Multibillion dollar brand Google launched the first Pixel phone in 2016 and their goal was to give people a more helpful, smarter phone. Since their venture into the smartphone world, Google has introduced features like HDR+ and Night Sight, which used artificial intelligence (AI) to create beautiful images with computational photography as well as speech recognizers like Google Assistant.

What’s trending now is that Google is introducing a chip of their own known as Google Tensor which is expected to bring enhanced features to their upcoming Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 pro.

What is Google Tensor? In the most basic definition, Google Tensor is simply a “system-on-chip” (SoC) or what is commonly referred to as a “processor.” It’s the same thing as a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 or an Apple A14 Bionic. These are all chips that power their respective devices. To make things clear, just like Apple, Google has finally decided to monotonize their chip or rather processor as you may know it. This was confirmed by the president of Google devices and services Rick Osterloh in one of their latest articles, “Tensor is our first custom-built SoC specifically for Pixel phones, and it will power the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro later this fall. We set out to make our own System on a Chip (SoC) to power Pixel 6. And now, years later, it’s almost here.”

According to Google, this new chip redefines what it means to be a Pixel; from the new design that combines the same beautiful aesthetic across software and hardware with Android 12, to the new Tensor SoC, everything about using the Pixel is better. Is Google going to stop supporting other phone manufactures? You may ask….

No! Google is remaining open source and the only difference is that the processor is going to be more efficient because it’s specifically designed for smartphones. Tensor is Google’s in-house SoC just like Apple has its own in-house silicon, the A-Series line of chips.

This will impact how fast a phone seems, how long the battery lasts, cellular connectivity, etc. There are also co-processors that handle dedicated tasks such as image processing or security. Google does have experience in those areas: the Pixel Visual Core and Titan M chip, respectively, both have appeared in previous phones. And don’t forget Google has also been making Tensor Processing Units for its servers for years.

This is the first time Google has introduced a mobile TPU specifically for a phone and will technically allow a phone to process more information on-device, rather than send data to the cloud.  Google reportedly showed a blurry photo of a kid, but after running through Tensor’s TPU, the toddler’s face appeared sharper. In another demo, Pixel’s on-device auto-caption feature quickly and accurately translated language in a playing video from French to English in real time.

This is the time for you “cool kids” and gadget crazy people to start saving for this phone. In the meantime, join the pulse nation by downloading the Pulse App and get the latest news.

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