If you need a reminder that Google is not Apple, just take a look at how the search giant conducted its Made By Google Pixel product fest rollout on August 13. Instead of regaling us with four new Pixel phones, two new Pixel Watches, and a new Pixel Buds Pro 2, Google spent the first 30 minutes talking almost exclusively about Gemini.
If you’ve been paying attention, this should come as no surprise. Google filled the Paris Olympic airwaves with quick video ads showing Olympic athletes using Gemini (along with one ill-fated ad about a dad perhaps overusing it), and Gemini-assisted AI Overview answers now appear atop 70% (at least) of my Google search queries. For Google, there is no more important technology, and Google used its biggest product event of the year to demonstrate and tout it.
It’s not just the focus on Geminibut how Google did it. Imagine Apple showing off Apple Intelligence, Siri, or some other core technology on someone else’s hardware. I know, a ludicrous idea. However, Google really leaned into how Gemini runs on multiple Android phones, including the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, Motorola Razr, and the Samsung Galaxy S24.
Again, Google went much further than a mere mention. It demonstrated core capabilities like using Gemini to analyze a photo and, through prompts, take action, in this case, reading the text off of a concert poster and then asking Gemini a detailed question about the show date and how it works with their calendar.
The demo failed twice, but Google doggedly persisted with yet another Samsung phone until they finally got it to work. Undaunted, Google also demonstrated the Gemini writing assistant on the S24.