Google's AI leap, India’s "Pathfinder" & OPPO Find X9 Ultra review

Name: Google's AI leap, India’s "Pathfinder" & OPPO Find X9 Ultra review | Tech Today
Uploaded: 2026-05-25T08:01:53+00:00
Duration: 26 min 51 s
Channel: India Today

00:13An eventful week for Android users as a bunch of new updates have been announced by Google

00:20at this year's Google I.O. Now, why is this event so important and how will your Android

00:26experience change in the coming months? We'll discuss that on the show. All the new features,

00:31all the new updates coming up because that's a big tech story. Plus, we talk about sending

00:37our whole data center, AI data center into space and how India is venturing into that sector.

00:43Another tech that's transforming AI and one that you should definitely watch. And finally,

00:49a smartphone that could beat the socks of an entry-level DSLR. This is the OPPO Find X9 Ultra,

00:57our review of this one coming on the show. I'm Cyrus, you're watching Tech Today and let's get

01:01things rolling with the top tech headlines of the week.

01:08Airtel has become the first telecom operator in India to commercially deploy 5G network slicing.

01:13The technology powers Airtel's new priority post-paid service, creating a dedicated virtual

01:19layer to guarantee faster and more stable data speeds. Designed for high congestion areas like

01:24airports and stadiums, plans start at Rs449. Existing post-paid users will automatically receive

01:31the upgrade provided they have a compatible 5G standalone device. AI pioneer and OpenAI co-founder,

01:42Andhrej Karpathi, has officially joined competitor Anthropic. Karpathi, who famously popularized the term

01:48Vibecoding to describe AI-assisted programming, will join the company's pre-training division.

01:53He is set to lead a brand new research group focused on using Claude to automate and accelerate

01:58its own model development. The high-profile hire marks another significant shift in the

02:03tech industry's ongoing war for top-tier AI talent.

02:11Telegram has rolled out a major update that allows automated bots to message and collaborate directly

02:16with one another. CEO Pavel Durov announced the feature, stating it provides a new communication

02:22layer for autonomous AI agents to execute complex workflows without human intervention. The system

02:28enables multi-bot tasks, such as one agent writing code, while the secondary bot reviewing it for errors.

02:34The platform has also introduced chat automation tools to let bots reply to messages on the user's behalf.

02:44Apple has officially set the stage for its biggest software event of the year,

02:48confirming WWDC 2026 will run from 8th of June to 12th. The conference is expected to center on iOS 27

02:56and a major AI-driven overhaul for Siri, reportedly powered by Google's Gemini models. While the event

03:02remains primarily online, a special in-person experience will be held at Apple Park on opening day.

03:08The keynote kicks off at 10 a.m. Pacific time on the 8th of June.

03:15A federal jury in Oakland has ruled against Elon Musk in his high-profile lawsuit against Sam Altman and

03:22OpenAI. The case was dismissed on a technicality after the jury spent under two hours determining that

03:29Musk missed California's three-year statute of limitations. The court did not rule on the merits

03:35of Musk's claim that OpenAI breached its founding non-profit mission. Musk has labeled the decision

03:40a calendar technicality and vowed to appeal.

03:50Remember when Google I.O. used to be about a new version of Android every year, a cleaner Gmail layout,

03:57or maybe a quirky piece of hardware? Yes, those days are officially gone now. Google I.O. 2026 just

04:04wrapped up and it kind of felt very different. Sundar Bichai and his team were fundamentally rewriting

04:10how you and I interact with the internet. Now, think about all of this. AI-powered search that

04:17builds custom mini-apps on the fly. An AI agent that works for you 24-7 even when your laptop

04:23is

04:23completely shut. And smart glasses developed with Samsung that don't even have a screen.

04:30This overarching message from Mountain View was very crystal clear. The future of computing will

04:36not revolve around a grid of apps on your phone anymore. It's going to revolve entirely around

04:42ambient AI. So, in this segment, we are breaking down the absolute biggest announcements from I.O. 2026

04:50and the massive shift Google is forcing upon the world.

05:04Google made Gemini the absolute nerve center of everything at I.O.

05:09and the scale they are operating at right now is frankly hard to wrap your head around.

05:17Sundar Bichai revealed that Google is now processing over 3.2 quadrillion tokens every single month.

05:24To drive that massive scale, they dropped Gemini 3.5 Flash, which is now live globally.

05:30It's a blazing-fast model built specifically for complex, multi-step tasks and coding.

05:40Running up to four times faster than rival Frontier models.

05:43And the real showstopper, Gemini Spark.

05:47Spark is an always-on cloud-based personal AI agent. Because it runs on Google Cloud virtual machines,

05:53you can assign it a massive workflow like scraping your inbox, synthesizing client notes, and drafting a brief.

06:00And it will keep executing it in the background, even if your phone dies or your laptop is closed.

06:08Now, having an AI assistant organize all of your spreadsheets is neat, I understand.

06:14But let's talk about Google's main identity, which is Search.

06:17The company that built a trillion-dollar empire by pointing you to the blue links on a web page,

06:24is now actively preparing you for a world beyond just hyperlinks.

06:32Google is calling this the most radical transformation of Search in a quarter of a century.

06:38Welcome to the era of generative UI in Search.

06:49Search now dynamically generates a completely interactive visual interface tailored exactly to your query.

06:57Ask for a complex planetary orbit comparison? Search builds an animated diagram on the spot.

07:10You can even ask Search to build full custom mini-apps by pulling live data across the web.

07:16This is a massive defensive pivot for Google.

07:20With platforms like ChatGPT fundamentally altering how we discover information,

07:25Google knows that if people stop Googling the old-fashioned way, their core business model vanishes.

07:31So they're disrupting themselves before anyone else can.

07:36But here's the beautiful part about Google. They did not just stop at Search.

07:40The company is also embedding this invisible AI layer deeply into the apps we use for our every

07:48single work that we're doing, be it YouTube, Google, Workspaces, everything embedded within Google's ecosystem.

07:55Say hello to Ask YouTube. Instead of scrub searching through a two-hour video or a massive tech review to

08:01find one specific detail,

08:03you can just talk to the video.

08:07Gemini scans the visuals and audio track instantly, answering your questions and jumping you directly to the relevant moment.

08:15YouTube is effectively transitioning from a video streaming platform into an interactive knowledge engine.

08:24Meanwhile, Workspace is getting a total productivity overhaul.

08:29A new feature called Daily Brief automatically passes your calendar, unread emails and chat threads to give

08:36you a personalized audio summary of your day the moment you wake up.

08:43At IO 2026, Google proved that programming is no longer just for software engineers.

08:50Using Google AI Studio and their new Antigravity 2.0 framework, anyone can now build software using plain

08:57everyday language. You describe the app's intent, the vibe, and the layout, and the AI handles the architecture.

09:08Now, of course, it would not be a 2026 tech event without a massive cinematic flex, right?

09:14I mean, Google is venturing into that space. Now, it's taking a direct shot at OpenAI's video models by supercharging

09:20its own generative video ecosystem.

09:22Now, as we know, OpenAI has said goodbye to its own video ecosystem, and that kind of gives Google a

09:29big advantage.

09:31Google unveiled Gemini Omni Flash, an upgraded multimedia powerhouse model integrated directly into

09:38their creative suit, Google flow, and YouTube shots.

09:46Unlike older AI tools that just generate silent, dreamy loops, Omni acts as a true world model.

09:54It simulates real-world physics, syncs realistic character dialogue, and generates environmental audio automatically.

10:06Even wilder, you can edit the video conversationally.

10:15Built on the new Android XR platform, Google and Samsung showcased their next-generation smart glasses.

10:21Dropping later this fall, the flagship variant features zero screens. It looks like premium,

10:27everyday eyewear, but utilizes private over-ear speakers and cameras deeply integrated with Gemini.

10:37By simply saying, hey, Google, or tapping the frame, the glasses use contextual visual understanding

10:43to scan your environment.

10:45Now, the company that spent the last 25 years organizing the world's information, which you

10:50currently use, is now building the ambient intelligence layer that sits right on top of

10:56the data that you are using. And let's understand the app era. Yes, it's peaking,

11:02but the agentic AI era, I just feel that it has officially begun. And Google is now starting a conversation

11:09that a lot of people, our viewers, will be a part of very soon.

11:18If you look at the AI revolution happening right now, it has a massive earth problem and I'll tell

11:24you exactly what I mean by that. You see, these frontier AI models like Gemini and the GPTs are

11:30energy-hungry technologies. They live in data centers that need gigawatts of electricity and also require

11:37acres of land. And not to mention, they need millions of gallons of water just to stay cool.

11:43But think about it. What if we took that entire data center and put it in space? You'll be like,

11:50is that even possible? What if I told you that in 2026, it is? Countries like US, Canada and China,

11:58by the way, are already working on this. And now India is joining this race.

12:10For decades, satellites have essentially been dumped sensors. They snap a photo,

12:16wait for hours to pass over a specific ground station and then beam down massive raw files.

12:28It's a slow, expensive bottleneck that makes real-time action impossible.

12:40But Pixel's Pathfinder is built differently. It's a 200 kilogram class powerhouse being manufactured in

12:47Bengaluru at a facility which is designed to churn out up to 100 satellites a year.

12:56What we are setting up there is an orbital data center satellite. Pixel comes in with the satellite

13:01technology part of it and Serbam comes in with the artificial intelligence backbone for it. So this is a

13:06Pathfinder satellite that will have data center grade GPUs on board the satellite that will go into orbit

13:12that can not only train AI models in orbit but can run inferences.

13:21At the core of the Pathfinder is a hyperspectral camera. Now, while a normal camera sees the world in

13:27three basic colors red, green and blue, this sensor sees hundreds. It can look at a field from 500

13:36kilometers up and identify the exact chemical signature of a crop or the moisture level of the soil.

13:43But here's the kicker. For the first time, that data never has to leave the satellite to be understood.

13:53Images from which can directly be sent into the GPUs, foundation models can be run inside, can be

13:59generated and downlink directly without having to downlink the entire image and then doing the analysis

14:03here. So this partnership is step one where we want to experiment with a satellite that can actually

14:10take these GPUs, provide the massive amounts of power that is required to keep them running, figure out

14:16all of the redundancies to make sure that while the satellite is orbiting around the earth,

14:20these models can continue to train and run smoothly.

14:27This is where Sarvam AI enters the frame. They are providing the intelligence backbone,

14:33a full-stack AI platform developed and governed entirely in India. It's not known who exactly is

14:39sourcing the computational hardware here, but by putting these high-performance GPUs in orbit,

14:44the satellite can run large language models and heavy AI influence in real-time.

14:53This allows Pathfinder to send back insights instead of raw data.

14:58Think about it. Instead of waiting to download a massive 50GB image of a coastline,

15:04an emergency responder gets a tiny instant text alert saying exactly where a pipeline leak has started.

15:10It's faster, it's lighter and it leverages the abundant solar energy of space to bypass Earth's power constraints.

15:19The engineering hurdle is the heat. In the vacuum of space, heat from the GPUs has nowhere to go.

15:26To solve this, they have developed a specialized radiative cooling system that dumps the GPUs thermal energy

15:33into the cold void of space. And for trying something like this comes with its own set of challenges.

15:42People need to focus on the warmth per kg, which is being sent to orbit. Second, minimize the denominator as

15:49much as possible in order to reduce the launch cost. And third is the reliable compute and storage offering by

15:57ensuring that you have some structural advantage to avoid meteorites and some radiation shielding advantage to

16:03ensure that the net ionization goes, that the GPUs and the memory units are exposed to can be minimized and

16:12hence they last longer in order.

16:15But beyond the specs, there is a much bigger picture regarding India's tech sovereignty.

16:21By building the hardware in Bengaluru and using Sarvam's homegrown AI models,

16:25India is creating its own independent intelligence loop. So having the entire manufacturing stack built

16:34here in India enables a few advantages, I think predominantly around cost. Bringing down of cost

16:39will be an important factor and that's where the verticalization of being able to manufacture these

16:43satellites, launch them on rockets built from here will likely play a part.

16:48In any situation, we should have a control over data compute and end-to-end infrastructure for our

16:56own protection of the country and for our future innovation.

17:02We no longer have to rely on foreign cloud providers or overseas ground stations to process our

17:09most sensitive geographical data. It's a completely indigenous space AI stack. Whether it's monitoring

17:16mineral deposits or tracking military movements, India's data stays in India's hands, even when

17:23the data is 500 kilometers above the earth.

17:30Now the big thing is Pathfinder is slated for a Q4 2026 launch and while this is a technology demonstrator,

17:36Pixel's vision is a constellation of hundreds of satellites effectively moving a layer of world's

17:43computing infrastructure into the stars. Just like what Starlink is doing today and as more details

17:49about the project surface, we'll keep you updated and if this works, the next time there is a natural

17:56disaster or a resource shortage, we won't be waiting for hours for a report. The alert will come directly

18:02from a satellite that saw the problem, analyzed it and the impact also and it will tell you before even

18:09you realize that there was indeed a crisis. What do you think about this technology? Do you think

18:14it's feasible and logical or is it just too complicated to be a reality? We would love to hear

18:20what you have to say about this. So, it's time to check out another innovation in consumer tech by the

18:25way,

18:25which I feel is more relevant for you guys.

18:34So, this is the Oppo X9 Ultra and if Oppo wants you to know one thing right away about this

18:41phone

18:41is that it's obsessed with the camera. Not just in terms of the image quality but the entire design

18:47and the philosophy of the phone is pivoting only towards the camera. Remember, this is an Oppo flagship

18:53and it has to compete with the likes of the Samsung and the iPhones, especially in the camera

18:58department, which is stiff competition. So, in this segment, we are trying to understand whether

19:02the X9 Ultra really have it, what it takes to beat the big ones and as a standalone smartphone,

19:08how good is it really? Let's find out.

19:15The first thing you notice in the design is that this one kind of feels less like a phone and

19:20more

19:20like a camera and I'll tell you why. The back design is heavily inspired by Hasselblad cameras,

19:25especially the X2D series and honestly, it works. You get this textured vegan leather finish that

19:32gives the phone a proper grip in the hand. Then there is this massive camera module and yes,

19:37it's huge and there's no hiding that but Oppo has tried to make it feel intentional rather than

19:43awkward. This knurled ring around the camera module actually mimics the focus ring on a camera lens.

19:48There is also a new orange quick button that's placed near the side that's designed for quick

19:53camera access and honestly, for people who constantly take photos, it's surprisingly useful.

19:59You can tap to focus and click, slide to zoom and it has several functionalities. There is also

20:04Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and Oppo says that the frame has enhanced drop resistance as well.

20:11Now yes, this phone weighs about 235 grand and you can actually feel the heft in your phone but

20:17imagine you're packing so much of hardware, almost close to 7000Ah battery so the weight kind of feels justified.

20:28The display is exactly what you would expect on a premium flagship, especially in 2026.

20:34Because you get a massive 6.82 inch QHD plus AMOLED panel with LDPO refresh rate tech

20:39and support for up to 144Hz in games. But the specs aren't really the important part here. What matters

20:46is the experience. This is an insanely good display for content consumption. Brightness is another major

20:53highlight here. The panel can hit up to 3600 nits of peak HDR brightness, which basically means outdoor

20:59visibility is excellent. Shooting photos outdoors or watching videos under harsh sunlight is not a problem

21:06anymore. And I feel it's one of those underrated features that a lot of people don't talk about,

21:10but having a good display on a smartphone is very important. For gamers, high refresh rate makes

21:15scrolling smooth and the gameplay feels incredibly fluid. And for late night users, the 2160Hz PWM

21:22dimming helps reduce flickering and eye strain. So I feel it's one of those displays that if you'll be

21:27using it for at least a week or two, you will feel that going back to those older displays just

21:33feels like

21:33you're losing out on a lot. Now performance is really the champion section for this smartphone

21:42because this one is running on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset and also it comes with LPDDR 5X

21:48RAM,

21:49which speaks volumes about the performance capabilities of this one. It also has UFS 4.1

21:54storage and as expected, the performance is flagship level fast. Apps open instantly, multitasking is

22:00effortless and animations throughout the UI feel extremely polished. Now what actually surprised

22:06me more than the raw speed is how smooth ColorOS 16 feels on this phone. The phone is an absolute

22:11beast

22:12even for high-end titles. The combination of the 144Hz display and flagship processor makes games feel

22:19incredibly responsive. Not to mention it also comes with 12 gigs of RAM and benchmarks speak for themselves.

22:26But more importantly, the thermals inside this phone seem to be the focus for Oppo this year.

22:31So whether you're gaming, doing 8K recording or just using the phone in extreme hot conditions,

22:36this phone will remain cool because it's made for that.

22:43Now cameras are the main reason that anyone would buy this smartphone and I am telling you,

22:49it's kind of an insane camera system and if you're serious about photography,

22:53you should definitely consider this. Let's talk about the setup over here. A 200MP main camera with

22:58Sony LYT901 sensor and f1.5 aperture, 50MP ultrawide camera and also you get 3x of periscope telephoto

23:07camera zoom and 10x optical zoom with the telephoto camera. I love the field of view available in this

23:13wide-angle shot. However, the 1x shot come out even better. There's hardly any color shift visible and no

23:19drop in clarity or contrast. The 2x shots are also impressive but this 10x optical zoom quality is

23:25something that not many flagships can offer. There is also heavy emphasis on portrait photography,

23:31tele-macro shots, cinematic video and professional color science through the Hustleblad partnership.

23:37The selfie camera can also offer 4K recording, stable, crisp and perfect for social media content.

23:42So clearly, again Ayan Singh, if you are serious about photography, if you really want to ace your

23:47camera gain, then the Oppo X9 Ultra is a great option. We've tried the samples out, we've also

23:54shown you what it can do in the video department and I can say that if you're a content creator

23:58and want some serious video, try this one.

24:06Many people have concerns about battery life on a phone that can have so much of hardware but Oppo has

24:12taken care of that department as well because Oppo has packed in a massive 7050 mAh battery in this

24:19one which is also silicon carbon technology. I was able to get two days of full news with this

24:24smartphone, with my photography, with my social media and all of that I think this is just awesome.

24:31Charging is also ridiculously fast because you get 100 watt wired charging and 50 watt of wireless charging

24:36and it charges your phone from 0 to 100 in just under an hour. So even if you're someone who

24:41kills the battery, topping it up won't be difficult because with the charger in the box,

24:46you'll be able to get a 0 to 100 in less than 60 minutes which is fantastic.

24:55Now to the big question, should you really buy the X9 Ultra? Well, that kind of depends on the kind

25:00of user you are. Because if your priority is camera versatility, zoom photography, portraits,

25:06video creation, battery life and multimedia consumption, then this phone is actually custom

25:11made for you people. Now of course, this one is going to compete directly with the ultra premium

25:16flagships in this category. Over 1.5 lakh, you have the S26 Ultra and also the 17 Pro, even the

25:22Pro Max.

25:23So the competition in this department is a little stiff and that's dangerously close to the capabilities

25:29of the iPhone 17 Pro Max, which even today I feel is one of the best phones for video. However,

25:35in terms of photography, I still feel that the X9 Ultra has an upper hand, but you'll need to find

25:41the

25:41right balance, which could be tricky, especially in that price sector. So definitely in the Android

25:46ecosystem, I would say the X9 Ultra is definitely an exemplary camera system. The UI is pretty fluid,

25:52the battery is great and also the design is something that stands out, I feel, because vegan

25:57leather is something that you don't see a lot in premium phones. So, I mean, for camera,

26:03this is one of the best out there. That's it for this episode of Tech Today. Now, all of these

26:09Android features and updates will first be rolled out on Pixel and Samsung devices. And since we have

26:15the beta version of these, we will get you all of those features before you can install and try them

26:20out. Tell us if you like any of these specific features and how do you think Android is changing

26:26the way you use your smartphone best. That is something that you'll have to write and tell us.

26:32I'll be seeing you next week with more tech on the Tech Today show. This is Cyrus signing off. Take

26:36care.

Google's AI leap, India’s "Pathfinder" & OPPO Find X9 Ultra review | Tech Today

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