GoKawiilGoogle showed off its new Pixel lineup at its Made By Google 2026 event on Wednesday in New York City, but it wasn’t a typical big-tech announcement that gave the public its first look at new devices — that happened in the morning.
Perhaps Google chose to show its Pixel products off hours ahead of its event because a lot of details were leaked in advance, possibly leading the company to avoid following the traditional 10 a.m. PT show. Official details of the Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL, Pixel 11 Pro Fold foldable, Pixel Watch 5 smartwatch and Pixel Tag tracker were released at 7 a.m. PT, letting people get good looks at all the devices before they were officially announced during the show, which started at 6 p.m. ET.
Be sure to check out all of CNET’s coverage, including hands-on experience and Andrew Lanxon’s exclusive photo walk through Paris with the Pixel 11 Pro XL. After you’ve loaded browser tabs with each of those, let’s move on to what stood out today.
Live human presenters who can think on their feet
Apple has switched to almost entirely prerecorded keynotes, and while Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked had live presenters on stage in front of an audience, they mostly delivered rehearsed and teleprompted scripts as they debuted their new devices.
Google remembers that a product release is a show and brought hosts who can be entertaining.
Host Trevor Noah and Google Senior Vice President Rick Osterloh chat at the beginning of the Made By Google 2026 event. Screenshot by Tyler Graham/CNET
Last year, Jimmy Fallon bounded around a set that felt more like his Late Night studio than an auditorium. This year brings comedian (and former late-night talk show host) Trevor Noah as host, who also interviewed people from Google in a multi-camera talk show environment.
Although some of Google’s folks did have a measure of polished presenter training going on, they had to bounce off Noah’s impromptu interjections. At one point, he said, “I’m the one who’s supposed to make sure nothing goes wrong. I mean it’s live – I’ll make sure everything goes wrong.” There were some awkward moments, to be sure, but I spent the time always curious just how Noah would react.
Trevor Noah and Joël Yawili text Yawili’s mother in multiple languages. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET
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