(Don’t) Hold Your Phone: Google Teases Gesture Control on Pixel 4

Google has teased a Face unlock feature and gesture control that will use a radar chip.

(Photo: Screengrab/Google)

The next generation of the Google Pixel, one of the most anticipated upcoming devices this year, has been teased by the company once already – when we saw the single-tone back panel with a dual camera (a first on a Pixel).

Now, the company has again teased the device, this time with the Face unlock feature and gesture control on the upcoming flagship device.

In a new teaser video, Google has revealed that the company is going ahead with face unlock as the primary unlock feature. Google has also teased a new gesture control feature, which they promote with the tagline, ‘(Don't) hold the phone.'

The gesture control feature will be called "Motion Sense" that uses a Project Soli radar chip to detect hand gestures. Pixel 4 will be the first device ever to use radar technology.

Pixel's face unlock will put the new Google flagship in the same league as the iPhone, which also uses face unlock as the primary unlock feature.

However, Google will have to live up to the standards set by iPhone's face unlock, which has proved to be more secure than the front-camera based software generally used in Android phones.

In a blog post, Google says that the radar-based tech (Soli) will also be used for the face unlock feature. It also says that unlike iPhone, the face unlock on the Pixel will work in any orientation, even if the phone is held upside down.

Google claims that the images used for face unlock will never be saved or shared with other Google services. Google will also use the Titan M security chip for enhanced safety (your data will be saved on the external key).

Similarly, Soli sensor data is never saved or shared with other Google services, the company said.