Top Pixel team members leaving Google aren’t purely negative, maybe they needed new leadership



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While we all wait for the launch of Pixel 4a and salivate for none Pixel 5 rumors, a new report from Information It has given us a look at what has been happening behind closed doors in the Google Pixel team, and at first glance, it is not good. Mark Levoy, one of the biggest proponents of Google’s camera efforts, and Mario Queiroz, Pixel’s CEO, have left the company in the past 6 months.

It’s completely understandable that there are deviations from the Pixel team, even in high positions – look, no matter how much we like Pixel’s lineup, it’s been a disaster in terms of sales. Pixels certainly receive improved scrutiny considering they come from Google, which is a massive company that make Android, but even if you are generous with your evaluation, it is easy to find major flaws in each of the generations.

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But the news about some high-end outings doesn’t have to mean more doom and gloom for Pixel phones or their fans; There is still a lot of positivity here.

The camera may remain a fortress.

Losing someone as smart and clearly important to Google’s camera strategy as Levoy is obviously hard to swallow. Over the past 5 years, the Levoy team created some of the biggest breakthroughs in the Pixel photography experience, including HDR +, Night Sight, and single-lens portrait mode, all of the features that make everyone have the Pixel. in the highest regard for smartphone photography.

But while Levoy was, by many accounts, the person leading the great cameras in the Pixel line, he was undoubtedly backed by a host of other incredibly smart people. Levoy was an engineer at Google, like many others: he was not a dictator or a lone operator, but the head of a larger team filled with incredibly smart people who were involved every step of the way. Google’s AI blog is packed with amazing posts from brilliant Google AI people and research teams who have developed new machine learning, AI and computer vision technologies that are making their way into consumer-facing camera software from Google. These people are still on Google, and all the developments made during Levoy’s tenure must be continued and improved to move forward.

If Levoy hadn’t taken such a prominent place on stage at Google’s Pixel 4 launch event, his first major appearance of its kind, this news might not have made the waves. Levoy is a huge loss, there’s no way around it, but to think that the Pixel’s camera crew is somehow now rudderless is completely unfounded.

Battery life will be a weak point, until it is not

Levoy’s name appeared in public view more recently due to the Pixel’s on-camera focus, but former Pixel vice president and general manager Mario Queiroz was not as well known outside of his Google I / O appearances. It means it had less influence: Queiroz was deeply embedded in the development of every Pixel phone, having been with Google for almost 15 years, and was in the top spots launched by Google TV, Chromecast, Google Home, Google Wifi, and Stadia.

When Queiroz leaves, it is easy for the first reaction to be, as with Levoy’s departure, that the Pixel team does not have one of its central pillars. But as I pointed out from the beginning: is that really necessarily a bad thing? The Pixel has had its fair share (or more) of systemic issues, the main one of which is battery life. Under Queiroz’s management, each Pixel had a lower battery life, with Pixel 3 and 4 (and even XL versions) particularly weak compared to the competition.

Finally, Rick Osterloh is still the head of Google’s hardware, and he knows Pixel battery life is bad.

Ultimately, Rick Osterloh remains the SVP in charge of Google’s hardware, so the pixel line is likely to remain on a familiar path. That means that even when new people enter the ranges, the details may change, but the management is unlikely to. But with reports of Osterloh’s disappointment on the Pixel 4 line’s battery life and Queiroz no longer showing up in the picture, maybe we could Really See an improvement in this area.

The question here is in Osterloh’s leadership, not necessarily who is working for him right now. Why did you let the Pixel 4 complete development with a clearly weak battery life and make no changes? It was too late? Did they give you promises from your team that were not kept? We will probably never know, but every time there is a change in staff there is a chance for improvement. So while there are unknowns here, one thing we know (again, reportedly at least) is that Osterloh understands that the Pixel 4’s battery was lacking. Although it doesn’t take a genius to solve it, you just have to use it For a couple of days, it is important that Osterloh have it on his radar.

At the helm of Google’s hardware, Pixel phones aren’t Osterloh’s sole area of ​​responsibility: He also oversees Nest, Home, Pixelbook, Stadia, and more, and while pixels are obviously an important part of that ecosystem, it can be argued that they are not. it is. the the most important. Hopefully whoever fills the ranks below Osterloh on the Pixel team can hear the directive out loud and clearly – the last Pixel’s battery life was poor and unacceptable for the Pixel 5.

New price, strong value

Google Pixel 4 XL

With a big price cut, it’s worth looking again

The Pixel 4 XL doesn’t have its original price, but at a $ 300 discount, it plays in a different category and actually looks great. Yes, the battery life is still poor and the spec sheet is weak. But the software and camera are exceptional, and there are plenty of nice features to highlight at $ 600.



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