Transcript

Soniya 00:00:00 I think all of our Pixel devices have a core element that are similar, and that's by design the Pixel 8a. It's the perfect expression of the core Pixel experience, something that you're gonna see in all of our devices.

Voiceover 00:00:14 Welcome to the Made by Google podcast, where we meet the people who work on the Google products you love. Here's your host Rachid Finge.

Rachid 00:00:22 In the final episode of this season, we're talking to Soniya Jobanputra, who is a Director of Product Management and knows everything about Pixel 8a, our latest phone that puts Google AI in your hands.

Voiceover 00:00:33 This is the Made by Google podcast.

Rachid 00:00:36 Soniya, long-term listeners of the Made by Google Podcast know that we at Google have this internal directory with all the Googlers in there and we all get to put in our little mission statement and yours says, invent, build and ship sounds like a lot of fun. How did you get to that and how does it connect to your work at Google?

Soniya 00:00:54 Yeah, I've been in consumer hardware for a very long time and the idea of invent, build and ship is just inherent to what I think it means to be a product manager in consumer hardware, it's about inventing products that enable consumers to be the best versions of themselves. It's about building products that consumers can rely on every day to be there and offer them help. It's about shipping products on time with quality and offering tremendous value to our consumers. So when I think about what it is as my job as a product manager in consumer hardware, it is about inventing, building and shipping.

Rachid 00:01:31 So consumer hardware, why does that make you tick? What's so cool about it?

Soniya 00:01:35 You know what it is, it's kind of a silly thing to be quite honest, but I just love the idea that I make something that someone can physically hold in their hand and use on a daily basis. I started my career actually in consulting and I remember trying to explain what I did to my family and friends and they had no clue when you're talking about infrastructure systems, it's not really something that's easy for someone to digest. And then I shifted my career into consumer hardware and the joy that it brings me to see somebody on the street or in another home using the products that I've helped have a hand in defining, it's just so meaningful. It makes it really easy to get out of bed every single day and get into the office.

Rachid 00:02:20 Is it still a special feeling if you see a stranger with a Pixel phone?

Soniya 00:02:24 Oh, absolutely. Every single day, every single time. And it's funny, it has spread to my children and so now my kids when they see somebody with a Pixel phone will be like, mom, there's Pixel . So it's very cute.

Rachid 00:02:37 Amazing. Well, today we're here for Pixel 8a, which you're intimately involved in, if I'm not mistaken, it's the fifth a series Pixel phone. What will be sort of the highlight of Pixel 8a and how does it stand out? You know, there are so many phones out there of course today.

Soniya 00:02:52 Yeah, when I think of 8a, I really think of three big things that we knocked out of the park with this phone. The first one is the camera Pixel 8a has the best camera available under $500, hands down. The feature sets that we offer, the hardware that we offer, it's really the full package. The second thing that comes to mind is the productivity that you get out of this device. Google has some of the best tools available in the world and our job with Pixel is to try to bring those to your hands so you have access to them wherever you are on the go. And I think with Pixel 8a, we've done a tremendous job of trying to bring those tools, all that Google AI to this device under $500. And the third is quality and longevity. For the first time ever, we're offering seven years of OS updates on the A series devices and that's a tremendous offer for our users who wanna hang on to their devices who maybe a little bit longer.

Rachid 00:03:52 Yeah, seven years brings us into 2031, which is amazing. Now let's start with the design. How did Pixel 8a change compared to the previous A series Pixels?

Soniya 00:04:04 Yeah, we've refined the A series design year over year with the Pixel 8a. I think we have one of our most beautiful designs, yet it has rounded edges, a map back cover, and a polished aluminum frame making it comfortable to hold in your hand and durable enough to handle everyday wear and tear. Plus it comes in beautiful new colors like Aloe and Bay as well as our neutral options: Obsidian and Porcelain.

Rachid 00:04:29 Tell me which one is your favorite of those four?

Soniya 00:04:32 Oh, Aloe by far, the green is absolutely gorgeous and the way that our design teams match the materials is just flawless on that device.

Rachid 00:04:42 Yeah, Aloe is amazing and if you haven't seen it, I definitely recommend you check it out. For example, on the Google store, even though it's actually a little bit brighter in real life than we can show on the picture, so in a physical store will be even better to check out the Aloe color on Pixel 8a. Now we could also compare Pixel 8a to Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro and some might say Pixel 8a is pretty similar maybe to Pixel 8. How would you respond to that?

Soniya 00:05:10 I think all of our Pixel devices have a core element that are similar and that's by design, right? Every device in our portfolio is purposely built and purposely defined for a specific type of user. And what we try to do is optimize the features in the meaningfulness of the definition of the product for that user segment. The Pixel 8a, it's the perfect expression of the core Pixel experience. Something that you're gonna see in all of our devices. While it might not have every single feature that you see in our Pixel 8 or our Pixel 8 Pro, it offers the core Pixel elements that our users have come to love, like the camera, the productivity features, you know, reliable security and just amazing quality and longevity. Plus it has that unique advantage of being the lowest price point in our Pixel portfolio.

Rachid 00:06:01 Absolutely. And a lot of AI in there, which touches upon productivity. You just mentioned it. What are things that Pixel 8a helps with when it comes to saving time for people?

Soniya 00:06:10 Yeah, it has a tremendous set of features. I think one of my favorite features and by far not a new feature but just one of my favorites is Call Screening. Yeah, it filters out spam calls and with direct my calls it helps me navigate and automate menus effortlessly with hold. For me, it waits on hold for me it's just absolutely an amazing suite of products that makes my life a little bit easier every single day.

Rachid 00:06:36 You also mentioned something like longevity, which I think got a new meaning since last year since we are adding seven years of support for Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro and now Pixel 8a as well. I'm wondering as a product manager, are there things you need to approach differently knowing that someone will still use this device somewhere in 2030 or even 2031?

Soniya 00:06:55 Yeah, we have to be a little bit more mindful about some of the hardware selections that we make and we build lots of additional features on our devices to try to make our hardware as durable as possible to kinda match up with that security capability. But it is a holistic effort and aside from the fact that you know, our devices are designed to try to last as long as possible, we also have a robust repair capability that we had to build alongside that so that we could support our users for that full seven years if they want to replace a display or replace a battery as that, as those types of needs come up.

Rachid 00:07:36 So I think many phones, you know that that are meant to be valuable in terms of their maybe under $500, they might have a chip in there that is slower, but that's sort of not what we did with Pixel 8a and also now with 7 and 6s, how do you make it happen that it can have our flagship, in this case tensor G3 processor in there that seemed like a hard one to pull off with all the other constraints you have to work with that.

Soniya 00:08:00 Yeah, it was really important to us in the A series to make sure that we were able to leverage a tensor chip and we were blessed to you know, focus our energy ensuring that the core of 8a matched up with that of Pixel 8 and 8 Pro Tensor G3, it is our most powerful chip, yet every major subsystem was upgraded bringing Google's advanced machine learning to all of our Pixel 8 generation of devices including the Pixel 8a and thanks to G3 we're also expanding the rollout of Gemini Nano to Pixel 8a users as a developer option, bringing premium Gen AI features to A series like Recorder Summarize and Smart Reply by having the same core or brain as I like to sometimes think of our SOC, we're able to make sure that all those Google AI intelligent features that we have in our portfolio can scale. And so it was really critical to us when we set out on this program to make sure that we found a path to making tensor G3 a part of the definition.

Rachid 00:09:06 And then Tensor G3 also plays a role, maybe indulge me a little bit, what is my favorite feature of Pixel, which has to be for me the camera so important to make those pictures pop and video stable for example, how is it possible that even a value device has such amazing photo capabilities?

Soniya 00:09:24 Yeah, that is all the magic of our incredible camera software team and hardware teams coming together and really even our Silicon team 'cause it all starts again with that brain. It starts with the image signal processor that's in our SOC that enables us to process the Pixels and the light that's coming in through our incredible set of sensors and create those beautiful images that you see on the other side. We have advanced Google imaging pro image processing algorithms that are running on Tensor G2 and 3 and they deliver the features that you see and love like Magic Eraser or Photo Unblur and Night Sight that have helped our users capture incredible photos in any situation over the past few years.

Rachid 00:10:11 Sonia, I think many people will compare the Pixel 8a camera to the 7a camera, whether that's photo or video. Could you describe sort of the changes between the two?

Soniya 00:10:21 Yeah, sure. Um, from a video perspective, I think there's two features I'd love to lean into. The first one is we've introduced Audio Magic Eraser. This is another AI powered feature that lets you remove unwanted background noise like wind or traffic from your videos. That means that the sound for your video will be as incredible as you need it to be. The second one, which I think is tremendously important is Real Tone in video. It really helps you improve your videos and we're expanding that image equity effort that we introduced with Real Tone on photos now to videos for the first time so that we are able to capture everyone in their true beauty as accurately as possible. Video is a big way that we see each other and the world around us and so we wanted to make sure that we were capturing those memories exactly as you see them in the real world.

Rachid 00:11:16 Now when it comes to security, I guess there are two ways to look at this. We can look at it from the perspective of the security of the device itself, but also maybe we should talk a little bit more about that Now is the security of the user features like Car Crash Detection or Safety Check for example. I presume those are all in Pixel 8a as well.

Soniya 00:11:37 They are. When it comes to security, we absolutely do think about it in both ways. It's about keeping your data safe but it's also about keeping you and your loved ones safe as well for you, for yourself and your own personal safety. We have these incredible features on all of our Pixel 8 generation devices that help keep you safe by anticipating and alerting you of dangerous situations with safety features like Crisis Alert and Car Crash Detection which you mentioned and even features like Safety Check that allow you to set a check-in timer whenever you need an extra layer of security. This is particularly helpful if you're walking alone at night or in any particular situation where you just feel a little uncomfortable if you can't confirm you're safe when the timer ends safety check will start an emergency sharing session with your selected contacts. And this is how we think about our devices is that we need, we're trying to keep your whole person safe, not just your data. And so I love the holistic approach that we take on Pixel with this.

Rachid 00:12:39 Yeah, very important indeed and great that it is in 8a as well. What about sustainability? I think every Pixel device year over year is more sustainable in the way it's made and the materials used. I dunno if it's even measurable, but how do we stand with Pixel 8? Where do we stand with Pixel 8a?

Soniya 00:12:57 Yeah, sustainability is at the core of who we are here at Google and the same goes of how we develop our phones or, or any of the devices that we have coming out of our devices team. Being able to use your phone for longer time not only saves money but also positively impacts the environment, which is why durability is such an important pillar for all of our devices. But aside from just making the device more durable, we try to use recycled materials like metals, glass, plastic, the Pixel 8a has our most sustainable back cover yet and contains the most recycled content of any A series phone yet with 24% recycled materials based on product weight. It even comes in sustainable packaging. It is a hundred percent plastic free, which I'm super proud of the team 'cause it takes a lot of effort to kind of do these things and to do it on an affordable device is really challenging. But our teams, our material teams work tremendously on trying to find unique solutions that work for our budget on A series as well for the environment.

Rachid 00:14:05 Now one AI thing that we didn't really talk about is that, you know, and, and over the past few weeks and month we've seen a lot of people maybe companies looking for the ultimate sort of AI gadget to be created. And I'm thinking maybe you actually created it because Pixel 8a can run Gemini. Can you tell us a little bit more about how you work with the Gemini team in making sure it works well on Pixel 8a?

Soniya 00:14:29 So we work right from the beginning with our Gemini with the, with the research teams at Google. And so our Silicon teams are involved with the research teams far earlier than we even start thinking about that Pixel generation 'cause they're trying to build in those ML capabilities right into the core of our products into Tensor. And so they're able to work with the research teams to optimize the definition of the Silicon to run those models more efficiently. A great example more recently has been our Circle to Search, which is a beautiful new AI feature that is now available on all of our Gen 8 devices, including Pixel 8a and it helps you improve your, your day to day, giving you the ability to search something by just circling or scribbling or selecting on the screen. No more trying to figure out how do I describe this thing. I can just pick anything in a video or on a page that I'm interested in.

Rachid 00:15:29 Yeah and for people who want to know more about Circle to Search, we had a whole dedicated episode about it with a team a few episodes ago this season of the Made by Google podcast. So definitely take a listen and learn more about Circle to Search. So yeah, it seems to me that Pixel 8a could be like the perfect phone for the summer, first of all with those due colors, whether it's Bay or Aloe. Uh, and then with all the AI assistance, whether it is as a digital assistant or all the AI helping you take great pictures when on vacation.

Soniya 00:15:59 Absolutely agree. It is definitely an incredible vacation phone one, it's super compact so it goes everywhere with you to, like you said, those colors are so fabulous. They are designed for the summer for sure. You remind me of being out in the fields with the flowers bluing or being near the ocean with our beautiful bay color. But I think most importantly it's gonna help you capture all those incredible memories whether you're using our feature favorites like Magic Eraser just to take some folks outta your picture or you're taking advantage of some of our new and latest AI powered features like Best Take, which enables you to make sure that you can get the best group photo no matter the situation. It allows you to take multiple images and select the best bases, bring them all together so you have the best group photo each time or maybe it's Magic Editor. That's the feature that enables you to capture that memory exactly how you want it by letting you reimagine your photos. And just a few simple steps.

Rachid 00:17:02 I wanted to pick up on one word you used, which is compact of course every person I suppose has their preference of the phone size. Where do we stand on this? Some people, you know they, they want like the Pro size phone. I think many of our other phones over the generation became sort of smaller over time. Where does Pixel 8a and its size stand compared to the other devices?

Soniya 00:17:23 Yeah, so Pixel 8a and Pixel 8 have a very similar size and that's because we've done a ton of research on what is that right size, what is that ultimate size that feels great in your hand, yet gives you the screen real estate that you need to do the tasks that you need to do on a daily basis. And when we run those research elements, we kind of discover that there is like an ideal X dimension. There is an ideal Y dimension. And so we try to strive to get there with our 8a and our 8 product. Our Pro device is designed for Technophiles so they have a bit of a different preference and so we try to build that to be the biggest, best possible expression of what a Pixel device can be. But we try to optimize our 8a and 8 device.

Rachid 00:18:09 Now Soniya, we're recording this before the device is actually out in the real world. It won't be long before we will see the first opinions online. I'm just wondering as a product manager is that you like constantly refreshing websites, you wanted to really see what people think of it. Is that what a launch day is like for a product manager?

Soniya 00:18:27 Absolutely. It's kind of, you know, we put in two years or or more in some cases on defining a product and getting just all the details just right, just perfect working with our software teams to bring amazing, helpful features to our devices and then we lend it out into the world. And the first thing you wanna know is what do others think? And so you do spend that day going through what are the reviews coming in as what are first impressions of the device And you kind of keep on doing that as people use the device. 'Cause you wanna know, especially for us where we're trying to design a device that is gonna last a little bit. I wanna know how people think about it even three months from now or maybe six months from now or a year from now. Is it still serving its purpose for them? Is it still giving them tremendous value? Is it still being helpful? So it doesn't end actually after the first day. It kind of is this continuous thing of understanding is my product still serving my users.

Rachid 00:19:22 Before we let you go Soniya, I always ask our guests for a top product tip. So in this case I'm wondering, let's say someone pre-ordered a Pixel 8a, uh, it will arrive at their doorstep very soon. They open it up, they turn it on and they make it ready for themselves. They put on their account. What is, would you say the top tip, the first thing to do to try out on 8a once you have it?

Soniya 00:19:43 Surprisingly, this is something that I've learned from my kids and that is you've gotta break your preconceptions of what an assistant can do and let your creativity explore the extent of the helpfulness that's available with our new Gemini app. When I think of like these assistants, I kind of go back to my engineering degree and I'm like, well I know what the limitations are, but the reality is all those limitations have been broken with these new Gen AI models. And so it was really fun. 'cause recently what we discovered that Gemini can do is write stories. And one of the things that we love to now do as a family is we'll come up with a really creative story, get Gemini to write it, print the story, and then draw images to match the story and build our own storybooks. This is not something I would've ever thought an assistant could do and nor did I think it would be something that would be so fun as a weekend activity, especially since we just had a rainy Saturday. What a wonderful way to use the day up was to create a story and create a whole storybook from that story. I would've never thought that, that that's what an assistant would do. And so we're trying to break our preconceptions and even more recently we actually, uh, had assistant help us with our itinerary for Italy, which was super fun. And so yeah, just constantly finding new and exciting ways of using assistant and making it a little bit more helpful and making my life a little bit easier.

Rachid 00:21:07 Sounds to me like the ultimate AI gadget is already here and it's Pixel 8a go check it out on the Google store. Soniya, thank you so much for joining the Made by Google podcast. Good luck refreshing in the following days and hope to see you soon again when we have another great Pixel product coming up.

Soniya 00:21:24 Thank you so much for having me and thank you so much for allowing me to talk about Pixel 8a.

Voiceover 00:21:29 Thank you for listening to the Made by Google podcast. Don't miss out on new episodes. Subscribe now wherever you get your podcasts to be the first to listen.