Google's Pixel 10 Introduces AI-Powered Phone Features: Voice Translation and Smart Message Taking

No time for voicemails? This Pixel 10 feature has you covered

The app will provide a real-time transcription of the caller's message and suggestions for next steps to take. Missed calls happen, whether you're away from your phone or you didn't hear the ring. And you're not always in a position to listen to a voicemail. Still, you probably want to know why that person reached out. Even if you declined the call, you may be wondering what the purpose of that call was about. Pixel 10 series owners are getting a feature made for such scenarios. With the launch of the Pixel 10 series, Google is rolling out a new feature for the Phone app. This feature is called "Take a Message," and it's designed for times when you miss or decline a call. As the name suggests, Take a Message aims to inform the user on why someone dialed your number. Specifically, Take a Message separates your missed or declined calls from spam calls. This way, you can get straight to the calls you're interested in and avoid the junk. The feature then generates a real-time transcript of the call. It also uses AI to provide suggestions on next steps to take after the message. This feature will join the Pixel's Call Notes tool, which allows users to record, transcribe, and summarize calls. Bringing the two features closer together, Call Notes will also start using AI to identify next steps to take after a call.

The Pixel 10 Phone app can translate your voice and Take a Message

Besides Magic Cue, Voice Translate in the Phone app is Google's other tentpole on-device AI feature for the Pixel 10 series. When Voice Translate is enabled, the other person will hear a voice that sounds like yours in their native language. After starting a call, go to the Call Assist menu to activate and select one of the supported languages (English to or from): French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish. There is a brief disclaimer. Meanwhile, you'll also hear a translated voice that is similar to the speaker's. For a few moments, you'll hear their native voice before the translated version kicks in, while Google also provides an on-screen transcript. This is happening on-device with the latest Gemini Nano running on the Tensor G5. On the privacy front, audio is not stored or voice enrollment process. We got a chance to go hands-on with this capability, and it's wild how it really sounds like you're speaking another language, down to an approximation of your accent. Take a Message can pick up calls you've missed or ignored to find out what the person on the line wants. This happens in the background with a live transcription so you can immediately pick up if it's relevant. Google will also generate to-dos like call back reminders or add to calendar, with Call Notes also updated with this capability. The other big addition to the Pixel 10's Phone app is Magic Cue when calling airlines about flights and other reservations. A card will appear at the center of the in-call screen with relevant details for you to easily reference.