Google has unveiled a new color option for the Pixel 8 lineup, as announced earlier this week. And surprisingly Google also releases a new Pixel feature drop update for some Pixel phones. Circle to Search was announced with the Galaxy S24, which is now coming to Pixel phones as part of the Pixel Feature Drop update. Here’s everything about the January Pixel Feature Drop update.
Google usually releases Pixel feature drops every three months i.e. every quarter, but this time Google has surprised with two back to back feature drop updates for Pixel phones. However this update only contains a few changes and mainly focuses on Pixel 8 enhancements.
There is no information on the build number yet as the update will be available for Pixel devices starting January 25, and the full rollout may take a few weeks. But the features of this update are now known. Here’s all the features that the January Pixel feature drop brings to Pixel phones.
January Pixel Feature Drop – Features List
Circle to Search: Google and Samsung partnered to first bring this AI feature to the Galaxy S24, which was announced last week. But the feature will also be available on the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro starting January 31, the same day the Galaxy S24 becomes available to everyone. Yes, as of now it is coming only for Pixel 8 series.
The feature allows users to search for anything visible on their phone’s screen by drawing a circle around it. This also works on highlight and scribble. A long press of the home screen button or gesture bar will trigger the circle to search and users can then draw circle.
Pixel 8 Temperature Sensor for body temperature: With this feature drop Google enables Pixel 8 temperature sensor to measure body temperature. Earlier it was possible to measure the temperature of only certain objects and was not useful in real life use. Ultimately Google makes it useful.
Magic Compose: For Pixel 6a and newer. This feature will let us rewrite the drafted message in different styles that we can choose from. As The Verge points out, in the case of the Pixel 8 series the processing happens on-device, but other Pixel phones will use the cloud.
Photomoji: Google has brought Photomoji to Google Messages. This will let you react with stickers extracted from photos. All you need to do is touch and hold the message followed by Create > Photo > Select object and send. Coming to Pixel 5a and newer.
Nearby Share to Quick Share: Samsung and Google partnered to make the sharing between Android and ChromeOS devices easier. Nearby Share is now known as Quick Share but the functionality is much the same. The name Quick Share is taken from the Samsung Galaxy Sharing tool. The branding change will be available on Android 6.0+ devices.
The update will be available for Pixel users starting January 25. But since this is going to be a phased rollout, it may take a few days or a few weeks for the full rollout to happen. Apart from the listed features you can also expect some more features.
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What an amazing era of technology advancements. I really love those every tech possible that is partof us. Those make our day in every way possible. It is highly expected they get better in positive ways.