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What you need to know
- Google promised that the Pixel 8 series would support full OS upgrades for seven years, the longest period for a smartphone at the time.
- However, it drew criticism because it was already limited in the functionality it provided to less powerful devices (although Google reversed course).
- Now, Google’s vice president of devices and services has revealed the promise of upgrades on the company’s Made by Google podcast.
Google’s decision to support the Pixel 8 series with seven years of full OS upgrades drew both praise and criticism. Some have praised Google for promising long-term support so that, hopefully, he can keep using his Pixel smartphone for longer. But some are wondering what the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro will look like in 2030.
We finally have an answer, as Seang Chau, Google’s vice president of devices and services, talked about this promise on the latest episode of the Made by Google podcast.
Chau said Google’s move to using custom Tensor processors in recent smartphones has allowed it to offer better software support. Initially the support period increased from 3 years to 5 years and now from 5 years to 7 years.
“After using Tensor for a few more years, we really started to understand how to best perform those updates,” Chau said. Seven years later, we are now able to offer that extended period to our customers. ”
The choice to make a seven-year commitment was no coincidence. Google looked at how long the original Pixel had been around and found that it still had a significant number of active users nearly seven years after its initial release. This was the basis for Google’s decision to continue supporting him for seven years. “So seven years is a good number given that we want to be able to support Pixel for as long as the user has the device,” he said.
According to Chau, chipsets are one of the most complex elements when supporting older devices with new software. But another reason Google thinks it can deliver on such a long promise is because of ongoing lab and beta testing thanks to Android’s new quarterly platform releases (QPRs). is.
“Now that we are running these beta programs year-round, we have a large number of beta testers, which gives us even more confidence that we can provide reliable updates to our users every quarter,” Chow said.
Finally, Chau explained how Google determines which features are supported on legacy hardware. This has been a hot topic lately as the company initially held back from running Gemini Nano on Pixel 8 devices. The company has since changed its mind and plans to integrate Gemini Nano into the Pixel 8 after further testing.
This uncertainty is related to the Pixel 8’s limited amount of RAM, which is why Chau said the Pixel’s feature additions over the years have been rooted in software. Ideally, later new features will not require new hardware to work.
Google’s public comments on the Pixel’s new seven-year update promise give us some insight into the reasoning behind it. However, only time will tell what these Pixel smartphones will look like in 2030.
king of androids
Not only does the Google Pixel 8 Pro have some of the coolest on-device AI features, but Google is also promising seven years of support for the phone. This means we’ll continue to see new features and improvements until 2030.
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