Today’s big Made by Google event for the Pixel 10 was… something, but if nothing else, it showed a Google that was confident in the product it was bringing to the table. That included Google making a lot of jokes directed straight at Apple while talking about the Pixel 10’s various updates and features.
Hosted by Jimmy Fallon, Google’s latest event for the Pixel 10 was always going to be an interesting one, but I’m not sure anyone was prepared for what we ended up getting – I sure wasn’t. After attending the launch in person, I’ve got a lot of thoughts, but one thing that really stood out was just how confident Google was during this event. The company tried something new, was clearly confident in its products, and wasn’t scared to throw some shade at Apple – a continuation of the jokes found in recent teasers for Google’s new phones.
Throughout the event, Google peppered in little digs at Apple, such as “broken promises” in reference to the various delays with Apple Intelligence that Rick Osterloh mentioned within just the first few minutes.
There has been a lot of hype about this, and frankly, a lot of broken promises too. But Gemini is the real deal. We’ve got the best models, we’ve got the best AI assistant, and it means this can just unlock so much helpfulness on your phone.
That was quickly followed with Osterloh reminding everyone that Pixel was the first phone to add Car Crash Detection back in 2019, years before Apple.
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In the next segment, Fallon went over Google’s new portfolio with SVP Adrienne Lofton, who threw out a few jokes about Apple. She not-so-subtly took a jab at the walled garden approach that “some companies” take to their phones, adding that Android is “the most open platform that’s built for true freedom of choice.”
The segment evenutally landed on Pixelsnap, where Lofton flat out said that the Pixel 10 series will “work perfectly fine with all of your Apple MagSafe accessories,” to which Fallon joked about the use of “the A-word.” Lofton, talking about how confident Google is in its products – again, something you could feel through this entire launch –, said that “we love everybody in the game so we can say anyone’s name we want on this stage.”
Closing out that segment with one more jab at Apple (and its fanbase), Lofton touched on the “green bubble” situation, calling the conversation “tired” in the post-RCS world.
We realized the idea of switching your phone brand can seem scary. It can even maybe be a little bit daunting. And so we talked about and have tackled the two top concerns that people have when it comes to switching… Thing two is we know that you need to seamlessly communicate with your loved ones. That’s probably the most important thing. …RCS simply means there is now one text standard for all. And what you should know is that Android has been using RCS for many many years, but Apple recently adopted it as well. What does that mean? It means that now when you’re chatting with your i-friends, you can say goodbye to blurry photos and videos, you can react with all the cute emojis to the text messages, and finally the group chat is for the whole group. I want to say, personally, the green/blue bubble battle is silly, and it’s tired. And at Google we’re done with that conversation.
You can see that full clip in the embed below:
Of course, prior to Apple’s adoption to RCS, Google heavily leaned on the “green/blue bubble battle” in an effort to push Apple to “Get the Message” about RCS. Ultimately, Google’s efforts were probably not the main reason Apple gave in, but Lofton is certainly right that, at this point, that whole debate is” tired.”
The rest of the event focused more on Google’s new software features – and several more celebrity appearances – and skipped over more jabs at Apple, but the tone was very much set. Google wanted everyone to know that they are excited for what they’re releasing, and that’s pretty refreshing. Often times, new Android device launches feel like they’re caught in the iPhone’s shadow in one way or another, but this one really stood out, for better or worse.
What did you think of the Pixel 10 launch event? Check out our coverage on the new devices below:
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