Google's Pixel 9 Launch Event Was a Great Ad for Rival Android Phones

But 20 minutes into the company’sMade by Google event, there was no sign of thenew Pixelsanywhere.

Read more:Google Pixel 9 Review: Chock-Full of AI.

That is, thatAI is the most important productfor tech companies these days.

It also felt to some extent like a do-over.

At I/O, its two-hour session about Gemini was terse andconfusing.

The reason it most likely didn’t was that it needs its partners more than ever – especially Samsung.

Not everyone who uses Android wants or can afford a top Samsung phone.

Competition in the hardware space means better and more choice of devices for us all.