Google Pixel 4 event set for October 15, motion sense in tow

Each year Google unveils its latest Pixel smartphone – along with a few other gadgets – at an October event that’s come to be known as the “Made By Google” event.

Google hasn’t quite announced this year’s event, but they may have been hiding it in plain sight, with Evan Blass tweeting an image this evening that looks like a Pixel 4 phone with a screen protector, a date on the screen of October 15 and a time of 10:00 (perhaps a reference to Android 10).

Meanwhile, This Is Tech Today is about to shoot to the top is the YouTube charts with an exclusive look at the Pixel 4’s much-rumoured gesture controls brought about by Google’s Project Soli. We’ve linked below to the good bit:

You can also watch the video from the beginning for a good roundup of leaked details so far (yes Brandon, we skipped to the part with new information 🤷‍♂️)

Motion Sense

Gesture controls carry the name Motion Sense, which is consistent with the Edge Sense name used for previous Pixel’s squeezeable edge controls.

Motion Sense brings Quick Gestures, which is also the name Google’s given to the gesture controls brought about by the Nest Hub Max’s gesture control scheme – one point to those of you playing at home who drew a link there.

Quick Gestures on the Pixel 4 allow you to skip songs (you can control next/previous track behaviour) and silence interruptions (ringing and alarms) by waving in front of it.

Ambient Display

Motion Sense also brings Ambient Display control — the Pixel 4 will let you wave over the phone to wake it up and activate the lock screen.

This is something that’s been accomplished using the front facing camera on other devices, so we assume that the Soli hardware takes less battery power to run – plus, it’s a little less creepy knowing that the camera isn’t recording.

It seems likely we’ll see more about the Pixel 4 from This Is Tech Today, as they’re promising to go back to their tipster with questions from viewers. If the mid-October launch date is accurate, we’re still a month out from launch – there’s plenty of time for more information to come.