Tensor: Key aspects you should know about Google's silicon

Google Tensor silicon will power the Pixel 6, and the Pixel 6 Pro, which are slated for launch this October.

In a surprise move, Google on Monday (August 2) announced that the company is ready with the first-ever in-house designed Tensor silicon for the mobile device.

Google said that it took four years of rigorous testing to finally complete the new System-on-Chip (Soc) Tensor. It is exclusively custom-made to power the new Pixel 6 and the Pixel 6 Pro, which are slated for launch this fall (October).

"The team that designed our silicon wanted to make Pixel even more capable. For example, with Tensor we thought about every piece of the chip and customized it to run Google's computational photography models. For users, this means entirely new features, plus improvements to existing ones, " said Rick Osterloh, Senior Vice President, Devices & Services, Google.

Google Tensor silicon. Credit: Google

Tensor: Key aspects you should know about the Google silicon
1) Tensor is a custom miniature version of Google's powerful Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) used in the Application-Specific Integrated Circuit(ASIC) of the company's cloud machine learning data centers. Some of the versatile apps such as Translate, Photos, Search, Assistant, and Gmail depend on this technology to work flawlessly on multiple ranges of devices when connected to the internet.

2) With Tensor coming to the mobile device, the same heavy-duty works can be done on-device without the need for an internet connection.

3) Also, Tensor will be able to perform all core CPU, GPU, and image processing activities faster and better than any previous Pixel phone.

4) Google says Tensor will enable Pixel 6 series phones to take the best possible photos in any light condition. Actually, Google hosted select journalists in the west to demo the photography capability of the Pixel 6 series. It is said that the phones will be able to take spectacular pictures even if the subject such as a baby moving the head flailing randomly. And, yet the resultant picture was said to be sharp. Google said that the main camera sensor takes a series of pictures and the ultra-wide-angle lens will capture super-fast shots to minimise blur. The Tensor's image processor takes over to merge all the photos and produce a stunningly sharp and detailed photo. This nifty feature looks very enticing; hope Google brings the Pixel 6 series to India and I could test it out (fingers crossed). So far, only eight global markets-- US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Australia, Japan, and Taiwan-- are confirmed to see the Pixel 6 series arrive in their stores later this year.

5) Besides enhancing the photography experience, Tensor silicon will make the Pixel 6 series offer a transformational experience in terms of speech recognition, live translation, captioning, and dictation. Also, Google Assistant will be faster in terms of responding to queries and also more accurate than ever before.

6) With Titan M2 integration, the device will have a highly secured enclosure to protect passwords and other confidential data in the phone. Google says that the Pixel 6 series will have the highest number of security layers compared to any mobile to date.

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