Episode 61 - What’s in the box with Google’s Pixel 8 Pro

The concept of a “thing” being greater than the sum of its parts is one of those recurring topics on this show… mostly because it’s so true across the technology space. Gadgets, services, apps… you name it… sometimes the product that ends up in your hands is just… more that it otherwise should have been on paper…

This week we had the opportunity to get hands-on with Google’s recently announced Pixel 8 Pro… and the results were exactly that… the screen is better and brighter, the processor is faster and more efficient, and the Operating System has a fresh coat of paint and a slew of new features… All are fine, some are even good, but something else about this device is more than even all of that should add up to… 

Google’s journey through hardware has been… storied… From the days of Nexus phones and Google Glass all the way to today’s Pixel lineup of phones, foldables, and tablets there has always been something missing. It’s not always about quality, direction, or usefulness… it just constantly feels like Google isn’t “all in” on these efforts. And in a very real way, there’s a Samsung-sized reason that could be true…

So with that in mind, maybe just maybe things are starting to shift… a stepped-up Ad campaign, a very real moment happening around all-things-AI, and a promise of years and years of guaranteed upgrades might push the math in Google’s favor this year… or this is going to turn out to be just another reminder from Google to Samsung that yes, they still exist as more than a software vendor of theirs… 

Which is it going to be? Let’s find out…