With Gemini now in the wild, Google’s next task is to integrate the foundational model into its various products. A new report today describes hardware efforts like a “Pixie” AI assistant that could launch with the Pixel 9.
According to The Information, Google plans to have Gemini power “an AI assistant called Pixie that will be exclusive to its Pixel devices.” It will use Gmail, Maps, and other “data from Google products” on your phone. Today’s report says it could “evolve into a far more personalized version of the Google Assistant.”
Update: In another report today, The Information adds how Pixie aims to perform “complex and multimodal tasks, such as suggesting directions to the closest store where someone can buy a product they have photographed.”
In terms of launch, Pixie might debut with the Pixel 9 and 9 Pro. Given that timing, Pixie does not seem to be Assistant with Bard (AWB), or at least the initial version that was shown off in October.
The last update Google provided on that was with the launch of Gemini Nano on the Pixel 8 Pro for Recorder Summarize and Gboard Smart Reply. The Pixel team said the “broader family of Gemini models will unlock new capabilities for the Assistant with Bard experience early next year on Pixel.” Meanwhile, AWB won’t be exclusive to the Pixel. We’ve seen evidence of development for Samsung devices, and Google has noted iOS availability.
Pixie could be the next version of Assistant with Bard, with the exclusivity feeling awfully similar to the next-generation Assistant that debuted on the Pixel 4 and did not launch on other devices.
The Information report says that Google wants to bring those AI features to “its lower-end phones and devices like its watch.”
More tentatively, Google has discussed “glasses that could make use of the AI’s ability to recognize the objects a wearer is seeing.” Described as an “internal discussion,” this wearable could “advise them, say, on how to use a tool, solve a math problem or play a musical instrument.”
At a high level, that implies that these glasses will have a camera, while output could either be done by voice or display. The last we heard about Google AR was how the internal hardware effort was being sidelined for a Samsung partnership on both a headset and possibly glasses.
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