Google reveals the secrets of the new Pixel 8 camera

With excitement building over Google’s soon-to-be-released Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro phones, more information has leaked regarding planned camera upgrades — and this time, the information leaked directly from Google.

In an official survey recently sent to the Pixel Distinguished fansthe company sought opinions on the “future of Pixel Sports”, asking its most loyal customer base to choose from a number of point-based photography scenarios, saying which would most likely influence their decision when buying a new smartphone.

Interestingly, the list of scenarios includes a selection of unreleased camera-based features that are not currently available in any Pixel product. I’ve included them below:

• The new Audio Magic Eraser function, which was already detailed in a previous leak, uses artificial intelligence to remove unwanted background sounds from your video recordings.
• AI Photo Fusion, which can “create the perfect group photo by combining the best shots of everyone with your phone’s AI technology, so everyone looks gorgeous.”
• New “Gphotos” editing features – Refers to new AI-based features in Google Photos that allow you to “instantly change a photo’s background, people’s clothing, or anything else in a photo.” This is supposed to refer to The Magic Editor The job was announced earlier this year.
• Faster camera unlock – The Pixel 7 Pro’s camera launched really fast, so it’ll be interesting to see what the Pixel 8 can achieve here and if it makes a noticeable difference.

The full list of scenarios has since been posted to X (neé Twitter) by an experienced tip Kamila Wojciechowska.

It’s very difficult to get group photos right, especially with large numbers of people (someone always has their eyes closed!), so any AI-powered help would be most welcome here. It’s not uncommon for professional photographers to take several versions of a group shot before cutting and pasting the best elements from each to create a new “perfect” result. Ordinary users are unlikely to encounter this problem, so having a smartphone do it for you would be a great addition to the camera.

In addition to these software tricks, the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro cameras are expected to have an updated Camera app and some significantly upgraded camera hardware. Looks like we’re getting ready for an impressive show when the Pixel 8 range finally launches later this year.

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