Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 05-10-2017

Google has unveiled the second generation of its Pixel smartphone along with new voice-enabled home speakers as it competes with a surge of devices from Apple and Amazon.

The company’s new products, including a Pixelbook laptop, wireless earbuds and a small GoPro-like camera, showcase Google-developed operating systems and services, notably the voice assistant.

Speaking at the launch in San Francisco, Google hardware chief Rick Osterloh says the new products “perfectly demonstrate our strategy of re-imagining hardware from the inside out.”

The Pixel 2 comes in 5 and 6-inch screen sizes, with the XL model featuring slimmer bezels and edge to edge display including aluminium bodies and no traditional jacks for headphones, something Apple did with the iPhone last year.

Prices for the base model start at $649 (R8, 800) while the high-end version starts at $849 (R 11,500) the phones will be available 19 October.

Pixelbook, priced at $999 (13,500), is the first laptop powered by Google Assistant and will support Snap Inc.’s Snapchat. The keyboard folds behind the screen to turn the 12.3-inch touchscreen into a tablet. It will be available in stores from 31 October.

Google Home Mini, one of the new speakers, is priced at $49(R660) in the United States and would rival Amazon.com popular Echo Dot. It will be available 19 October. The Home Max, with dual woofers for more powerful sound, is priced at $399(R 5,400) and with availability by the end of the year.

The Pixel Buds, which are priced at $149 (R 2,000), arrive in November. Clips, which is pocket-sized camera with object detection and automatic recording capabilities, “soon” goes on sale for $249(R3, 300). Videos last only a few seconds and do not contain audio.

The Pixel smartphone debuted a year ago, with analysts estimating sales of more than 2 million, pushing Google to record amounts of non-advertising revenue.

– Agencies

Twitter: @FaizelPatel143