What To Expect From Google's Pixel 4 Event

Originally Posted: October 14th, 2019


What To Expect From Google's Pixel 4 Event

The Pixel 4 is the most leaked phone of all time. Google took the unprecedented step of getting in on the leaks themselves, posting a photo of it on their twitter account back in June, and making a blog post revealing more about the phone in July. That is the first time I can remember a phone manufacturer leaking their own device, but it makes sense. New smartphones are mostly iterative, with bigger changes coming less often. Just like the Pixel 3 and the phones before it, it looks like a rounded rectangle. The biggest thing they revealed in the photo was the addition of a three camera system on the back. Seeing the outside of the device doesn’t give away much, but telling us about what is inside does.

An overview of the sensors on the front of the Pixel 4

An overview of the sensors on the front of the Pixel 4

In their blog post, they focused on three features of the Pixel 4. Motion Sense, face unlock and added data security provided by their new Titan M chip. Motion Sense will enable you to make gestures and control the phone without touching it, by using a technology they call Soli, which is a motion-sensing radar. They specifically say it will allow you to skip songs, snooze alarms, and silence phone calls, just by waving your hand. Their face unlock feature will use IR, radar and other sensors to allow you to lift your phone and unlock it in one smooth motion. The Titan M chip will be used to securely store information about your face, like the Secure Enclave does on the iPhone. All of this plays into what they are calling ambient computing.

In addition to the new Pixel 4, we can expect an updated PixelBook laptop, a “next generation” Google Assistant, 2nd generation of the Google Home Mini, and 2nd generation Google wi-fi router. Also rumored is a new set of Pixel Buds. Maybe they’ll have some more hardware up their sleeves, but likely those are all the products they will be showing off tomorrow.

The Most Leaked Device

So are there any surprises left? This is the most leaked event I can remember. Of course, there are details about these devices we don’t know yet, and a large part of that will be the software they include. We have the outline of what the new Pixel will be, but we don’t know how it will all come together. We’ll get all those details tomorrow, October 15th at 10am EST, in their Made By Google event livestream. It’ll be interesting to see what they have left to reveal.

That camera bump looks shocking

That camera bump looks shocking

Evan McCann

Nerd writing about Wi-Fi, Networking, Ubiquiti, and Apple.

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