The much-awaited December 2022 Pixel Feature Drop is finally out! Alike every other Pixel Feature Drop, the December 2022 one too, is aimed at enhancing your overall Pixel experience by manifold. 

For quite some time, Google unleashes a Pixel Feature Drop, once in every four months. The main idea behind the quarterly Pixel Feature Drop is doing away with the long wait for the next major Android release to add more firepower to your Pixel gear. 

However, the latest Google Pixel Feature Drop clearly stands out amidst the crowd of Pixel Feature Drops that have come so far. Google itself says that it’s their ‘biggest one to date’. It has unraveled the next-gen smart tools which are going to open up new horizons in your Pixelverse experience. 

Meanwhile, this Google Pixel Feature Drop would mark the first of such sort for the Google Pixel Watch. Interestingly, devices as early as the Pixel 4a to as latest as Pixel 7 or 7 Pro will enjoy the massive boost that comes in the form of December 2022 Pixel Feature Drop. Let’s delve deeper to figure out what’s in store. 

December 2022 Pixel Feature Drop: The Silent Explosion 

Usually, the quarterly Pixel Feature Drops overlap with the rolling out of the monthly Android security patches. This time also, it’s no exception, as we already have the much-needed Android December Security Patch, which takes care of a lot of bug fixes and solves a host of security issues that were long overdue. 

The recent-most Google Pixel Feature Drop happens to be a bomb that was dropped silently by Google and ensures you have an absolute blast with your favorite Pixel devices – be it Google Pixel phones, watches or even buds. Here’s a close look on the new features and the major changes along with the detailed discussion on every other significant aspect around them. 

Rising Concerns Regarding Web Browsers 

Of late, data privacy has become a rising concern, globally. The headache seems completely fine when we look at the recent surge of data breach cases – data theft, cyber fraud, hacking, phishing. Just days ago, we came across the new Android malware Schoolyard Bully Trojan, which has been active since 2018 and has already affected more than 300,000 devices. Zimperium zLabs discovered that they have been aggressively targeting Facebook accounts, across the world. 

The shocking incidents like the massive Deribit Hack, which went on to wipe out $28M, have made users even more skeptical about the security system of their respective devices. Moreover, this comes amidst the undercurrents that started to build up since cybersecurity giant Kaspersky Labs warned us through a burning report that more than 90% of the global businesses are not well-equipped to deal with the next wave of cyber-threats. 

We must remember that most of the users don’t use any sort of anti-viruses on their smartphones these days, forget smartwatches. Though there are some really useful data cleaning tools which safeguard your browser data from possible phishing attacks or other potential hacking incidents in case of laptops and desktops, the options are quite limited when it comes to smartphones. With people opting more and more for digital transactions through their smartphones, the risk of such frauds is only getting increased.

Safe Surfing with VPN by Google One

In such a scenario, both Google Pixel 7 and Google Pixel 7 Pro will now be bolstered with VPN by Google One. This is one of the most significant changes that has occurred thanks to the December 2022 Pixel Feature Drop. 

To the much delight of the Pixel users, it would be available without any extra penny. Google claims with absolute firmness that ‘your online activity is protected at a network level no matter what app or web browser you’re using.’ The VPN by Google One has been brilliantly crafted and is designed to offer you the ultraedge when you are otherwise stuck in network traffic. It could be a café or an airport lounge, but you would be rest assured. 

Moreover, the VPN by Google One blesses you with an extra layer of online protection. Basically, it’s going to mask your traffic and IP address, reduce online tracking and provide security on public Wi-Fi and other unsecured networks, which expose your identity and make you easily vulnerable. Hence, it streamlines your online surfing, keeping potential phishing, digital frauds and other cyber-threats at bay. 

Strengthened Security & Privacy Settings

This happens to be another extremely important area which has gone through a much-required massive upgrade. In recent times many reports and research studies have raised the alarm bells, when it comes to security and privacy settings. Courtesy of the latest Google Pixel Feature Drop, you can actually review your security and privacy settings, risk levels and other information together. 

This one-stop solution makes it really easy to protect your phone, accounts and passwords. In addition to all these, it includes a new range of action cards that will notify you of any sort of security threats and offer you simple steps to boost up your privacy and security.

Hence, you can be rest assured and explore the vast functionality of your Pixel device. 

Crystal-Clear Calling

Even with the most pricey phones available in the market at our disposal, we face issues of failing to hear the person on the other end properly. These days headphones or earpods with ANC ( Active Noise Cancellation) features are nothing new. At times, they become really handy in canceling out your background noise, while you are on a call. 

But what about the other side? This still remains a problem and in case the person on the other end happens to be in a crowded area, you fail to engage in proper communication with them. This time too, the Google Pixel Feature Drop comes to your rescue. 

In order to deliver clear calling experience, it has an ace up its sleeve – the all-new Tensor G2. Thanks to the highly-advanced technology of Tensor G2, it can stretch its limitations to pull the unbelievable off! It becomes able to enhance the other caller’s voice and reduce their background noise, something which is indeed remarkable and not much heard of. 

Therefore, you can now enjoy hearing the other person’s voice distinctly, even if they are in a noisy place. We must not forget that despite so many upgrades and new features, calling still remains the basic purpose of having a mobile. Most importantly, since the arrival of pandemic, online meetings have become an integral part of the new normal. Hence, in a nutshell, this new element ticks one, if not the most important box with effortless ease and does away with a lot of worries. 

Speaker Labeling

This is an absolute gem of a feature and would be of immense help to the students, research scholars, journalists and even business professionals. The Pixel’s Recorder was widely celebrated and highly regarded for its array of exciting features. 

With the December 2022 Pixel Feature Drop, it has become even more sharpened to identify and label every speaker and insert line breaks whenever the speaker switches. You can now record an interview, meeting, seminar, lecture or conversation with each person being labeled individually. Google claims that after this massive Pixel Feature Drop, its Pixel gears – be it phones, watches or buds, would be capable of performing this task with inch-perfect precision. 

Interestingly, this unique feature applies machine learning in order to process speaker labeling live and on-device. Hence, you are feel-free to watch it work while recording. And as soon as the recording is over, you can effortlessly re-label speakers with their respective names.

Ensure Quality Sleep

Several studies have revealed that our mental stress has only increased in the last couple of years, especially after the pandemic. One thing that has been suggested time and again by doctors and researchers, as a good remedy to this, is none other than quality sleep. The total duration of sleep might well vary a lot from the amount of quality sleep accomplished. 

Now, the Pixel Watch becomes seamlessly compatible with the Fitbit Sleep Profile. Hence, you can acquire fascinatingly useful insights on your sleep cycle and take necessary measures. The Fitbit Premium feature takes 10 different aspects of sleep into consideration, which includes duration, bedtime consistency and disruption — in order to aptly portray your patterns with one of six sleep animals.

If you wear your Pixel Watch to bed for at least 14 nights in a particular month, then you’ll be able to check your stats on the very first day of the following month. Thus, you can have your sleep metrics and keep a tab on them regularly. You can consult your physician too, if there’s any discrepancy in the results. 

More Room for Customization

The December 2022 Pixel Feature Drop allows you to customize your Pixel phone with three new Curated Culture wallpapers to celebrate International Day of People with Disabilities. These are superbly illustrated by artist, poet, podcaster and author Morgan Harper Nichols, who has drawn inspirations from real-life interactions and stories.

The freshly-minted Live Bloom wallpaper collection is also there and adds liveliness to your Pixel screen with images that shift and sway the moment your phone is in motion. 

Meanwhile, you can customize your wrist with a suite of new tiles for popular apps to keep important information just a swipe away. Google has also added the Sunrise/Sunset Tile from the Weather app to help you manage your day better during the dawn and dusk. 

The Contacts app too, has gone through significant changes and staying connected with your near and dear ones, has become a cakewalk. You can now pin up to five contacts from your Favorites so that you can call or text them easily and have a look at their contact details through a simple tap.

More to Follow Suit

Come January 2023, if your Pixel phone is paired with Pixel Buds Pro, the support for spatial audio with head tracking will get unlocked. Hence, you would be able to dive into an immersive audio-visual experience, which seems to be a paradise for movie buffs. 

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