Google pushes new devices at hardware launch

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Google unveiled several new gadgets on Wednesday, including its new Pixel smartphones, a Pixelbook laptop, wireless earbuds and a small GoPro-like camera.

The devices are designed to showcase Google-developed operating systems and services, notably their improved voice assistant. They "perfectly demonstrate our strategy of re-imagining a hardware from the inside out," said Google hardware chief Rick Osterloh at the launch in San Francisco.

New Pixel smartphones

Mario Queiroz, vice president of Product Management at Google, speaks about the Pixel 2 phone during a launch event in San Francisco, California, US, October 4, 2017. /Reuters Photo

The California-based company launched two models this time: Pixel 2 and the larger Pixel 2 XL, the first Google-made smartphones since it bought key segments of electronics group HTC.

In spite of the different sizes of the two models – with five-inch and six-inch displays respectively - they will give users the same experiences, including aluminum bodies and a removal of the traditional jacks for headphones, said Google. They will also support Portrait mode, a software feature for images which was first introduced by Apple in its iPhone 7 Plus.

The upgraded smartphones will be available for order from Wednesday in six countries starting at 649 US dollars for Pixel 2 and 849 for Pixel 2 XL.

Mini speaker, mini camera

Isabelle Olsson, lead designer for home hardware for Google, introduces the new Google Home Mini. /AFP Photo

Google announced a slimmed down version of its connected speaker called Google Home Mini. It is priced at 49 US dollars in the US, rivaling to Amazon’s Echo Dot.

The new Google Home Mini is available for pre-order in the seven countries where the device is offered, and will go on sale in stores October 19, the company said.

Featuring voice control using Google Assistant, the new speaker is less than half the price of Google's first generation model, making it "more accessible to more people," according to Google hardware designer Isabelle Olsson. It will be available October 19.

Google Home Max, a premium version with dual woofers for more powerful sound, and will be available by December, priced at 399 US dollars.

A new Google Clips camera "looks for smiles (and) moments, because the software is in the camera," said Google product manager Juston Payne.

The hands-free camera is said to be able to give users a feeling of "having my own photographer shooting and choosing my best moments for me". It will "soon" go on sale for 249 US dollars.

The wireless Pixel Buds, priced at 159 US dollars and available in November, can deliver audio from a smartphone and also include the Google Assistant and real-time translation.

First laptop with the Google Assistant

Google's new Pixelbook laptop /Google Photo

A new Pixelbook laptop was touted as a "high performance" computer powered by its Chrome operating system and designed as a rival to Microsoft's Surface and Apple's iPad Pro.

Priced at 999 US dollars, Pixelbook is the first laptop powered by Google Assistant with a Pixelbook pen. The keyboard folds behind the screen to turn the 12.3-inch touchscreen into a tablet. It will be available in stores from October 31.

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Source(s): AFP ,Reuters