Updates abound for Google’s Pixel range, with the latest batch designed to stop scam calls mid-conversation thanks to AI.
Your phone is rarely ever locked in time, and like a lot of technology, tends to change with updates. Think of the patches that deal with security problems, or the feature update that arrive with every new operating system.
Each of these has the ability to help a phone feel new, and it can keep that new phone feeling for some time.
In fact, with the latest high end phones set to get updates for a good seven years or so, it means that new features could give you a little more to work with, which is what’s happening for owners of the Pixel 9 range and higher.
For folks with a Pixel 9 Pro XL, Pixel 9 Pro Fold, or any of the other two of last year’s Pixel 9 models, not to mention Pixel 10 range owners from this year, Google is rolling out an update drop with some interesting additions, one of which is designed to lock out scammers before they get in.
The feature rollout — which Google calls a “Pixel Drop” — includes the ability to edit photos inside messages using Google’s “Nano Banana” AI image editing, as well as more AI notification summaries.
But perhaps one of the more interesting additions will come outside of the Pixel Drop, as Google improves its scam detection technologies using AI.
The system will see its way to the same models, and uses a combination of AI and vocal tracking with alerts to let you know when a scammer asks you to do something, warning you in the process.
Essentially, if you pick up on a call that the system hasn’t noted as a scam call, Google’s AI Scam Detection technology can listen for the patterns of an urgent transfer of funds to provide a haptic buzz and a pop-up warning that you’re likely dealing with a scam.
The feature is just another way AI can be used for the purposes of good, though it’s also one specifically made for Pixel users, and set to roll out in the next week or two.
