Google Tensor SoC debuts on the new Pixel 6 this fall

&gt; The improved sensors and lenses are now too big to fit into the traditional square<p>ah yes, the age-old traditional camera square, first pioneered in the year of 2018. truly a bygone era

&gt; Pixel 6 will have the most layers of hardware security in any phone**.<p>&gt; **Based on a count of independent hardware security subsystems and components.<p>That does not seem like a meaningful measure for security.

From the Verge article it seems the CPU in SoC would be some licensed spec based on Exynos, so I am guessing we aren&#x27;t going to see CPU performance close to A series processors, but it does seem like a promising start. Google has an incentive to go all in on CPU design as that helps their data centers and GCP both, so we might see significant gains over time.<p>I had to buy a new phone and I am really happy that Pixel 6 looks promising, otherwise iPhone would have been the only choice. I really wish Samsung would get its act together on software and updates, as they have really compelling hardware. For now, at least from the preview of Verge it looks like I will probably pick up a Pixel 6.

I imagine I&#x27;m in the minority but I&#x27;d rather have a phone a fraction of a millimeter thicker that has a flush back. At this point it&#x27;s getting out of hand.

I am hoping to splurge on a phone in 2021, and it&#x27;s between the Pixel 6 pro and the Fold 3 for me.<p>As phones they couldn&#x27;t be more different. The Fold3 aims to completely change the way we experience phones, while compromising on standard phones essentials (camera).<p>On the other hand, the Pixel6pro looks to be a final evolution of the classical smartphone, maximizing for battery, camera, software-smoothness and hitting all the essentials correctly.

Yikes. I&#x27;m not a fan of the design because I like my phone to be able to sit flat on surfaces.

Other sources seem to be reporting 6.4&quot; and 6.7&quot; diagonal screens. So I guess even the smaller Pixel is now as large as the iPhone Max?<p>Guess I shouldn&#x27;t have gotten my hopes up for a surge of small phones spurred by the iPhone 12 Mini. Which is a real shame, since I&#x27;m way overdue for an upgrade but 99% of phones are way too large.

&quot;Tensor&quot;? Google makes some great stuff but I really wish their product naming conventions weren&#x27;t so confusing.<p>First they have the Nexus 7, Nexus 4, Nexus 10, and then ... Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 9, ... oh wait they aren&#x27;t versions, they are number of inches ... -____-<p>And then they have Google Hangouts, Google Hangouts Meet, google Meet, Google Chat, Google Hangouts Dialer, Google Duo, Google Uno, uh ....<p>And then now TensorFlow and then Tensor ... is that like TensorFlow without the flow?

I wonder about the baseband (radio - wifi &amp; cell) component. Are they using Qualcomm &#x2F; Intel standalone chips? Or did they buy an IP core to integrate onto the SoC? I somehow doubt that they did it in-house, as it&#x27;s a massive effort to match current state of the art.

Unrelated to this article specifically, but the biggest thing I&#x27;m looking forward to with the Pixel 6 is the improved updates timeline, as Google has said they will provide updates for at least 5 years, which puts them more in-line with Apple.<p>Previous Pixels worked great but then inexplicably lost OS updates after only a few years.

Please, some manufacturer:<p>- slate form factor &lt; 6&quot;; the phone should fit in my damn pocket - no hole punch or notch for the camera on the front (how was this even acceptable to consumers, it looks like shit) - no otherwise irregular protrusions for the back camera or whatever<p>Is this just impossible now?<p>Think Galaxy S9, but just with upgraded hardware and maybe smaller bottom bezels.

How about a phone that is not a phone anymore, but computer in a phone form factor. Because that hardware is that capable for some time. It&#x27;s so infuriating watching all this effort going into &quot;experience&quot; features that all boil down to shooting selfies and liking posts on facebook.

Was there no demos to show off the chip?

There are some points mentioned in <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;l9SHUSP_LJ8" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;l9SHUSP_LJ8</a> to tame everyone&#x27;s expectations for this SOC.

So who is physically building this chip?

They should see if all their AI can help them produce this phone for $300 or under.

Did they publish battery capacity?

I read the entire blog post and I don&#x27;t understand the fanfare, it&#x27;s a custom SoC, presumably to rival Apple&#x27;s M1. I don&#x27;t see anything innovative about this, besides heralding &quot;begun, the neural net wars have&quot;.<p>What is the benefit of having all of the ML bits on device? Can models leverage them post training?