Technologies

Google Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro, Watch 2: Everything Google Just Announced

«The most beautiful phones we’ve ever made.»

At Wednesday’s Made by Google event, the company launched its Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro phones along with the Pixel Watch 2, to no one’s surprise — the world already knew a lot of the details thanks to information that dribbled out in the weeks leading up.

Like the other hardware-slash-operating system companies, Google highlighted the way its phones use new features in Android 14, which was announced at Google I/O in June, and becomes available with these phones when they ship by midmonth. Unsurprisingly, it concentrates on its AI-based software rather than the changes to the phone’s hardware over the Pixel 7 line, including updates to Google Assistant and new photo editing tools. There are some notable hardware updates, like the company’s new Tensor G3 AI-accelerator, improved screen brightness, a new temperature sensor and new cameras.

The Pixel Watch 2 also received some modest improvements, such as more accurate heart-rate sensing and updates to its safety features and more. Like Android, the Watch’s operating system, Wear OS 4, was announced at Google I/O and ships with the Watch at the same time as the phones.

Rick Osterloh, Google’s SVP for devices and services, breezed through some updates before he even got to the main products. The Pixel Buds Pro get upgraded with AI enhancements to sound quality, and use of Bluetooth Super Wide Band for more flexible, high-bandwidth sound. They have reduced latency, which is important for gaming. They’ll come in new colors to match the phones, bay blue and porcelain.

The Pixel Fold will be updated with Dual Screen translation, and its discussion of Google Home AI and Assistant updates, which will first launch as experiments — notably the future Google Assistant with Bard preview — sounded an awful lot like Amazon’s Alexa boosts.

Pixel support has been expanded to seven years of support and updates, as well.

Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro phones

A lot remains the same for these phones relative to their predecessors, but there are a handful of hardware and software upgrades to increase their appeal. For instance, the screen sizes remain the same but they have improved the adaptive refresh rates’ range, which can let it drop very low when you don’t need the speed and make your battery happier. Google’s gone rounder with all the edges, which turns out to be calming. And new Actua and Super Actua displays on the Pixel and the Pro, respectively, deliver much brighter HDR peaks — 2,400 nits, for the Pro, which is high.

The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro next to one another in someone's hands.

Both phones have main cameras with new dual-conversion gain sensors, a technology like that used by the Galaxy S23’s Isocell HP2 sensor, which lets it apply two different gain curves to the image — boosting and reducing noise in shadows and pulling back on areas with bright highlights — to generate a high dynamic range image in a single shot rather than merging a burst at different exposures.

They also have marginally higher resolution front cameras, but the Pro can autofocus.

Every AI demo we’ve seen in the past couple of years has shown itself off by summarizing web pages, and Google Assistant’s enhancement is no different. But its call spam filter, Call Screen, sounds more natural when it answers for you. It’s also designed to analyze voice-message context and widgetize it into actionable items — think getting various choices of an autoresponse to the food delivery person who’s dropping off dinner.

See the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro Up Close and Personal

Google's Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro smartphones in their rose and bay colors

Google Pixel 8 Pro's three-camera camera bar

the Pixel 8 smartphone in Google's rose color

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A new Video Boost feature automatically retouches videos’ shadows and noise and applies digital image stabilization, but in the cloud rather than on your phone. Because a data center has a lot more processing power to efficiently work with the full-resolution file, which happens when the video syncs from your phone to the heavens. You see a lower-resolution (1080p) proxy on your phone until the video’s been completely processed and synced back. Additionally, Google’s bringing its low-light Night Sight image processing to video.

Google’s own camera app gets manual controls for shutter speed, exposure time (for timed shooting in extreme low light), white balance, ISO sensitivity and focus. There are also enhancements to some photo file formats in the form of more metadata for color management (like Adobe DNG) and to properly display photos on other devices (Ultra HDR).

Additionally, there are a handful of new or improved «magic» and AI-boosted features, such as Best Take. It lets you merge selected faces in a group show to create a single version in which everyone’s got their best face on — or worst, if that’s the way you roll. Audio Magic Eraser can theoretically distinguish and filter out particular sounds.

The Pixel 8 Pro distinguishes itself from the plain ol’ Pixel 8 in a few ways. It’s still larger (6.7 inches to the Pixel’s 6.2) and has a marginally higher capacity battery with a concomitant marginal increase in weight of 1 gram.

The Google Pixel 8 Pro has a thick section, the

It’s also the first Google device to be able to run some lighter weight generative AI operations, such as a more fine tuned Magic Eraser, thanks to in-phone AI foundation models (the code that’s essential to run them locally).

One big add to the Pro’s hardware is a temperature sensor to measure the heat coming off items, for instance to tell you if they’re exceptionally hot or cold — that could be a boon to people with temperature-sensitive teeth… I guess? Well, it’s not the most crowd-pleasing sensor, at least until Food and Drug Administration approval comes through to let Google use it for measuring body temperature. I would actually find this useful to measure how hot a laptop gets — if only to confirm I’m not imagining things.

It also has a 48-megapixel ultrawide camera with a new sensor that’s more sensitive than the older 12-megapixel version; it’s got a wider aperture lens to let in more light. Plus, it can now autofocus and shortens the macro focus distance by about 1cm.

The Pixel 8 Pro starts at $999 (£999, AU$1,699) and the Pixel 8 at $699 (£699, AU$1,199). Both start shipping on Oct. 12 and are available to preorder now.

Google Pixel Watch 2

The second generation of Google’s wrist wearable integrates some Fitbit Sense 2 capabilities, like automatically starting and stopping workouts, which the Apple Watch has had for a while, plus adds sensors for detecting temperature and stress indicators.

Other new features include a better heart rate sensor that collects data from multiple contact points (it claims up to 40% more accurate tracking at high altitude), and improved training tools that incorporate the new data. Plus there’s a processor upgrade for improved performance (the watch, not you) — faster processor, faster charge, «all day» battery — and new safety features. One example of the latter is Safety Check, the equivalent of «if you don’t hear from me in an hour, call the police.» There’s also real-time emergency location sharing.

It’s more durable, with better cover glass and tweaks to some of the band design aspects.

It ships on Oct. 12 for $350 (£349, AU$549); preorders start today.

Technologies

Need Gift Ideas? Google’s Holiday 100 Shopping List Includes Switch 2, Home Movie Projectors

You can shell out hundreds for a new gaming console or spend less on classic games and backpack charms.

The spooky season has just ended, and Google is already turning its attention to holiday shopping. The search giant just released its annual list of 100 top holiday gift ideas based on the hottest trends of 2025.

The Google Holiday 100 list is an annual shopping guide compiled from searches for various products conducted between May and September. Using that data, Google creates a catalog of the year’s top trending gift ideas across various industries, including tech, toys, fashion and wellness. You can view the entire Google Holiday 100 list here.

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Nintendo Switch 2

This year’s breakaway technology hit was the Switch 2, Nintendo’s latest family-friendly video games console. Unsurprisingly, it appears on 2025’s Holiday 100 list. The console was released in June and has sold more than 10 million units thus far, with Nintendo hiking up sales expectations even among uncertain economic conditions and tariff pricing.

Google Pixel Watch 4

The Google Pixel Watch 4 is a standout wearable that made the Holiday 100 list. Its inclusion isn’t just Google stuffing its own product into a list. If you’re buying a gift for fitness-focused folks, CNET’s Vanessa Hand Orellana wrote that the latest iteration of Google’s smartwatch «hits a sweet spot between universally appealing design, seamless compatibility with the Android ecosystem, potentially life-saving safety features and robust health and fitness tracking.»

Red-light face masks

Your algorithm may have served you up a boatload of red light therapy content from health and beauty influencers this year. Search volume for red light masks has spiked in the past few months, so the LED masks have been included in the Holiday 100 buying guide this year. Just make sure to purchase one of the best FDA-approved masks.

Movie projectors to backpack charms

If you’re looking for gifts across other categories, Google has some top 2025 searches for big and small. Home theaters are apparently in this year, as searches for movie projectors spiked by a whopping 945%. Searches for backpack charms also hit an all-time high this year, so those are a safe bet for stocking stuffing for any young kids.

Checkers (the actual board game)

Even though many gifts given out at Christmas this year will surely be high-tech gadgets and accessories, the board game of checkers is also on the list. There’s always room for the classics.

As you prepare for the Herculean task of yearly holiday shopping, Google’s Holiday 100 is a good place to start. But if you’re looking to beat the crowd on the best tech deals around, CNET is already collecting pre-Black Friday deals.

Technologies

Look Up Tonight to Spot November’s Supermoon, the Brightest Moon of 2025

Has the moon been looking brighter and bigger to you for the past few days? Here’s why this month’s supermoon is even more super.

It’s already a great month for skygazers, with a trio of meteor showers and the return of the northern hemisphere winter constellations. On Tuesday night, it also features the second of four supermoons in a row. This month’s supermoon will happen on Nov. 4-5, and November’s beaver moon is special because it’ll be the brightest full moon of 2025.

In addition to being a supermoon, November’s full moon is known as the beaver moon. There is some debate as to why it was named this way. Some believe that this was the best time of year in the old days to set beaver traps to get pelts for winter clothing. Others believe that it coincides with the busiest part of the year for beavers, who are now stocking their lodges with supplies for the upcoming winter.

Here’s what time it’ll look its biggest and brightest, and what else you need to know about the November supermoon.

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The brightest supermoon: When’s the best time to see it?

The moon will reach peak illumination at 8:19 a.m. ET on Nov. 5, making the evening of Nov. 4 and the morning of Nov. 5 the best times to view the moon.

Since moon phases shift slowly, the moon will appear almost full for nearly a week. If you are unable to view the full moon on its best night due to weather or other reasons, you can still see a mostly full moon at any point from Nov. 3 to Nov. 8.

For all of those days, the moon will be measurably brighter in the night sky compared to any other full moon in 2025. The reason for this is because of the moon’s elliptical orbit. Since it’s not a perfect circle, the moon’s 27.3-day journey around the Earth brings it closer to us on some days, a phenomenon known as perigee. If there is a full moon during this time, it’s branded as a «perigean full moon,» which you may know better as a supermoon.

Not all supermoons are equal, and November’s will be a little more special than others. According to The Farmer’s Almanac, the beaver moon will be a scant 221,817 miles away from Earth, making it the closest full moon of the year. That means it’ll be the biggest and brightest of the year.

In practice, the differences are fairly minor and likely won’t be visible to the naked eye when compared side by side to other supermoons. A supermoon is only about 7% larger than a regular full moon. According to NASA, the biggest difference is when comparing a supermoon to a micromoon, where a supermoon will be about 14% larger and 30% brighter. So, if you notice that your backyard patio is lit up more than usual, it’s because of the supermoon.

Also due to the moon’s orbit, November will also bring a micro new moon, which means the moon will be as far away from the Earth as it can get — a phenomenon known as apogee. November’s new moon occurs on Nov. 20, but you won’t be able to see it.

Technologies

Stay Informed About Your Flights This Holiday Season With Your iPhone’s Tracker

Your iPhone is hiding a flight tracker. Here’s how it works.

Thanksgiving is only a few short weeks away and if you plan on flying during the holiday season, keeping up-to-date on changes to your flights is crucial. Airports can be hectic during any holiday, but with the government shutdown continuing, flights are liable to change or be cancelled more often.

Luckily, it’s never been easier to get up-to-date information about your flight. For starters, your airline probably has an app, and if not, you can check its website. If you’re in a hurry, you can Google the flight number. Or you can just use your iPhone’s built-in flight tracker that’s sneakily tucked away.

That’s right: Your iPhone has a flight tracker that you may have never known about. It’s there for when it’s needed. Below, we’ll show you have to access it in not one, but two places, so you never have to go hunting for your flight info elsewhere again.

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For more on the iPhone, check out everything Apple announced at WWDC 2025.

How to track your flight via iMessage

Before we start, there are a few prerequisites you must meet:

Make sure iMessage is enabled (it doesn’t work with SMS/MMS).
You’ll need your flight number somewhere in your text messages, whether you’ve sent that information to someone (even yourself) or it’s been sent to you.
The flight number must be sent in this format: [Airline] [Flight number], for example, American Airlines 9707.

Launch the native Messages app on your iPhone and open the text message thread that contains your flight information. You’ll know the flight tracker feature works when the text with the flight information appears underlined, which means it’s actionable and you can tap on it.

If your flight is still several months away or it’s already passed, you might see a message that says, «Flight information unavailable.» You might also see another flight that’s not yours because airlines recycle flight numbers.

You can check your flight status from Spotlight Search, too

If getting your flight information from Messages wasn’t easy enough, you can also grab the details right from your iPhone’s home screen by swiping down and adding your flight number into Spotlight Search. Even better, this works with Spotlight Search on your Mac computer, too.

How to access the hidden flight tracker

Although the airline name/flight number format highlighted above is the best way to go, there are other texting options that will lead you to the same result. So let’s say we stick with American Airlines 9707, other options that may bring up the flight tracker include:

AmericanAirlines9707 (no spaces)
AmericanAirlines 9707 (only one space)
AA9707 (airline name is abbreviated and no space)
AA 9707 (abbreviated and space)

I would suggest you keep the airline name spelled out completely and add a space between the two pieces of information — like in the previous section — because for some airlines, these alternative options may not work.

Real-time flight tracking

Once everything is set, tap on the flight information in your text messages. If the feature works correctly, you should see the following two options appear in a quick-action menu:

Preview Flight: View the flight’s details. Tap this to view more information about the flight.
Copy Flight Code: Copy the flight code to your clipboard (in case you want to send your flight details to someone else via text or email).

If you select Preview Flight, at the top of the window, you’ll see the best part of this feature: a real-time flight tracker map. A line will connect the two destinations, and a tiny airplane will move between them, indicating where the flight is at that exact moment.

Underneath the map, you’ll see important flight information: