Google Pixel 4 series has exciting new features and some of which are going to add up in Old Pixel Models. However, Google is not planning to add ‘screen attention’ feature in that list.
As we already know, Google Pixel 4 feature ‘Live Caption’ is coming to Pixel 3 series. It is expected that along with Live caption feature, Recorder & Live transcription, New Google Assistant, Dual exposure mode, Astrophotography mode and more are also to join the update.
Screen Attention
Screen attention is a feature which tracks the motion of the users and automatically gets the display to activate or deactivate. So if the user is not looking at the screen, it will automatically get off. Although this feature is in the smartphone industry for a long time like in Samsung phones. This feature is worked by the presence of soli radar chip which is a hardware and cannot be updated in old models.
Google’s Pixel 4 has the screen attention feature but it solely depends on the front camera. The camera detects if the user is looking at the screen and keeps it on. Artem Russakovskii from Androidpolice revealed this in his post via Twitter. Google can easily include this feature with a software update in other Google Pixel Series.
I missed this in previous coverage but the Pixel 4 has screen attention that prevents the screen from turning off if you're looking at it. Very neat.
A point of clarification though: it doesn't use the Motion Sense radar chip, but rather the front facing camera. pic.twitter.com/zBxiaKnxzW
— Artem Russakovskii (@ArtemR) October 23, 2019
The disappointment is that Google has decided not to give an update of Screen attention for old Google Pixel smartphones. There might be a possibility for the old pixel phone to get this update in the future because Google said the decision is taken ‘for now’.
Pixel 4 Features to Include in Older models
Live caption to add up in Pixel 3 and Pixel 3a models but it might not come to Pixel 2 users.
Recorder & Live transcription
The new Google Recorder and live transcription support the English language for now but the company gave assurance that more languages will be adding in the coming year. The recorder records the audios and store it separately whereas transcription is the real highlight. A real-time transcription was tested by the Wall Street Journal with four people with strong accents and the world’s fastest talking woman and the feature got a great review it performed well.
Google Assistant
Google introduced its new virtual assistant with Pixel 4 and now it might also come in Pixel 3. The tech giant is also planning to make the assistant work without any requirement of internet connection.
New dual exposure mode
The dual exposure mode is also coming to Old pixel models but not sure which series. The company says this feature works much better in Pixel 4 because of the new pixel neural core hardware in the device. So we can assume the feature might not be as compatible in other existing pixel phone than pixel 4.
Along with this feature updates ‘car crash detection’ ‘Top Shot for short videos’ and ‘Astrophotography mode’ are also supposed to come in the Pixel 3 series. Astrophotography mode which allows to click image in low light or dark environment is already available in some of the Pixel 3 phones and reaming will soon get the update.
https://twitter.com/Google/status/1184121631909842945?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1184121631909842945&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2F9to5google.com%2F2019%2F10%2F16%2Fpixel-4-features-coming-to-pixel-3-and-3a%2F
All Pixel Users of old 3 and 3a models should be satisfied because they are getting some amazing new feature on the phone without paying 700$. Although this news is not so great for pixel 2 users, there is no confirmation or hope that their devices will also get the software update of new features.