Tech Brew Ride Home - Wed. 10/04 – The New Pixels

Episode Date: October 4, 2023

All the headlines from the Made By Google event this morning. Samsung also announced their low end lineup of phones. Gmail is taking some big new steps to combat spam. And what if I told you Netflix is about to raise prices. Again. Sponsors: DomainMoney.com Links: Google’s Pixel Watch 2 brings new sensors for improved health tracking (TechCrunch) Google’s Pixel 8 brings new camera tricks, better display and a thermometer (TechCrunch) The Pixel 8 Pro has better cameras, a brighter screen, and a lot of new AI tricks (The Verge) Google announces AI-powered photo-editing features for new Pixel phones (TechCrunch) The Galaxy S23 FE, Tab S9 FE, and Buds FE get you flagship specs at way lower prices (XDADevelopers) Google is making big changes to prevent Gmail spam (CNBC) Anthropic in Talks to Raise $2 Billion From Google and Others Just Days After Amazon Investment (The Information) Netflix Plans to Raise Prices After Actors Strike Ends (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On April 4th, 2023, around 2 in the morning, a man was found stabbed multiple times on a sidewalk in downtown San Francisco. Hey, who did this to you? What happened next turned the story into a political firestorm. Reports have identified the victim as Bob Lee, the founder of Cash App. From Bloomberg Podcasts, this is Foundering, the Killing of Bob Lee, beginning April 16. Welcome to the Tech meme right home for Wednesday, October 4th, 2023. I'm Brian McCullough today. All the headlines from the Made by Google event this morning. Samsung also announced their low-end lineup of phones.

Gmail is taking some big new steps to combat spam. And what if I told you Netflix is about to raise prices again? Here's what you missed today in the world of tech. This morning in NYC, there was a Made by Google event. If you check my Twitter feed at Bright MCC, you can see a couple photos of the proceeding. They kicked off with Rick Osterlo reminding us that at the very first pixel event launch in 2016, Google promised that the pixels were designed for an AI-first world. Well, is that G-Wiz future today?

We started with what Rick said was the biggest update to the PixelBuds Pro with adaptive situational awareness, noise reduction, conversation detection, and the like. They will also now use Bluetooth super wideband for clear speech on calls. But the biggest first announced was the Pixel Watch 2, announced by the former head of Fitbit, quoting TechCrunch. The biggest changes this time out are improved heart rate monitoring and the addition of a pair of new sensors designed to give the device a fuller picture of its wearer. The addition of a body response sensor and skin temperature sensor are borrowed from the Fitbit

line and bring along new stress management features. Stress and mood are big topics of growth for wearables. Many manufacturers have seen fit to move beyond standard health tracking. It's an imperfect science, but there are certainly a number of different things gleaned from physiology that play a role in mental health. The new heart rate sensor, meanwhile, switches between single and multipath modes, designed to offer a more accurate reading when the wearer is exercising. The new watch also adds automatic tracking for seven different types of workouts,

including running and cycling, while a new pace training feature is designed to let people know how they're performing with respect to their goals. Google is promising some battery improvements bumping the first gens up to 24 hours rating to 24 hours with always on display. Charging has been improved as well. It now takes 75 minutes to get from 0 to 100%. The watch 2 looks a lot like its predecessor with some subtle changes to things like recess buttons. The back is made from 100% aluminum now as well. The Pixel Watch 2 goes up for pre-order today starting at $349 for the standard version and 399 for the LTE model. It starts shipping October 12 and comes with six free months of Fitbit's premium service, end quote. Then it was on to the new smartphones. They say the new Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are,

as promised AI in your hand. Let's start with the $699 pixel 8, which boasts a better camera. Tensor G3 chip, a 120 hertz refresh rate display and up to 200 nits peak brightness. The Pixel 8 Pro sports a 6.7-inch L-TPO display, a 50-Megyixel main camera sensor, and a 48-mepixel ultra-wide and telephoto sensor, and more, starting at $999, quoting TechCrunch. At 6.1 inches, the pixel 8's display is a fraction of an inch smaller than its predecessor, while the Pixel 8 Pro retains at 6.8 inches. The 8's resolution is the same as before at 1080 by 2,400, while the 8-Pro actually loses a bit of pixel density from 512 to 489 pPI at 1344 by 2992. The biggest benefit to the new Actua display,

or Super Actua, in the case of the pro, is extreme brightness. The 8 peaks out at 2,000 nits and the 8 Pro at 2400. Both screens have 120 hertz peak refresh rates. Google is touting the new tech as readable and direct sun. It's not a feature we've seen too many phone makers go after, but anyone who's ever used a smartphone outside is aware of the issue. In spite of the massive brightness bump, the company is still touting beyond 24-hour battery life, owing to both some software advances and slightly larger batteries. The 8 goes from 4,355 to 4,485 milanph hours, and the 8 Pro from 5,000 to 50-50 milla-amp hours. If you're really hard up on the charging front, flipping on extreme battery saver mode can get you upwards of 72 hours on a charge.

though you'll naturally be missing out on some features. The Pixel 8 sports a pair of rear-facing cameras, a 50-mepixel wide with 2x optical quality zoom, coupled with a 12-mepixel ultra-wide with autofocus. The 8-Pro, meanwhile, maintains the 50-magixel sensor and swaps the second for a 48-machixel ultra-wide and adds in a 48-machixel telephoto with 5x optical zoom. Both feature a 10.5 megapixel front camera, though only the 8-Pro has. as autofocus. Google continues to build out an impressive array of camera software as well. Joining Magic and Magic Editor is Best Take, which lets you combine the best bits from multiple photos. The 8 Pro is also getting NightSight for video and video boost, which actually performs

photo processing at an off-device server to enhance HDR Plus and color grading. That's off by default, mind you. You don't need to send every single photo you shoot through the process. The device also gets audio magic eraser, which removes background noise from videos. Here's an odd one, thermometer. Both the 8 and 8 Pro are getting the ability to scan temperatures with the device. Both versions of the 8 sport Google's new TensorFlow G3 chip. The chip enables a lot of the above software features, along with things like improved call screener. The company writes, quote, since Google TensorFlow was introduced with Pixel 6, its AI capabilities have dramatically increased. The biggest machine learning model on Pixel 8 is 10x more complex compared to Pixel 6. Both devices come with seven years of feature drops and Android security updates.

Security has also been ramped up via Tensor's M2 security chip. Face Unlock has also been improved and can now be applied to things like payments and app sign-ins. For those who don't want to use their face, the under-display fingerprint radar is sticking around. Both devices are up for pre-order starting today and go on sale October 12. The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro start at $699 and $9.99 respectively. in both cases, that's a full $100 more than their predecessors. Mid-tier pricing has long been a major selling point, and while these are by no means exorbitant, Google is running a risk of abandoning an important distinguishing factor, end quote. Yeah, that temperature button slash sensor is a weird one.

They talked about how you could point it at, say, your baby's milk to make sure it was the right temperature, and that they've applied to the FDA to allow you to point it at yourself and take your own temperature eventually. And of course, it was all about the AI tricks, though to be fair to Google. Their AI tricks are usually pretty impressive. We've already mentioned some of them, but let me sum it up one more time quoting TechCrunch. Magic Editor will let you tap or circle an object, and then let it shift or resize the object. Magic Editor also uses Generative AI to recreate the background when you shift the selected object. This feature also lets users make changes to the background using presets. Magic Editor will suggest contextual changes to the image based on lighting and

background. Plus, users will be able to choose from multiple results of an edit. The company first announced this feature in May at Google I.O. Best Take combines multiple group photos to create a version where everyone is not blinking or looking away. If you don't want to use this auto-generated version, it also lets you choose expressions of different people from various shots and merge them into one. Essentially, it swaps faces in the original photo with the selected expression. The new pixel phones will have features like Magic Eraser to remove unwanted objects and photo unblurred. If fix blurry things in an image. Google said that the new Pixel 8 Pro will have an improved version of magic eraser, which will let users remove larger objects from the image. The company said with Pixel 8

Pro, it is introducing a feature called Zoom Enhance, which uses generative AI to take corrective steps to improve photo quality and gaps between pixels when you crop an image. This feature will be available on the 8 Pro later, end quote. Also available sometime down the line, apparently. Google says the Pixel 8 Pro can run Google's foundation LLM models directly on device. I guess this is because of the tensor chips and other things, but I'm curious to see how this all shakes out. In terms of hands-on with the devices, they looked gorgeous, they felt great in my hand, far lighter than my iPhone 14, but I don't have titanium. And that bay blue color is stunning. I'll have more impressions on these phones when I'm allowed to share them with you.

note real quick that Samsung also announced the 6.4-inch Galaxy S-23 FE for $600 today, the 10.9-inch Galaxy tab S-9FE for $450, the $12.4-inch Galaxy Tab S-9FE Plus for $700 and the Galaxy Buds FE for $100, quoting XDA developers, at least in terms of the S-23 quote. The Galaxy S-23FE looks simple yet sleek, borrowing its looks from the Galaxy S-23 siblings that were released earlier this year. When it comes to the internals, you're getting a Qualcomm-Snapdragon 8-gen-1 processor, 8-gabytes of RAM, and up to 256 gigabytes of internal storage. The display is a beautiful and vibrant 6.4-inch dynamic Ammoled 2X screen, with an adaptive refresh rate that can bounce between 60 hertz to 120 hertz. The Galaxy S-23FE

comes with a triple camera setup on the rear, featuring a 50-machel main shooter, 12-machixel ultra-wide and 8-mapixel telephoto and a 10-m-pixel front-facing camera for selfies. With the rear camera, you get added perks like optical image stabilization and nightography for excellent shots in low-light scenarios. If you want to take things further, you can also pop the camera app into pro mode, bringing more refined controls, allowing for granular adjustments to ISO, shutter speed, aperture, and more. When it comes to the battery, you can expect all-day use thanks to the large 4,500-m-amp-hour capacity. and get quick charging speeds that will get you from zero to 50% in around 30 minutes.

You can also wireless charge the device with compatible charging mats. Overall, you really can't ask for much more here, especially at its starting price that comes in at 599, end quote. Back to Google for a second, specifically Gmail, which has announced new rules to fight email spam for emailers sending more than 5,000 emails per day to Gmail users. This is going into effect February 2024. The new requirements include adding a one-click unsubscribe button to emails you send, quoting CNBC. It will also require them to authenticate their email addresses,

configuring their systems so they prove they own their domain name and aren't spoofing IP addresses. Alphabet-owned Google says it may not deliver messages from senders whose emails are frequently marked as spam and fall under a, quote, clear spam rate threshold of 0.3% of messages sent, as measured by Google's Postmaster Tools. it is signed up Yahoo to make the same changes, and they'll come into effect in February 2024. The moves highlight the ongoing fight between big tech companies and spammers who use open systems such as email to send fraudulent messages and annoy users. For years, machine learning techniques have been used to fight spam, but it remains a back-and-forth battle as spammers

discover new techniques to get past filters. About half of all emails sent in 2022 were spam, according to an estimate from Kaspersky Antivirus, end quote. sources are telling the information that Anthropic is in talks to raise more than $2 billion from Google and others at a $20 to $30 billion valuation, and it is projecting generating $200 million in revenue by the end of this year. quote, the two-year-old startup, which sells Claude, a chatbot that competes with OpenAI's chat GPT, once a valuation between $20 to $30 billion, according to new investment materials, according to one of the people. That would quintuple the valuation of the company since March, when investors put a $4 billion price tag on the firm and make its shares far priser than those of Open AI in terms of its valuation multiple on revenue. The round is not finalized in terms of

the deal could change. One of the people with knowledge of the fundraising Everett said, is also talking to sovereign wealth funds and other institutional investors. Spokespeople for Anthropic didn't immediately comment. The move shows how the leading developers of artificial intelligence are racing to secure as much capital and computing resources as possible to develop the next generation of their software, known as large language models. AI development is particularly expensive because it requires specialized server chips that require more power than processors that handle traditional computing work.

Private investors, meanwhile, have been willing to stomach ever higher prices for shares of leading AI developers. After OpenAI aligned itself with Microsoft, a major cloud server provider that committed more than $10 billion in funding for the startup earlier this year, other independent AI model developers such as Anthropic have sought to find their own computing benefactors. That prompted Anthropics' initial pact to use Google Cloud and an investment from the search company, cohere's partnership with Oracle, and Infliction AI's capital raised from Microsoft and AI chip designer, NVIDIA, among others. In addition to computing resources, the startups are counting on the cloud providers

to help sell their AI software to customers. They hope to follow in the footsteps of OpenAI, which was recently on pace to generate more than $1 billion in revenue annually, boosted in part by sales of its software through Microsoft's cloud unit. Anthropic has told some investors it had been generating revenue at a $100 million annualized rate, implying that it has generated more than $8 million in revenue per month, said to people with direct knowledge. That would mean an investment in Anthropic at a valuation of $20 billion would carry a valuation multiple on future revenue of 200 times. far more expensive than OpenAI's valuation multiple.

By the end of this year, Anthropic projected it would generate revenue at a $200 million annualized pace, implying nearly $17 million in monthly revenue, one of the people said. And by the end of 2024, Anthropic hopes to generate more than $40 million in monthly revenue, a $500 million annualized rate, this person said. Anthropics' recent deal with Amazon in which the cloud provider will sell the startup's AI software to cloud customers is a key reason for the projected growth. Amazon has said customers, including research provider LexisNexis, asset management firm Bridgewater Associates and Travel Publisher Lonely Planet, we're using Claude

through Amazon Web Services, end quote. And finally today, more price hikes. Sources are telling the journal that Netflix plans to raise the price of its ad-free service a few months after the Hollywood Actors Strike ends, which we're projecting is going to end soon, likely starting with the U.S. and Canada. Quote, over the past year or so, the cost of major ad-free streaming services has gone up about 25% as entertainment companies look to bring their streaming platforms to profitability and lead price-conscious customers to switch to their cheaper and more lucrative ad-supported

plans. On Tuesday, Warner Brothers Discovery said that the monthly price of the ad-free version of its Discovery Plus streaming service was raising to $899,000 a month, while the cost of its ad-supported platform remains unchanged at $4.99 a month. Streamers are also starting to look at how they can create new pricing tiers around exclusive programming, such as live sports without running the risk of driving people away from their core offerings. Netflix plans to wait until the dual Hollywood writer and actor strikes end before increasing prices. The Writers Guild of America announced a tentative agreement with studios last week, and the Screen Actors Guild, which went on strike in July, restarted negotiations with Hollywood

studios this week, end quote. Nothing for you today. Talk to you tomorrow.