During the past two Google Pixel events, the company mainly focused on the hardware, but did spend some time on their AI plans, and in particular focused on the Google Lens tool is was developing. Powered by Google Assistant, as well as the machine learning capabilities of its Pixel and Pixel 2 phones, this application is designed to imbue the camera with greater insights. 

At this stage, Google Lens' object detection extends to things like buildings, flora, fauna and devices that can normally be purchased online. More interestingly, it will also be able to save specific info from texts, such as a business card or address, as well as recognise posters or images from a particular movie, along with book covers and QR codes. 

It's a concept we've seen in part during the past few years, with Nokia offering a similar AR-esque application during its halcyon Lumia days. Huawei currently has its own set of AI functions for the new Mate 10 series, but they are spread over a handful of native and third-party applications, as opposed to a single one like Google Lens. As such, the race is on to see who can perfect their AI-enabled mobile cameras.  

Google Lens will be making its way to both the Pixel and Pixel 2 (standard and XL models), with the company confirming this via a recent blog post. The rollout is limited to devices US, UK, Australia, Canada, Singapore and India, but it remains unclear what will happen if you obtained one of the devices and reside in a country where it is not officially sold.