What if you could buy a phone that got more helpful over time? With a Pixel phone, that’s exactly what you get, with regular feature updates and product improvements rolling out over the life of your phone.

Aussies who own a Pixel 4 can now start enjoying the all new Google Assistant in English. So, what’s new?

• Get help faster: Thanks to a deeper integration into Pixel 4, the Google Assistant is now a faster way to get more things done. Breakthroughs in speech processing mean that more requests can happen right on your phone, without always sending your request to the cloud.

• Multitask seamlessly: We redesigned the Assistant so it doesn’t take up too much room on your screen, letting you better multitask across other apps. It can quickly open apps and search, share what's on your screen, and more.

• Enjoy smarter answers and actions: The new Google Assistant considers the context of your query to give you more helpful answers. For example, you can ask the Assistant to “show my photos from Palm Beach” and then say “the ones with Sophie.” Then, you can share a picture by saying “send it to Mum.”

The new Google Assistant will roll out to AU Pixel 4 devices in English by Dec 31st, 2019.

This month, Pixel owners will also get even more helpful features – like simplifying portrait photos, making Duo calls more seamless, speeding up and making Google Maps more accurate – in our first Pixel feature drop, coming to a range of Pixel devices. Pixel owners will get software updates that unlock new features and apps so you get that new phone feeling without needing to upgrade.

Portrait Blur for all

Whether you have a Pixel 1, 2, 3, 3a or 4, it’ll be easier than ever to snap a great photo with features like Dual Exposure controls and the new and improved Night Sight that captures the stars with astrophotography. And we wanted to give Pixel owners an even easier way to take great pictures, starting with portrait mode. Now, you can make any photo a portrait on Pixel by blurring the background post-snap to get a beautiful portrait-like photo every time. So whether you took the photo years ago, or you forgot to turn on portrait mode, you can easily give each picture an artistic look with Portrait Blur in Google Photos.

Portrait Blur is already rolling out to Pixel 2, 3, 3a and 4 users – and will hit all Pixels in the coming weeks. To get the new feature drop, update to the latest version of Android and go to the Play Store to start your download.

Pixel 4 owners will also enjoy faster, better calls via Duo as part of this feature drop. The new on-device AI built into Pixel 4 helps keep your audio consistent, the advanced display helps reduce choppy video chatting – and Duo will automatically adjust to keep you in the frame during a video call.

Pixel phones have always received quarterly updates to improve performance and make your device safer with bug fixes and incremental improvements. Now, Feature Drops will bring more helpful and fun features to users on a regular basis to continue to make your Pixel better than ever.

Posted by Shenaz Zack, Group Product Manager