Google event live – we're on the ground at the Pixel 8 launch

Now we're joined by Google's Rick Osterloh the SVP of Devices & Services at Google. He's touting Google innovation... and AI has already been mentioned. 

Classic start to such an event with a happy-go-lucky video touting Pixel product features, from the new phones to what looks like updated Pixel Buds Pro. 

And we're live! 

Let us know your thoughts on the Made by Google event by tweeting @TechRadar on... X. 

This is the face of a man who's clearly excited for some Pixel goodness! 

Some rather jaunty music in this holding video. And an image of the Pixel 8 Pro. 

Here's hoping for some surprises. 

We're now only some 5 minutes away for the Made by Google event kick off. Fancy watching it live? Then check out the video below. 

Such a spot makes for a good place to test phone cameras. And to give you a taste of what that's like, Phil Berne has snapped a photo of NYC on his Pixel 7 Pro. 

Oh the (mild) irony...

So what's it like to actually be at a big tech launch event? Wel over to Lance: 

"Google is holding this event in its new Pier 57 offices. It's a space old enough to be a landmark, which means Google couldn't change certain things like the impossibly long ramp to get to the event space (they're building a sort of funicular next to it for differently abled people).

"The keynote room, though, is spacious and surrounded by spectacular views (including a view - if you squint - of the Statue of Liberty).Google is teasing the Pixel 8 with an image of someone holding it but it looks so much like the Pixel 7 that you wouldn't know the difference." 

Here's the big man himself, Mr Lance Ulanoff, TechRadar's US Editor in Chief, at the Made by Google event. 

But your actual live blog host is me, Roland Moore-Colyer, TechRadar's Managing Editor for Mobile Computing, and an avid follower of Google devices since the very first Pixel phone. So, let's get into it.