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October 9, 2018 12 mins
Initial thoughts on the Google Pixel 3 including a look at the major new camera features, plus a crazy new call screening feature that helps you avoid unwanted calls with a little help from artificial intelligence!Blog post:http://richontech.tv/2018/10/google/initial-thoughts-on-google-pixel-3/Follow Rich on Social Media:Facebook: http://facebook.com/RichOnTechTwitter: http://twitter.com/richdemuroInstagram: http://instagram.com/richontech Easy ways to listen on your phone or smart speaker:"Hey Google, Play the Rich on Tech Podcast""Hey Siri, Play the Rich on Tech Podcast""Alexa, Enable the Rich on Tech Flash Briefing"

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Initial thoughts on the Google Pixel three. What's going on?
I'm Rich Tamiro. This is Rich on Tech. I just
got out of Google's big event in New York City
to unveil their new slate of products, including the Google
Pixel three, the Google Home Hub, and the Pixel Slate.
At the event, I got to go hands on with
all the new devices, but in this podcast, I'm going
to concentrate on the major new features of the Pixel

(00:26):
three and my initial thoughts on the device. The Google
Pixel remains one of my favorite smartphones. I review a
lot of them, and I always say it's a boring phone,
but in this case, it works. It doesn't have all
the content creation features I enjoy on the iPhone, or
the apps, or the slick integration of I Message, Apple
Watch in FaceTime, but the Pixel definitely has the superior

(00:47):
camera technology and mobile operating system. The Pixel three cranks
everything up a notch. The design is very similar to
what you had before, but you can hold these devices
better in your hand. There's also wireless charging built in
the screen seems to be better, and there is even
a pair of USBC headphones in the box, a l
E Luja. Now there are just two sizes the five

(01:09):
point five inch and the six point three inch, and
three colors clearly white, just black and not pink. Yeah,
those are the names, and the not pink, by the way,
looks pretty pink to me. The main difference is that
the bigger model has a notch and the speakers on
these devices are forty percent louder. Now many of the
improvements with the Pixel three have to do with the camera.
There are so many fun little camera tricks on this device.

(01:32):
For starters, there's something called top Shot. This is sort
of the live photo features on iPhone. Basically, they've had
motion capture before on the Pixel but you couldn't really
do anything with it except watch a little video of
before and after you captured your photo. Now this new feature,
top Shot, puts it.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
To good use.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
Basically, it's already snapping a bunch of shots while you
take the picture, but you can now go back and
pick a better picture than the one you originally snapped
from a little film strip style of frames. Google will
even use its artificial intelligence to suggest which frame you
should actually switch to. That's a great little feature. Then
there's something called super Zoom. This lets you zoom in

(02:10):
on a shot and still get a clear image. Google
again is using a burst of photos and runs them
through an algorithm.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
To create a clearer picture.

Speaker 1 (02:20):
They say that similar technology was used to image the
surface of Mars, and now this technology.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
Is in your pocket. Gotta love Google.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
The company also had some fun at Iphon's expense. They
showed two photos taken at dusk, one on the iPhone
ten s, the other on the Pixel three, and the
iPhone photo was really dark, like not very good, while
the Pixel photo was so bright it kind of looked
like it was taken at an entirely different time, like
during the day. Google says you'll never have to use

(02:47):
your flash again with this feature, which they call night Sight.
They say it'll work by a campfire or kind of
a selfie in a bar, any dimly lit place. This
feature is actually coming soon, it's not on the phone
just yet. I rarely use a flash when I'm taking
pictures on my Pixel, and to be honest, the only
time it's ever turned on is when I hand my
phone to someone to take a picture and they immediately

(03:08):
turn it on like they found a big mistake on
my device because it was turned off. I usually just
smile and pretend it was my oversight, but in reality,
you rarely need a flash on the pixel right now,
So with this new night site feature, I think it's
going to be really cool when it comes to taking
pictures at night. Google also mentioned how Pixel users are
often designated the official photographer at any event they attend,

(03:28):
and I can definitely vouch for this.

Speaker 2 (03:30):
It happens to me all the time. Everyone knows that
the Pixel.

Speaker 1 (03:33):
Captures great shots, but I find that people are still
very reluctant to switch from the iPhone because they're in
the ecosystem too deep, or they just don't want to
bother with something that's new, and I totally understand this. Also,
the iPhone is still an amazing overall device with lots
of aspects of it that work nicely, while the Pixel
is primarily focused on the camera and all of the

(03:54):
cool artificial intelligence things you can do with it. Selfies
are easier thanks to a new group selfie care. There
are actually two lenses on the front of the Pixel
three one is your typical one is a wider angle,
and while you're taking a selfie, you can pop out
to get a wider angle view and fit many more
friends into the picture. I tried this out at the
Pixel event. It's very substantial how much wider you can

(04:16):
get on the front facing camera. There's also a new
photo booth mode. This automatically takes pictures as you pose
for the camera. Kind of reminds me of what Samsung
has where you can hold your hand wide open in
front of the phone and it will start taking a picture.
This is very similar, except all you have to do
is smile or make sort of any gesture that looks
like you want to take a picture, and the photo

(04:37):
booth kind of recognizes that and it will snap your
pictures as many as you want. Now, in portrait mode,
you can also edit the depth of field after the fact,
or you can even pick what you want in your
photo to be blurry and what you want to be
in focus, and again you can change this after the fact,
and you're no longer limited to Google Photos creating those
color pops for you. You can now tap on any

(04:58):
photo to make the subject in color and the background
in black and white. If you had a previous picturel
you knew about the augmented reality stickers, the AR stickers,
well that was two techy for most people. They now
call this playground. These are little animated objects that you
can drop into your pictures. There's a bunch of new
characters that actually interact with you on screen. For instance,

(05:18):
I played with a cloud over my head. When I smiled,
the cloud smiled. When I frowned, he started to rain.
That was pretty cute. Then when iron Man was dropped
into my selfie apparently Google has some new deal with Marvel.
He would literally reposition himself to get into the camera
frame and pose depending on my facial expressions. This is
really cool stuff, again, all powered by AI, and it's

(05:41):
not something that's going to make you purchase the phone,
but it's kind of like the animojis on the iPhone.
It's just an added benefit and you'll have a lot
of phone with it, especially when you show your friends.
One feature that parents and animal lovers will appreciate motion
auto focus. You can now tap on a moving object
in a photo and it will stay in focus. And
since this is good Google and they're leaning heavily on

(06:01):
artificial intelligence, you know that this feature is going to
work really well. And as usual, all the pictures you
take on the pixel will get you free unlimited storage
in Google Photos for everything. You upload before February first,
twenty twenty two. And yes, I know that everyone gets
free unlimited storage in Google Photos, but this is for
all of your pictures and videos at original resolution, which

(06:23):
means yes, including four K.

Speaker 2 (06:26):
Take that iicloud.

Speaker 1 (06:27):
One thing I'm very happy that Google added to the
pixel three is lens recognition for a variety of objects
without having to enter a special mode. Yes, you can,
finally just open the camera, point it at a QR code,
any kind of text and email address, a web address,
and more, and instantly a little button will pop up
on the screen so you can follow the URL, navigate

(06:49):
to the website, and search for more info. This is
awesome and I think a lot of people are going
to be pleasantly surprised at just how useful this can be.
For instance, let's say you want to send someone an email.
Instead of trying to type in their email address and
making a bunch of mistakes, all you have to do
is aim your phone at their business card, tap their
email address, that pops up, and you are composing an

(07:09):
email in seconds. I try this with my own business card.
It is amazing. It is fast, it is accurate, and
I really hope that people start to use these features
more often. Speaking of email, Gmail Smart Composed feature is
now on the Pixel three first. It will come to
other mobile devices in Gmail, but they're giving it a
little headstart on the Pixel three. This is the feature

(07:30):
where Google uses artificial intelligence to help you write or
finish sentences in Gmail. I use it a ton on
my desktop Gmail, which by the way, is different from
smart Replies. Those are just the three little replies you
get at the bottom of your email when you reply
to someone. This actually completes your sentences, and it's going
to be interesting to see just how useful it is
on mobile, Probably more useful than on the desktop because

(07:53):
no one really wants to type on their mobile phone.
It has gotten really good at helping me complete my
thoughts and has definitely learned the way that I write
and how I say things. So I'm looking forward to
using the smart Composed feature more on my pixel now.
Another new feature on pixel is called This is where
you can just flip your pixel over and it goes
into do not disturb mode. So this can be handy

(08:13):
at a restaurant or a meeting where you don't want
to have to fumble with the volume or vibrate or
silent mode. All you gotta do is flip your phone
over on the table and that's it.

Speaker 2 (08:21):
Super fast, highly effective, and if you've set.

Speaker 1 (08:24):
Up do not disturb properly, your most important calls or
text will still come through if necessary. Speaking of calls,
if you're frustrated with unwanted robo calls, telemarketers, or pr
folks in my case, just kidding, Google has a new
call screen feature that means you'll never have to pick
up the phone for a number you don't know ever again.

Speaker 2 (08:43):
Hear me out on this one. It is so cool.

Speaker 1 (08:45):
When you get a phone call from a number you
don't know, all you have to do is tap a
button on the screen called screen call.

Speaker 2 (08:50):
Wait, say that ten times fast.

Speaker 1 (08:52):
The pixel will answer the call all by itself and
then use an automated voice to gather information from the caller. Hi,
your calling is using a screening service from Google, and
we'll get a copy of this conversation. Go ahead and
say why you're calling now as the caller speaks. This
is the crazy part. You see a real time transcription

(09:13):
on the screen, so you can decide if you want
more information from that caller or if you just want
to send the call to voicemail or market as spam.

Speaker 2 (09:21):
This is a really cool feature.

Speaker 1 (09:22):
I saw it demoed several times in depth at Google,
and I just wanted to keep seeing this thing in
action because this is very useful. It's kind of like
having your own personal assistant screen your calls in real time,
and at any time you can just pick up the
call and talk to the person yourself.

Speaker 2 (09:38):
Love it.

Speaker 1 (09:38):
There's also a new Pixel stand for the Pixel three.
This functions as a wireless charging DOC because the Pixel
now has Chi wireless charging built in. Thankfully. The doc
also has some fun little tricks like Google Assistant shortcuts
on the screen, so with one tap you can perform
actions that AI predicts, like calling someone or playing your

(09:59):
favorite play. Also, music looks really cool when it's playing
on the stand. You get all the album Martin stuff
on the screen, and it will even show an ever
changing array of photos while your phone is charging, sort
of turning your phone into a digital photo frame.

Speaker 2 (10:13):
One cool demo I.

Speaker 1 (10:14):
Saw is that if you have a nest to low
video doorbell and the Pixel three and the Pixel stand. Yeah,
I know that's a lot of Google, but it happens
when someone rings.

Speaker 2 (10:23):
Your video doorbell.

Speaker 1 (10:24):
The video stream will immediately show up on your Pixel
screen without you doing anything, so you can see who's there.

Speaker 2 (10:30):
Overall, Google has addressed.

Speaker 1 (10:32):
Many of the major shortcomings of the last version of
Pixel by adding wireless charging, a pair of headphones that
just makes life easy in the box, and improve screen
and better software features, all while continuing to build upon
the core camera functionality, which is best in class. When
I think Pixel, I think of a device that does
a lot of the heavy lifting for you.

Speaker 2 (10:53):
Think about it.

Speaker 1 (10:54):
It's using AI to surface shortcuts for you so it
can give you directions to your next meeting. It's finishing
typing your emails for you. It's recognizing objects and text
on screen and helping you effortlessly capture amazing looking pictures.
The Pixel might not have the glitz and the glamour
associated with iPhone, but it has a much more muted
confidence for users knowing that they are getting a world

(11:16):
class camera with cutting edge smarts built right in. The
Pixel three is in stores October eighteenth for seven hundred
ninety nine dollars. The Pixel XL starts at eight hundred
ninety nine dollars. Again Verizon is the exclusive carrier, although
all Pixels are sold unlocked for use on any carrier.
You can also purchase the device from the Google Store online.

(11:37):
This strange arrangement with Verizon is just one of the
things holding back this device because there's a lot of
confusion in the real world about the purchase process and
also whether this device will work on various carriers. But overall,
I think if you get a Pixel three, you're going
to be very happy with this device if you're primarily
interested in taking the best pictures and having sort of

(11:58):
an effortless Android experience, which offers all the customization you
can want in a smartphone.

Speaker 2 (12:04):
Thanks so much for listening to the podcast.

Speaker 1 (12:06):
If you want to see more of my coverage of
the Google Pixel three, you can go to my website,
rich on tech dot tv, or check the show notes.
I'm Rich Demiro in New York City. Thanks so much
for listening. Share this podcast with your friends if you
learn something that is.

Speaker 2 (12:20):
The best way we can grow here.

Speaker 1 (12:22):
I'm Rich Demiro.

Speaker 2 (12:22):
I'll talk to you real soon.
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Rich DeMuro

Rich DeMuro

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