Google Brings Circle to Search, Magic Compose, More to Pixel 8 Pro With January Feature Drop

Pixel 8 series owners will be able to access Circle to Search starting on January 31.

Written by David Delima, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 25 January 2024 14:36 IST

Google Brings Circle to Search, Magic Compose, More to Pixel 8 Pro With January Feature Drop

Google Pixel 8 Pro is equipped with a temperature sensor

Highlights

Pixel 8 phones will get the Circle to Search feature by January 31
The Pixel 8 Pro is getting a temperature monitoring app
Google is also rolling out the Magic Compose feature for the Pixel 8 Pro

Google's January Pixel feature drop is now available to download, unlocking new functionality on the company's latest Pixel 8 lineup. According to details shared by the search giant, the January feature drop update comes with the new Circle to Search feature found on the Galaxy S24 series of smartphones that was unveiled by Samsung earlier this month. It also makes the thermometer sensor on the Pixel 8 Pro more useful, and brings generative AI features to the flagship phone.

With the January Pixel feature drop, Google has brought the new Circle to Search feature that arrived on the Galaxy S24 series to the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. You can long press the navigation bar — or home button — and circle, scribble, or highlight images and text on the screen to perform a search without leaving the app. This feature will go live on January 31, in time for the arrival of the Galaxy S24 series.

The Pixel 8 Pro is also getting a option within the thermometer app, allowing owners of the high-end Pixel phone to record their body temperature. Google says that the "medical grade" feature will let you record body temperatures of any person, but you can choose to store your own records using the Fitbit app. The standard Pixel 8 and older models aren't equipped with this sensor, so the feature won't be available on those handsets.

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Magic Compose powered by Google's on-device Gemini Nano AI model is also available on the Pixel 8 Pro with the latest feature drop. You can pick from four different writing styles — Chill, Excited, Formal, and Shakespearean. Similarly, the Photomoji feature is now available on all currently supported Pixel phones, allowing you to turn photos on your phone into emoji that you can use for message reactions.

With the January Pixel feature drop, Google has rebranded the Nearby Share feature to Quick Share, a feature offered by Samsung alongside Google's feature. This change was previously announced by the company and will roll out to all Android smartphones in the future. Meanwhile, owners of the Pixel Watch 2 will now experience seamless switching between their devices, when they're using the Pixel Buds Pro, according to the company.

Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 the best foldable phone you can buy in India right now? We discuss the company's new clamshell-style foldable handset on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Google Pixel 8

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Smaller form factor makes it more comfortable to hold
Excellent and bright display
Cameras are still the best
Packed with AI features

Bad
Battery life is still not the best
Expensive
Tends to heat up under heavy load

Read detailed Google Pixel 8 review

Display 6.20-inch

Processor Google Tensor G3

Front Camera 11-megapixel

Rear Camera 50-megapixel + 12-megapixel

RAM 8GB

Storage 128GB, 256GB

Battery Capacity 4575mAh

OS Android 14

Resolution 1080x2400 pixels

More Google mobiles Google mobiles price in India

Google Pixel 8 Pro

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Premium design, IP68 rating
Fun AI-infused software experience
Good quality cameras
Quality video recording
Impressive image editing software
Long-term commitment to software updates

Bad
Gets warm under load
Buggy camera app
Not made for gaming
Average battery life
Relatively slow wired charging

Read detailed Google Pixel 8 Pro review

Display 6.70-inch

Processor Google Tensor G3

Front Camera 11-megapixel

Rear Camera 50-megapixel + 64-megapixel + 48-megapixel

RAM 12GB

Storage 128GB, 256GB

Battery Capacity 5050mAh

OS Android 14

Resolution 1344x2992 pixels

More Google mobiles Google mobiles price in India

Samsung Galaxy S24

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Compact design
Vibrant 120Hz display
Capable processor
Good overall camera performance

Bad
Average battery life
Recycled design
AI features free till 2025

Read detailed Samsung Galaxy S24 review

Display 6.20-inch

Processor octa-core

Front Camera 12-megapixel

Rear Camera 50-megapixel + 12-megapixel + 10-megapixel

RAM 8GB

Storage 128GB, 256GB, 512GB

Battery Capacity 4000mAh

OS Android 14

More Samsung mobiles Samsung mobiles price in India

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Further reading: Google Pixel 8, Google Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro, Circle to Search, AI, Artificial intelligence, Pixel Feature Drop

David Delima

Email David Delima

As a writer on technology with Gadgets 360, David Delima is interested in open-source technology, cybersecurity, consumer privacy, and loves to read and write about how the Internet works. David can be contacted via email at DavidD@ndtv.com, on Twitter at @DxDavey, and Mastodon at mstdn.social/@delima. More