At its Made by Google 2022 event today, the company officially launched its Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, Pixel Watch, and more. During the keynote, Google also took the opportunity to take some shots – with smiles – at Apple including a thanks for choosing to “follow our lead.” Here’s what Google’s VP of product management had to say…
This fall, Apple launched its first always-on display with iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max plus crash detection coming with all iPhone 14 models and the new Apple Watches. While it was certainly behind far Android smartphones with these features, some would say Apple did its usual move and launched late but with a thoughtful – potentially better – implementation.
Google pokes fun at Apple during Pixel keynote
Just under 30 minutes into Google’s keynote (watch below), VP Brian Rakowski had a short monologue with three specific digs at Apple being late to the party with features that were first on Pixel devices:
“Pixel has always been a leader in smartphone innovation and we take it as a compliment when others in the industry follow our lead. Like the always-on display and at-a-glance introduced with Pixel 2, putting useful info right on your lock screen.
And there’s Night Sight, which launched with Pixel 3 and astrophotography which set a new bar for low-light photography on a smartphone.
And we introduced car crash detection three years ago along with other important ways to keep you safe like safety check and emergency sharing. It’s an amazing track record of pioneering features that were first on Pixel and make the experience so much more helpful.”
A bit later on, Rakowski also took a swipe at Apple over its lack of RCS support in messaging (emphasis his):
“RCS is the modern industry standard for messaging and it’s already been adopted by MOST of the industry. We hope every device maker GETS the message and adopts RCS, making texting better for every smartphone user.”
