Taipei, Oct 8 (CNA) — US internet technology giant Google Inc.’s latest smartphones — the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro — and its first smartwatch — the Pixel Watch — will be available in Taiwan on Oct. 13 the company announced.
Google Vice President of Hardware Elmer Peng (彭昱鈞) unveiled the new products in Taiwan at a press event on Friday, saying the addition of the Pixel Watch to complement the Pixel Buds smartphones and headphones has created a more comprehensive Pixel product portfolio .
He promised that Google will continue to build on its software and hardware strengths and develop artificial intelligence applications to offer better products and tailored services to consumers.
Pricing for the 6.3-inch Pixel 7, 6.7-inch Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel Watch starts at NT$18,990 (US$599), NT$26,990 and NT$10,990 respectively in Taiwan. Google said in a separate statement.
Pre-order sales have started, and orders can be placed through the Google Store, telecom operator Taiwan Mobile and e-commerce websites, the company said.
The Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro will be the first Google phones to run on the tech giant’s new Tensor G2 chip, which will enable the phones to run computation and machine learning functions like image processing and speech recognition more efficiently, the Explanation.
The Tensor G2 chip also offers a significant graphics upgrade compared to its predecessor, and in addition to fingerprint recognition, the new phones will have a new face recognition feature that will allow users to quickly unlock their devices, Google said.
Phone users will get five years of security upgrades and access to tech support for a built-in VPN feature, which will be available soon, to increase security when connecting to the Internet, the company said.
Both the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro have faster night vision mode and Photo Unblur capabilities for sharper shots, while the larger Pixel 7 Pro comes with an advanced ultra-wide-angle lens that gives the phone a macro focus mode for improved close-up shots.
As for the Pixel Watch, the device embeds health tracking capabilities from Fitbit, which Google acquired in 2019, so users can track workouts, how well they slept and how many steps they took, the company said.
With an expansion of the Pixel product portfolio, Peng said Google’s development team in Taiwan will continue to expand.
In 2018, Google spent $1.1 billion to acquire the ODM manufacturing facilities of Taiwan-based smartphone brand HTC Inc., which previously produced the Pixel smartphone line for the US customer.
As part of the deal, HTC transferred its 2,000 HTC engineers to work for the US tech giant, and the team will continue to produce the Pixel for Google, the company said, without providing updated information on its Pixel-related workforce in Taiwan.
