make its debut at Made by Google, the Pixel 9 will be the newest phone in Google’s series of flagship Android devices.
This year’s Pixel is getting a big redesign. Gone is the full-width camera bar, replaced by a more traditional camera island. The pill-shaped lens array is almost as wide as the phone and comprises a wide and ultrawide camera. Like last year’s phones, the Pro model includes a telephoto camera for long-distance shooting.
Leaked details suggest that Google will launch a smaller version of the Pixel 9 Pro this year, squeezing all of the features and functionality of the more advanced Pixel into a phone the size of the entry-level Pixel 9.
As you might expect, the Pixel 9 range will be the first to run on Google’s newest Tensor G4 processor. We have a full round-up of the Pixel 9 rumours if you want to know more.
Google Pixel 9 launch: When to pre-order, new features and more
Google’s expected to reveal the Pixel 9 series at the Made by Google event
Android 15 (and more Gemini AI features)
Google has gradually been improving its on-device Gemini AI experience in recent months, and it’s expected that we’ll see even more functionality announced as part of the imminent Android 15 operating system update.
The AI-powered assistant is now better at handling tasks like smart home controls, and leaks have suggested that Gemini AI on Pixel 9 will be able to do things like remember event details and recall things you’ve previously viewed on your phone, like gift ideas and travel plans.
There are also reports that the Magic Editor tool will get closer integration with Gemini AI, allowing you to change photos using voice commands, adding new backgrounds, moving people around the frame or even adding people who weren’t there.
We’ve arrived at Google HQ
Hello from beautiful, sunny Mountain View, California!
I’ll be your incredibly jetlagged reporter on the ground, covering all the news and launches during the Made by Google keynote presentation. The fun kicks off at 10am Pacific Time (that’s 6pm in the UK), so stick around for more updates as they happen.
The show’s about to begin
We’re just a few minutes away from kick-off time at Made by Google, where we’re expecting to see a whole batch of new Pixel phones announced. Also rumoured is a new Pixel Watch, all manner of Gemini AI wizardry and more. Strap yourselves in.
Rick Osterloh takes to the stage
Google’s senior veep of products Rick Osterloh is introducing the show.
“We’re fully in the Gemini era,” he says. Google’s AI is the big headline act this year. The tech giant is bringing Gemini smarts to every corner of the product portfolio, from Pixel phones and search to Google’s smart home devices.
Gemini with Android
We’re on to Android phones now.
Gemini has been rolling out to Android phones around the world, with a new user interface designed to replace the Google Assistant entirely.
Integrations with Google Keep, Google Drive and the full suite of Google products will allow Gemini to grab your data and give more personalised and useful responses.
Gemini in action
Google is bravely giving a live demonstration of Gemini in action. No pre-recorded shenanigans here.
In time-honoured tradition for this sort of thing, there were some tech gremlins to deal with. It took three attempts and a subbed-in Pixel phone to get the assistant to pay any attention. It at least proves we’re seeing a live demonstration.
Once Gemini woke up though, we saw an impressive integration with Google Tasks and Google Calendar. The assistant can pull personalised information from across many of your Google apps to give you useful responses and do things like create diary entries, set tasks, reminders and updates.
You can also point Gemini at a cooking video on YouTube and create a shopping list of all the ingredients mentioned. Very nice.
Gemini Live
Google has just unveiled Gemini Live, a new way to interact with the AI simply by having a back and forth conversation with it.
It’s similar to ChatGPT’s conversation mode, and uses an eerily realistic sounding human voice to respond to your questions in real-time. The new free-flowing conversation mode with Gemini Live is rolling out to Gemini Advanced subscribers from today,