6. The Pixel family expanded
In addition to phones, the Pixel family welcomed the brand-new Pixel Tablet and its sleek docking station. The Pixel Buds Pro also received an upgrade with clearer voice calling, suggestions for hearing wellness, and more.
7. Plus, the Chromebook Plus
The launch of Chromebook Plus, a powerful, AI-driven device with features and tools tailored for consumers looking to enhance their laptop experience, was another highlight. It offers best-in-class security, access to all familiar apps, and twice the power, speed, memory, and storage compared to standard Chromebooks.
8. Wearable Updates
The year saw the introduction of the Google Pixel Watch 2, a more powerful smartwatch with improved health insights and new safety features. Additionally, the Fitbit Charge 6 offers real-time heart rate tracking that connects to compatible exercise equipment, along with a battery life of seven days. Two major software upgrades were also rolled out for wearables, including the new Fitbit app on the Google Pixel Watch and Fitbit devices, and a new version of Wear OS with added productivity and entertainment features.
9. New Health Tracking
These launches were accompanied by new ways to monitor wellness, such as the most accurate heart-rate tracking system for the Google Pixel Watch and Fitbit Charge 6, as well as new tools like fall detection and oxygen saturation (SpO2) tracking for the Google Pixel Watch.
10. Enhancing Preparedness
To assist people in staying informed, extreme heat alerts were introduced, offering information about heat waves, and flood forecasting was expanded to cover more regions. Furthermore, the new Pollen API empowered developers using Google Maps Platform to add information about changing allergens in specific areas.
11. Enhanced Google Maps Experience
Updates for Google Maps included the introduction of the Immersive View for routes, enabling users to visually preview an entire trip, including bike lanes, intersections, and parking spots, before setting out. Additionally, features for exploring national parks and expanded fuel-efficient routing were implemented to address CO2 emissions.
12. Focus on Photo Features
The year brought the launch of AI editing tools such as Magic Editor, enabling easy complex edits, and Best Take for Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, which automatically creates a blended image from a series of similar photos. The introduction of palm gesture selfies aimed to simplify group photo-taking, and a new Memories view for Google Photos was also introduced.
13. Richer RCS Experience
The adoption of RCS, the modern texting standard, reached a milestone with 1 billion users in Google Messages. This achievement was followed by the introduction of new features supporting RCS, including end-to-end encryption for group messages and Voice Moods (beta) to accompany voice messages with visual effects.
14. Productivity Boost with Workspace
Google Workspace witnessed several launches, such as the expansion of AI-powered Smart Compose to Google Chat, enabling contextually aware suggestions to reduce spelling and grammar errors. Additionally, new building blocks for Workspace simplified the addition of more information to documents, and a new meeting scheduler in Gmail made it easier to arrange meetings directly from the inbox.
15. Duet AI for Google Workspace Enhancements
Duet AI in Google Workspace became generally available, serving as an AI-powered collaborator across various Workspace tools. For example, Duet AI in Slides could assist in generating images for presentations, while Duet AI in Sheets could automatically create custom plans for tasks or projects. Similar assistance was offered in Gmail, Meet, and Docs to enhance productivity.
16. Expansion of Duet AI in Google Cloud
Duet AI extended its reach to Google Cloud, providing AI assistance across a wide range of Google Cloud products and services. This included helpful features for developers to increase software development and delivery velocity, along with AI assistance for troubleshooting, smart actions, and learning expedited through reduced context-switching.
17. Strengthening Security with Passkeys
Increased security was achieved with the introduction of passkeys, offering a simpler and more secure method for signing into online accounts. Passkeys rely on public key cryptography and provide a more accessible alternative to passwords, available by default across personal Google Accounts.
18. Virtual Try-Ons
Google launched an AI-powered tool allowing users to virtually try on clothing through a diverse set of 80 real models, representing various sizes, skin tones, body shapes, ethnicities, and hair types.
19. AI Tools for YouTube Creators and Artists
At Made on YouTube 2023, new AI features were unveiled to enable creative expression, including AI-generated backgrounds for Shorts with Dream Screen and a mobile video production app called YouTube Create. Additionally, experimental music AI tools were introduced, such as Dream Track for Shorts, allowing creators to produce unique soundtracks featuring the AI-generated voice of participating artists.
20. Google Labs Exploration
The introduction of Labs provided a platform for testing Google’s experimental AI tools and technologies, offering users the opportunity to provide feedback directly to the teams. A notable offering within Labs is NotebookLM, an endeavor to redefine note-taking software with a powerful AI model at its core.
21. Chrome Enhancements
Chrome saw various updates, including a new look for the Chrome Web Store and several improvements to the address bar. New features were also introduced to celebrate the browser’s 15th anniversary, such as refreshed icons, new color palettes, and AI-powered extensions.
22. Fact-Checking Tools
New and updated tools were launched to assist users in fact-checking information online, including Fact Check Explorer, which added an image-checking feature, and the introduction of About this image in Search, providing details about an image’s web history and metadata.
23. Continued Innovation with Google Search
2023 marked 25 years of Google Search, with the addition of 33 new languages to Google Translate, enhanced insights on Google Flights, and a revamped Google Trends, demonstrating the continuous evolution and improvement of the search experience.
