Google is developing its own chips for Pixels and Chromebooks.
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This is according to a new report by Ina Fried over at Axios.
[UNKNOWN] I got to talk to her about the news.
Why would Google go outside of Qualcomm to build its own chips?
What are the advantages for Google in doing this?
I think they woudn't do it if they didn't see some advantage and there's two areas of advantage, or maybe three.
So one is just cost.
You know, obviously, cost is a big factor in phones.
and the thinking goes that if you design your own chip, you can save some money, but it's got to be more than that.
So when you look on the what are the other advantages?.
Two things really crop up one, you can embed exactly what you want on the chip.
So it's not just the processor But what they call a system on a chip.
So it's got the machine learning stuff.
It's got an always on core for Google Assistant.
So those types of things you couldn't integrate directly onto the same single chip unless you did it yourself.
And then the other area is performance.
You wouldn't do this if you didn't believe long term, you could outperform the competition.
And that's a big claim when you're talking about Qualcomm, which basically does this for a living.
Inno said a lot there, so let's unpack it before getting back to work.
Let's talk about Google's history of making chips.
Google introduced the pixel visual core inside the pixel two.
This was Google's first custom designed coprocessor for consumer products.
Like the name suggests, it was an image processor.
Before this, Google was completely reliant on Qualcomm with Google's visual core.
The company said quote, to expand the reach of HDR+ handle the most challenging imaging and machine learning applications and deliver.
Lower-latency and even more power-efficient HDR+ processing, we've created Pixel Visual Core.
The company also said HDR+ can run five times faster, and in less than one tenth the energy running on the application processor.
So Google got better performance Forts images, thanks to its hardware, then the pixel visual core was replaced with the pixel neural core in the pixel four.
Here's what Google had to say with the introduction of the neural core.
pixel neural core is the engine.
For on device processing, always on computing and machine learning, meaning more tasks are done on the device for performance and privacy.
Now, for example, the pixel fours recorder app takes advantage of that neural core.
The recorder app can transcribe speech and identify sounds like music and applause.
This all happens on device, there is no need for the data to go up into the cloud and back for the end user.
The experience should feel faster since there should be a little delay in getting information You're not reliant on your network, Internet speed, or online services.
It's all on the phone.
If Google is working on its own system on a chip, it could integrate its co-processors into one chip.
That usually means even more power efficiency, and as Ina said Could be a cost saving method.
So how far along is Google in its process?
Let's turn to Anna for that.
It is a big undertaking, Apple, it's been a long evolution for them to get where they are in semiconductors.
Google is at the point they have the initial silicon according to my source meaning They've taped out they've designed the chip.
It's already back, but that still means it's probably not likely for this year's pixels, but probably likely for next year's pixels.
There were reports saying that Google could opt to use a Snapdragon 765 in the pixel five.
That processor is not the top of the line.
For Qualcomm in 2020, that honour goes to the 865.
Maybe the pixel five is using the 765 as a way to get to Google's own chip.
But Google has a partner force chip.
And that's Samsung.
Here's Ina, telling us more on that.
Most chip makers today, the companies we even think of as core chip makers, Qualcomm Broadcom, they don't actually manufacture their own chips.
They rely on one of only a handful of companies that actually are Makes the silicon and Google will be in this boat.
So they're designing the chip but they need a partner.
And because they're new at this, they actually need more of a partner even than the Qualcomm.
So they're working with Samsung and Samsung, certainly we know from their phones, but they also make displays, they make chips, they make memory chips.
They also make chips for other people for a long time they made apples chips Apple America still use TSMC but they make chips for other people.
So Samsung is working with them very closely with both the design and for the eventual manufacture.
We've seen Google partner up with a bunch of different companies in the past Look at the original Nexus line with phones made by Samsung, LG, Motorola, Huawei and HTC.
Google wound up swallowing up a lot of HTC phone team to make its own pixel phones apart Partnership with Samsung ,makes lots of sense.
If history has told us anything, the more control you have over every element of a product, the better it could be.
Take a look at Apple with its computers and phones.
Microsoft's take on tablets and laptops.
Pretty slick, maybe an end to end Google phone is the answer or not.
Let me know what you think about Google messing about with its own chips.
I want to thank ina fried of axios for joining us on my as actor and I'll see you online
