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.

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.Â
- Google Pixel 8 Cameras Supercharge Video to Lead Photography Upgrades
- Google Pixel 8 and 8 Pro Pack More AI and New Cameras, But at a Higher Price
- Google’s Pixel 8 Pro Has a Temperature Sensor. Here’s What It Does
- Best Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro Preorder Deals: Free Pixel Watch 2 and More
- Google Pixel 8’s Audio Magic Eraser Silences Annoying Noise In Your Videos
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.Â
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.
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 (ÂŁ999, AU$1,699) and the Pixel 8 at $699 (ÂŁ699, 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.
- Google Pixel Watch 2 Should Solve the First One’s Biggest Shortcomings
- Fitbit Will Use AI to Connect the Dots Between Your Health Metrics
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 (ÂŁ349, AU$549); preorders start today.
Technologies
Bank of America Warns Bond Market Echoes 2022 Conditions
Bank of America warns that current bond market conditions mirror those of 2022, when rising yields and rate hikes triggered a significant equity correction. The firm advises investors to consider hedging strategies as real yields break out of trading ranges.
The bond market is giving 2022 vibes right now, and not in a positive way, according to Bank of America. Yields skyrocketed to multiyear highs this week, as oil prices stay elevated and new U.S. data suggests the Federal Reserve may need to hike rates even more to quell inflation. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield reached levels not seen since 2007 above 5.2%. The 30-year bond yield also spiked to its highest levels since 2004. Equities, for their part, weathered the move higher well. The S & P 500 is up around 1% week to date. The Nasdaq Composite jumped nearly 2%. But for BofA technical strategist Paul Ciana, this may be the calm before the storm. US10Y YTD bar US 10-year yield in 2026 “We see parallels with 2022, when the US 10-year real yield broke out of a trading range and rose from approximately -1% to +1.5%. Around that period, the SPX, Euro and Bitcoin formed important peaks and declined, while equity, rates and FX volatility accelerated higher,” Ciana wrote. “The comparison does not require an identical outcome, but we do think it argues for greater caution.” Stocks entered a bear market in 2022, as the Fed quickly raised rates to fend off a massive surge in inflation. The S & P 500 fell more than 19% that year, marking its worst annual performance since 2008 — when it tumbled 38%. Ciana noted investors can hedge by scooping up put options on the SPY ETF , which tracks the S & P 500. “Investors seeking protection may consider one- to three-month SPY 750 puts or 750/730 put spreads,” he said. “The lower strike corresponds to the July lows.” “However, the rise in real yields is quite stretched on weekly RSIs. If yields retrace lower and positive SPX seasonals follow through, hedges may not perform,” he said, referring the relative strength index, a popular indicator that helps assess whether an investment may be overbought or oversold.
Technologies
Anthropic warns investors of AI’s ‘existential risk to humanity’ in IPO prospectus, reports say
Anthropic’s IPO filing dedicates 80 pages to the risks of AI, nearly double the 48 pages it spends discussing its business plans, according to Reuters.
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Technologies
U.S., Iran hold separate mediator talks as Mideast oil exports hit war-time high
Iranian and U.S. officials reportedly met separately with mediators Monday to push for a ceasefire, as Middle Eastern crude exports rebounded to war-time high.
Iranian and U.S. officials reportedly met separately with mediators Monday to push for a ceasefire.
Middle Eastern crude exports rebounded this month to around their highest level since the war began in February.
An outright export ban by Washington on diesel would keep roughly 1.2 million barrels a day at home, and risks overwhelming Gulf Coast storage, according to Kpler.
The building of the destroyed Shajareh Tayebeh primary school is pictured surrounded by rubble in Minab in Iran’s Hormozgan province on August 10, 2026. Six months on, a team of AFP journalists obtained rare access to the school which has remained largely in ruins, its collapsed walls and twisted steel now surrounded by portraits of the children killed as Iranian flags flutter above the rubble. Iran says the attack on the school involved two separate US Tomahawk missiles but neither the United States nor Israel has officially claimed responsibility for the strike. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images) /
Atta Kenare | Afp | Getty Images
U.S. and Iranian officials have reportedly held separate indirect talks with mediators on Monday, reviving efforts to end seven months of war as Tehran presses for a response to a revised ceasefire framework and Middle East crude exports climb to their highest level since the conflict began.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Qatari mediators in New York, where he remained after the United Nations General Assembly, and reportedly said he expects Washington’s reply by Tuesday. “We talked about ideas and how to find solutions to fulfil Iran’s conditions,” Araghchi said, adding that he planned to return to Tehran once a response arrives. “Whenever the Qataris have a response, they know how to get it to us.”
Iran’s proposal, first presented on the sidelines of last week’s General Assembly, calls for a four- to five-day U.S. timeline to release frozen Iranian funds, lift sanctions on Iranian oil and end the naval blockade of Iranian ports, with nuclear talks beginning within seven days. Tehran has tied any reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to those steps.
President Donald Trump had on Sunday called the plan “unacceptable” and rejected it, telling reporters Iran wants a swift deal because of the economic pressure it is under. Speaking at the White House Monday, Trump said U.S. officials had spoken separately with mediators but gave no further details, adding: “We’re going to win. It’s going to go pretty quickly.”
The diplomatic push comes as physical supply data shows the war’s toll on the oil market easing. Middle Eastern crude exports rebounded this month to around their highest level since the war began in February, Kpler data showed. “Middle East crude exports at just under 80% of pre-conflict levels,” the tracking firm said in a note on Monday.
The Strait of Hormuz itself remains far from normal. Kpler’s real-time tracking showed total clearance through the strait at 10,591 kilobarrels a day on Saturday, against a pre-war baseline of 17,133.
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