“Pixel 7 is designed to be the best phone for actual phone calling,” said Google product manager Brian Rakowski from the stage, before outlining the specific improvements coming with this year’s Pixel.It’s designed to use machine learning to cut down on background noise from persons on the other end of a Pixel 7 phone call, making them more easily audible, “even if they’re on a windy street or in a noisy restaurant,” Google product manager Jonathan Eccles writes in a blog post.But giving them their own section during the Pixel 7’s launch highlighted how important they’ve become to Google’s marketing, where they sit prominently alongside performance and camera quality claims.Initially launched for the Pixel 5, 4A, and 4A 5G, the feature was subsequently released for Pixel devices going back to the Pixel 3.It’s an unfortunate limitation considering Google’s Rakowski took a moment to emphasize the global availability of the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, which he says will be available to “even more users, in more places.”In particular, Direct My Call and Wait Times are only available in the US."