Google will offer on its Pixel a functionality equivalent to the Locate app, available on the iPhone.
Rumor has it that Google may soon implement a detection functionality in Pixel smartphones. It would take advantage of Ultra Wide Band technology which effectively makes it possible to locate objects such as smartphones or any other connected object. If it is already possible to find the location of a lost or stolen Android smartphone, this new feature will locate a device even if it has no more battery, or if it is turned off.
📸 I have obtained info about camera hardware configurations on several upcoming Google Pixel devices. While this isn’t as important as Google’s software – obviously – it still reveals some interesting changes. Thread 🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/sPCcT6WjPa
— Kuba Wojciechowski:3 (@Za_Raczke) July 25, 2022
If we are to believe the tweet from Twitter Kuba Wojciechowski spotted by the site 91 Mobiles, the feature under study already has a name: “Pixel Power-off Finder”. If a technology is new to the Android ecosystem, iOS users have been able to find their device, even when turned off, for some time now. Although the principle is the same, the technical implementation will be different. At the hardware level first of all, to benefit from this feature, the devices must be equipped with a Bluetooth chip able to work even without battery. It is therefore not certain that even the most recent Pixels, the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 therefore, will be able to benefit from it.
At the software level then, Google would plan toformalize the “Pixel Power-off Finder” at the release of Android 14. Again, uncertainty reigns over the compatibility of the function with the least recent smartphones. According to the leaker, the Mountain View giant is working on “the design of a large network uniting all Android devicesincluding its own version of Apple’s AirTags tracker, a location tag identified as Grogu.
We will therefore have to wait until the release of Android 14, in August or September 2023, to find out more about the compatibility of this function with other Pixel models or with smartphones from other manufacturers. The “Pixel Power-off Finder” function will be just one of the remarkable new features of the mobile OS. Android 14 will support Passkeys and say goodbye to passwords. In addition, Google will follow Apple’s lead, and will activate the satellite connectivity on compatible devices.
Source : 91 mobiles
