As Mobile World Congress 2024 closes its doors for this year, we got to see GSMA once again give out its "Global Mobile Awards" for software and hardware products that have made significant strides and impacts in the industry - and yes, this includes smartphones.

As such, GSMA recently presented its "best smartphone" award of 2023 to the Google Pixel 8 series - this is on basis of "outstanding performance, innovation and leadership as determined through assessment of smartphones on the market during the period January 2023 to December 2023, by world leading independent analysts, journalists and influencers."

Other devices mentioned on the shortlist include the Apple iPhone 15 Pro series, OnePlus Open/OPPO Find N3, Samsung Galaxy S23 Devices, and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5. Google's Rick Osterloh likewise posted about the award on his official social media page.

Launched in October last year, the Pixel 8 features major upgrades especially within Google's base-model flagship phones, including a Google's Tensor G3 chipset, a smoother and brighter screen, new camera features, as well as new AI software features.

Just recently, Google and its Gemini software came under fire following complaints from users that the company's AI model was deliberately refusing to generate historically-accurate depictions of people based on ethnicity. Following the controversy, Gemini's ability to depict images of people was put on hold, followed by an official message from Prabhakar Raghavan, Senior Vice President at Google. Part of his post reads:

"Three weeks ago, we launched a new image generation feature for the Gemini conversational app (formerly known as Bard), which included the ability to create images of people."

"It's clear that this feature missed the mark. Some of the images generated are inaccurate or even offensive. We're grateful for users' feedback and are sorry the feature didn't work well."

"We've acknowledged the mistake and temporarily paused image generation of people in Gemini while we work on an improved version."

Raghavan adds that the Gemini team's tuning failed caused the model to become exceedingly cautious than expected, refusing to answer certain prompts and wrongly interpreting some as sensitive. These then resulted in the model to overcompensate in some cases, and be over-conservative in others, leading to erroneous results at times.

With all that said, Raghavan states that the situation was not what the folks over at Google intended, resulting in Gemini's human image generation feature being turned off, with the goal of improving it significantly before turning it back on with extensive testing.

The Google Pixel 7a has a pretty modest 4,385mAh battery. It's not the biggest but it's enough. Could it be bigger? Sure. If you're looking for a Pixel smartphone with a larger battery, then perhaps the Google Pixel 8a could be the phone for you.

According to a report from MySmartPrice, they recently discovered a mysterious Google phone on the UL Demko certification website. A sighting this early has led to speculation that this could be the Google Pixel 8a, and according to the listing, the phone could come with a 4,942mAh battery.

This will most likely end up being marketed as 5,000mAh or 5,040mAh. Regardless of how Google wants to spin this, it is a significant upgrade over the Pixel 7a's battery. It is also bigger than the Pixel 8's 4,575mAh battery and roughly the same size as the Pixel 8 Pro. This could be good news for those who are looking for a more affordable Pixel handset that offers longer battery life.

That being said, MySmartPrice does note that the listing on the website could also potentially be for the Google Pixel Fold 2. Recent rumors have suggested that the Pixel Fold 2 could launch later than expected. It also might skip the use of the Tensor G3 in favor of the G4. Either way, if it is the Pixel 8a, we should have more details in the coming months.

2023 saw the launch of Google's first ever foldable phone, the Pixel Fold. The handset launched with the Tensor G2 that was used in the Pixel 7 in 2022. It is expected that its successor will use the Tensor G3 which debuted in 2023's Pixel 8, but that might not be the case. A report from Android Authority suggests that the Google Pixel Fold 2 could skip the G3 and go straight to the G4.

According to the publication's sources, Google could skip the announcement of the Pixel Fold 2 at I/O 2024. Apparently the handset is still in the Engineering Validation Test phase, meaning that it could launch later than expected. The report also claims that Google is testing the Tensor G4 with the Pixel Fold 2.

We're not sure why Google is taking longer than expected with its second-gen foldable. It is possible that they want to use the Tensor G4 and are holding back its launch. Also, it is unclear what kind of changes or improvements the G4 could bring to the table over the G3.

Samsung is still expected to be the chipset's manufacturer, but whether or not it will use Samsung's 3nm process remains to be seen. There have been rumors claiming that the G5 will probably be the biggest upgrade. It will be made using TSMC's 3nm process and would allow Google to create a more customized chipset.

Not too long ago, Google teased fans about a new and upcoming color variant for the Pixel 8 series, and it looks like the company has finally unveiled the wraps on the big surprise - the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro are now available in a new "Mint" color, which joins other already-available variants such as Obsidian, Bay Blue, and Sage, to name a few.

In addition, Google also announced some new useful features for Pixel owners - for one, users can now take their temperature with the Pixel 8 Pro's thermometer app via a quick forehead scan, and results can also be saved on a user's Fitbit profile. It can be remembered that the Pixel 8 Pro's rear-panel thermometer could not be used on human subjects, although this new update is a much-welcome development.

Other new Pixel features now include the "Circle to Search" function that allows users to interact with an image, text, or video by drawing a circle and allowing Google AI to search for results. There's also Photomoji which turns user photos into reactions, as well as Magic Compose that uses AI to write suggested responses based on context.

The Pixel 8 and 8 Pro Mint colorway will be available starting today via Google's online store.