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Amazon has reduced the Google Pixel 11 Pro XL to $999, marking a $300 discount from its original $1,299 price. The device features a 6.8-inch display, a triple camera setup with 50MP, 48MP, and 48MP sensors, and runs on the Tensor G6 chip with Android 17. The deal requires an Amazon Prime membership to access the discount.
An Android Authority columnist praises the Pixel 11 Pro's hardware, cameras and software but says testing uncovered three recurring weaknesses: inconsistent gaming performance, limited battery capacity, and slow wired charging. The writer cites a colleague's investigation finding that the Tensor GPU's rendering approach causes microstutters in games because it lacks native support for certain graphics features.
Vx is a new programming language that requires explicit transfer() calls whenever data moves between memory locations such as NPU high-bandwidth memory and host DRAM, treating that location as part of a variable's type rather than leaving it to a runtime. On Apple's unified-memory architecture such a transfer compiles down to almost nothing in practice, but the call must still appear in source code.
Google has quietly increased the Pixel 10a's US price from $499 to $599, with the change also reflected on Amazon and Best Buy listings. Archived listings show similar jumps in Canada (from roughly $529 CAD to $849 CAD) and the UK (from £429 to £599), suggesting the hike spans multiple markets. Google has not publicly commented on the price change.
Google sent a prototype orbital compute satellite, built by Planet Labs, aboard a SpaceX rocket from California, marking the first time one of its Tensor Processing Units has flown in space. The test will check whether the chip can sustain a kilowatt of continuous power, manage heat, and run AI models in short bursts without failure. Google's Travis Beals, who leads the effort called Project Suncatcher, said a more advanced two-satellite demo with laser communication links is planned for next year.
CAD renders posted by Android Headlines and OnLeaks show Google's upcoming Pixel 11A budget phone in a new purple finish, keeping the flat, camera-bump-free design of the Pixel 10A. The leak also suggests the device will use the Tensor G6 chip, the same processor found in the pricier Pixel 11, rather than repeating the older chip used in last year's A-series model.
Android Headlines has published leaked renders of Google's upcoming Pixel 11a, showing a design similar to the Pixel 10a with a slightly reshaped camera module and four color options including black, silver, green, and purple. The leak also details specs including a Tensor G6 chip, MediaTek modem, Titan M3 security chip, 8GB RAM, a 6.3-inch display with 3,350 nits peak brightness, and a battery estimated around 5,000mAh.
Renders attributed to leaker OnLeaks and published by Android Headlines show a Pixel 11A that looks nearly identical to the Pixel 9A and 10A, aside from a slightly rounder rear camera module and the same thick display bezels. A separate report from Mystic Leaks claims the phone will upgrade to Google's Tensor G6 chip, replacing the Tensor G4 used in the previous two A-series models. Android Headlines also reports the device will come in black, silver, green, and purple.
An excerpt from Kevin Roose's upcoming book The AGI Chronicles describes a contentious May 2022 dinner between Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei over Anthropic's chip needs. The book alleges Huang called Anthropic's compute chief a 'bean counter' after being shown data favoring Google's TPUs, and that Amodei later described Huang as 'kind of Trump-like' for repeating himself. Nvidia disputes the 'bean counter' remark, and despite the rocky start, the two companies eventually formed a partnership.
Android Authority's Stephen Radochia has published a comparison review of Google's Pixel 11 Pro XL against the Pixel 8 Pro after a week of testing. He reports that the new phone feels lighter and more refined, with a matte black finish and color-matched aluminum frame, while gaming performance remains a weaker point. He now says it's harder to recommend holding onto the Pixel 8 Pro than in previous years.
An Android Authority reviewer highlights Face Unlock on the Pixel 11 Pro, noting it can authenticate not just the lock screen but also sensitive apps and mobile payments, thanks to security processing on Google's Tensor chip. This capability has existed since the Pixel 8 series in 2023 and remains largely unchanged, while competitors like Samsung and Motorola limit face unlock to lock-screen access only.
Google will launch a prototype satellite carrying its Tensor Processing Units next week as part of Project Suncatcher, a research effort into running AI computing clusters in space. The satellite, launching with Planet Labs aboard a SpaceX Transporter-18 mission, will test how the chips withstand launch forces, radiation and temperature extremes, along with a heat-pipe cooling system suited for vacuum conditions.