Devindra has been writing about the way technology intersects with our lives for nearly 20 years. He started the Amherst Student's first technology column, worked in IT support for many (many) years, and eventually moved to Brooklyn to cover New York's tech scene in 2009.
s. Are they really a step up from last year's devices? And how do they compare to Samsung's latest? Also, we chat about a few stories from Gamescom 2024, including Microsoft's Indiana Jones game heading to the PS5, as well as the wild launch of
So join us. We've got the pixel phones now, Sherilyn. I'm sure you've been like in editing hell for the past week. Can you broadly tell us, so how do we feel about the, let's focus on the pixel nine right now. How do we feel about the pixel nine?The pixel nine, I wasn't expecting it to get a super high score, but Sam, who reviewed the pixel nine for us seems really impressed.is our like Android main person. And he is also our foldables person.
Some a a little bit of wiggle room like what are they they're not perfect, right? So I think we tweaked and in the tweaking we tweaked the original scores for both devices both went down a little bit I think if you look at our score for last year's pixel 8 Pro It was 93 and again This is like way too in the weeds and both Matt and I will be like we hate Arguing over one or two points, but here's the reasoning 93 for last year's.
These AI features don't do enough for us to be like, yeah, it's worth that, that, you know, keeping it same score sort of situation yet so. We brought it down a point, but that's not a bad thing because why? The 9 Pro, holy crap, we it's arguably one of our highest scored phones around 94. So, obviously you've read these reviews, Davindra were you shocked at the scores we gave?I'm really, I was shocked at the score of the 9 Pro.
The design felt nice on the pixel eight pro, you know, the colors, you know, Google's always nailed the color combo. It feels very different this time. I think you've seen all our reviews. I just mentioned this independently, Matt Smith in the UK and Sam in New Jersey were both all this feels like an iPhone.
It's, it feels very grown up. And I wrote a blurb for our best smartphones guy about the Pixel 9 Pro saying that this feels like a grown up phone and to Matt's point in his review. a showcase for Gemini AI. And I think that that's what these phones are all about.
We're not really gonna do that all day. It's not. That much useful. So those are the main AI features. I mean, the rest of the stuff, like your typical Gmail summary things or like your, even Apple intelligence is trying to do some of these things. I, I didn't get a real big sense that they were that like crazy good.
And now it's just no, Google's no, we're just, we're just going to do the same thing. We're going to do iPhone type stuff.
And then, for example, I've had family visiting this past couple weeks or so. And if I'm sounding ragged, that's why. And we've been taking like family pictures, right? So it's four of us. And we try not to bother people. So we don't ask them. Stranges also, you don't always feel safe, right when you're on the street and like standing in front of a museum and take a 4, 4, 4 of us please.
This is very much like Inter Explorer on windows, you know, or Apple locking down some features just to its devices. Like it feels if this goes on. People can chat Monopoly or something going on here. Do you feel weird about that, Trillian? Like some of these just being on Google stuff for so far? I, I don't know that they're going to always be that way. I think that like for some things, because Gemini Advanced is something that you can apply for and get with any other.
Maybe we should take out some of these parts of Google and make them separate companies. I wonder if. The company itself is a little afraid of that because it's not just Oh, we're going to slap a five or 10 million fine on you, which is like the money Google, you know, that it's in their couch cushions.Can I quickly go back to the chat for specific to pixel questions to the pixel nine, I mean, so, has Sam.
Send me your questions about them. I'm like. What do you want to know most about the 9 Pro Full, the Pixel Watch 3, and the Pixel Buds Pro 2? Last week also on Saturday I did a quick Engadget review recap, and I will be doing one of these for the Pixel, all the Pixel products at some point. So here's what we learned is that this game is coming to Xbox and PC on December 9th. It's coming to the PlayStation 5. A couple of months later in spring 2025 and the nerds, especially the Microsoft nerds, the Xbox fans have gone a little crazy because they're like our exclusive. What's happening now?This is Microsoft admitting that not very many people have Xboxes and they don't want this to just be a PC game.
Also in Microsoft news, there's a couple assistive tech things that they announced. There's a new Xbox adaptive joystick, which is a single stick type of thing, which looks like, honestly, it looks a lot like a VR controller, like something with the Oculus Headset or something, but you can plug this into an existing xbox controller the adaptive controller and gives you a bunch of controls They can handle with just one hand let me see here.
This kind of looks like what a VR control looks like, maybe without the motion controls. So that is cool. Also, also the all digital Xbox series X, which we thought was kind of a joke when Microsoft announced it a couple of months ago, you can pre order that now it's 450. It's going to be coming to the U S on October 15th.
And I was having a good time playing it by myself, but I was like, eh, I feel like I need more people. And, like, when I started playing this was a time Kind of like I had taken a sabbatical from like online kind of squad based games. And now that I have been playing Helldivers so much, I've got like 125 hours in on there.
So basically, creating NPCs that will react to you the way like ChatGPT does, so that they would speak if to you If you ask them a question or if you choose a certain prompt or something, they could react to what you're saying, or maybe react to your clothing, but also their model will like, look like it's talking properly.
The voice didn't have very much color to it. And hey, I'm a voice guy, so. Oh you can tell. Really? Yeah, I really want that to feel more alive. And so I was thinking, how would we end up using this technology? Because I think that it could be useful in some cases, but definitely not as the main player character.probably like the most important, you know, five or so NPCs should probably still be written and acted. But.
It has the healing. It has the crazy ass bosses. What I'm saying is it is very much God of War, the sort of like adventuring around, not as open as like the way Elden Ring was, but very like in specific spaces. It feels like Dark Souls. It feels like actually playing early Dark Souls, but also with the big ass bosses from Elden Ring and even God of War, the newer games ended up doing a lot of that.
I like from grow growing up. Are they there? You know, are does the monkey king fall in love with the spider demon? Does like the sea I I've bring around get tighter. I've, I know. So that's, that's what I would be curious to see if they've like faithfully adapted the sort of story. Things that me, and I'm sure those concurrent streamers who are hugely Chinese are looking for, that's the sort of like vibe we're looking for.
Do not mention. Feminist propaganda. Do not mention COVID 19 or China's video game industry policies, the stuff we're talking about right now and other content that instigates negative discourse also believe like violence was one thing, even though this is a game about the monkey king, like bashing giant gods in, in their heads with his stick.
in, it's in, Especially if you use it mostly consists of dudes and industry that is very dude heavy like unfortunately it leans to that There is a great reporting over at IGN last year It's called how black myth Wukong developers history of sexism is complicating its journey to the West Written by Rebecca Valentine and Kihun Chan This is a good piece Worth worth reading because yeah, essentially the culture of the studio does not seem great.
So shout out to Bulma. My daughter, Sophia loves Bulma. She's Bulma has all these like capsules. She's got all these vehicles. She's cool. Bulma is super cool. Shout out to Bulma. Okay. So that's Gamescom. Go take a look at all of our coverage from that event. And and if you're playing Black Myth Wukong, let me know what you think.
Like the thing about XMEMS technology, it looks like a tiny little chip, so it could easily go inside your iPhone where there's this little space on real estate. It's the sort of thing you could put it right on the GPU, right on the APU. Looks cool, could change the way our devices are designed. So check out my coverage of the XMEMS chip.
It's also basically the plot of industry season three British billionaire, Mike Lynch was recently found dead after his yacht sank several days ago, or it may have been a week ago at this point. I'm mentioning this. Because this guy is involved in a lot of shady stuff. Like back when I was covering HP stuff he was the CEO of autonomy and HP bought that for 11 billion and not too long after HP was like, Oh crap, we made a huge mistake, 8.
Like we see stories about the mobs and stuff, but don't forget who has all the money and all the power. Just dropping that weird story right there. Anyway, watch Industry if you want another angle or another type of story like this. Cherlynn, again, you should watch that show. I think you'd enjoy it.I just want to point out that Davindra, I, I, you know me, I like to re watch Schitt's Creek until the day I die before I like even start a new show, so.
Indiana Jones Matt Smith Ben Ellman Indiana Jones Ben Ellman Google Google Sam Rutherford
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Google Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, and Pixel 9 Pro XL Review: All Grown UpCome for the smart design and the fantastic camera. Stay for the reality-blurring image manipulation features and the next-level chatbot.
Read more »
Engadget Podcast: Pixel 9 Pro Fold hands-on thoughtsDevindra has been writing about the way technology intersects with our lives for nearly 20 years. He started the Amherst Student's first technology column, worked in IT support for many (many) years, and eventually moved to Brooklyn to cover New York's tech scene in 2009.
Read more »
Google Pixel 9 vs Pixel 8: What's changed with the most affordable Pixel?Peter, an experienced tech enthusiast at PhoneArena, is captivated by all things mobile. His impartial reviews and proficiency in Android systems offer readers valuable insights. Off-duty, he delves into the latest cryptocurrency trends and enjoys sci-fi and video games.
Read more »
Google Pixel 9 vs Pixel 7: Are we in peak Pixel territory yet?Peter, an experienced tech enthusiast at PhoneArena, is captivated by all things mobile. His impartial reviews and proficiency in Android systems offer readers valuable insights. Off-duty, he delves into the latest cryptocurrency trends and enjoys sci-fi and video games.
Read more »
Google Pixel 9 Pro XL vs Pixel 7 Pro: two years of evolution!Preslav, a member of the PhoneArena team since 2014, is a mobile technology enthusiast with a penchant for integrating tech into his hobbies and work.
Read more »
Best clearance deals on the Google Pixel 8 after the Pixel 9 announcementA new Pixel phone is coming, and you know what that means: Discounts on the older model.
Read more »