Smartphone innovation has largely slowed to a crawl over the last few years. We’re long past the days when each successive generation of phones offered up features that drove waves of excitement among consumers, who’d then wait outside the Apple Store.
But that might be about to change thanks to AI. At least, that’s what smartphone makers hope.
Yes, we’re about to enter a new phase of smartphone sales spin. Prepare yourselves for the great AI smartphone war.
To be fair, smartphone makers have been adding AI and machine learning capabilities to their devices for years — for everything from improving photo quality to intelligent notifications. But generative AI technologies promise a whole new host of innovations ranging from fresh photo-editing tools and content summarization to live translation and transcription features. And, of course, smarter digital assistants.
Google kicked things off last year, including AI features with its Pixel 8 line of smartphones. Samsung followed suit earlier this year with its Galaxy AI platform. And now, Apple is preparing to enter the ring with Apple Intelligence, which is set to launch later this fall.
Not to be outdone, Samsung and Google are also preparing their own major product events in the coming weeks that are expected to include even more AI news.
Samsung will host a Galaxy Unpacked event in Paris, France, on July 10, where it’s expected to show off the next generation of its foldable phone lines: the Galaxy Flip and Galaxy Fold. Google will hold its Made by Google keynote in Mountain View, Calif., on Aug. 13, during which it’s likely to show off its latest Pixel phones.
The thrust behind all of these moves is that AI will provide exciting new functions for your smartphone that were never before possible. It also means you’ll need to cough up some extra cash to get your hands on those features if your phone can’t take advantage of those AI capabilities.
A battle for your attention and wallet
Google and Samsung kickstarted the AI smartphone fight, but Apple’s impressive response managed to make generative AI look like a far more approachable and consumer-friendly technology.
The iPhone maker laid out its plans for Apple Intelligence during its June WWDC event, giving developers and fans alike a glimpse at how the software will work across its Photos, Messages, and Mail apps, as well as with its Siri assistant. The company says you’ll be able to do things like ask Siri to pull up specific pictures from the Photos app. So if you want to see a picture of that time you and your friend Susan went to New York, you can ask Siri to show pictures of Susan in New York, and it will surface them for you.
What’s more, Apple says it’s integrating OpenAI’s ChatGPT into its products, giving users access to the chatbot. The company says you’ll also need to give ChatGPT permission to search the web each time you use it, ensuring you know when you’re using Siri and when you’re using ChatGPT.
Apple also spent a significant chunk of its time going over how it intends to preserve its users’ privacy while using Apple Intelligence’s online functionality. It says it won’t share data with OpenAI — and won’t save any private data from users’ interactions with Apple Intelligence.
Samsung is up next with its Unpacked event where, according to its latest advertising blitz, it will show off all-new generative AI options for its phones. So far, the company has mostly shown that its Galaxy AI can pull off some fancy photo-editing tricks and translation services, so it’ll be interesting to see what it has to rival Apple’s announcements.
Google, which provides some of its AI know-how to Samsung, is in a similar position. The company let fly with its generative AI-powered smartphones well before Apple, with options to edit photos and videos, but the software felt more scattered than the kind of comprehensive services Apple plans to provide.
Now the company is gearing up for its next Pixel phone launch and specifically pointing to AI as a key aspect of the phones’ functionality. Google uses its Pixel line more as a blueprint for how its Android phone partners can innovate using its various software services. And part of that means proving to customers that its generative AI features can take on Apple Intelligence.
You can expect all three companies to start making major advertising pushes for their generative AI platforms throughout the fall and holiday shopping season as each tries to prove it’s the better choice for what they’re banking on as the next major paradigm shift in smartphones.
A choice that, ultimately, you and I will get to make.
Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.
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