Pixel phones to share their display on monitors

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Apple’s WWDC announcements are dominating the news cycle. So, instead of sitting on the sidelines, Google has decided to reveal a fairly substantial Pixel Feature Drop.

I think Pixel smartphones can support DisplayPort and let me agree that this possibility is the main feature of this Pixel Feature Drop. Google is not including a Dex-like desktop user interface; however, you can also cast the Pixel phone to another monitor or a TV via USB-C DisplayPort Alt Mode.

All Pixel devices have the hardware to support DisplayPort Alt Mode, but for some odd reason, this feature is limited to Pixel 8-series devices (including the Pixel 8a). My hope is that Google will extend the functionality to older phones in a future update.

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Reverse Phone Number Lookup, wherein you are able to determine who provided a specific number, is also inbound to currently Pixel-supported devices. It also is able to label speaker names when summarizing the document using the ‘Summarize option given in the Recorder app.

Also, Pixel 8 owners can switch between usage of the traditional Pixel Launcher and the lightweight Gemini Nano AI launcher appeared in the Developer Settings (Google has not given the particular reason why a common user would need it, so it seems the launcher is primarily intended for app development). But Google has cited that Find My Device tracking is now possible when the Pixel 8 is switched off—this feature has been hinted at on the Google Support website two months ago, but it might not have existed until today.

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Google also updates the Pixel Watch with support of PayPal in Pixel Wallet and Google Home app inside the Android Wear OS 3. In addition to this, those that own a Pixel Watch 2 will also get Car Crash and Bicycle Fall detection which dials for emergency services in case of an accident.

As for the Pixel tablet, however, well, it isn’t being entirely left in the cold, either. Pixel Tablet now offers “finer doorbell notifications” when in hub mode to deliver a much better experience. In other words, you will have full view of face of any person at your doorstep.

Pixel Feature Drop

This is definitely the most significant one released in the recent past. I just have one question: why wasn’t any of this said at the I/O keynote a few weeks ago?” It was far wiser that I was not bothered to sit through well over two hours of appalling AI reveals when Google could have been showing me DisplayPort support for Pixel phones or Bicycle Fall Detection on the Pixel Watch.

I would also like to note that Google is disclosing this Pixel Feature Drop one day after the Annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference: WWDC. Just last month, Google debuted the Pixel 8a, this happened on the same day as an Apple event – do they do this on purpose in order to get their non-AI related products buried?

The new Pixel Feature Drop begins its journey towards currently supported Google Pixels (aka the Pixel 6 and newer). But please be informed that it may take a couple of days for this Feature Drop to roll out to your device or whatever device you may be using.

Source: Google

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