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Get Ready for a Hot Phone Fall
Google is getting back in the flagship mix
Did I write off Google Pixel phones as a contender? Yes. They hadn’t done much innovating since squeezing a radar into the otherwise pedestrian Pixel 4. Sure, the Pixel line cameras were sometimes well above average, but the design was often decidedly ho-hum.
This week, however, we learn that Google very much wants back into the flagship handset race, taking the unusual step of previewing Pixel 6 devices months before their official fall release. Most interesting, of course, is the new custom SoC (System on a Chip), Google’s own Tensor chip.
Like Apple’s custom silicon (the A14 Bionic and maybe the Intel-replacing M1 series), this is a somewhat mysterious bit of silicon designed by Google and built by, well, who knows? Google doesn’t have its own fab (chip fabrication) and, until now has partnered with Qualcomm for off-the-shelf Snapdragon chips for its Pixel line.
Whenever someone says they’re building their own SoC, the reason is inevitably the same: Can’t get enough performance for key operations out of standard parts. Even before Apple started cooking its own silicon in the M1 chip, it was directing partners like Samsung and TSMC to alter existing silicon to suit its needs.
