Google Pixel 2: smartphone upgrade highlights internet giant’s push into hardware and artificial intelligence
The new smartphone includes a revamped single-lens camera that promises better images using an AI tool known as computational photography
Google has unveiled new versions of its Pixel smartphone, the highlight of a refreshed line aimed at weaving artificial intelligence (AI) deeper into modern lives.
Google software and AI were common threads in the gamut of new devices it unveiled this week, showing it is stepping up its challenge on the hardware front to rivals such as Apple and Amazon.
The new Pixel 2 and larger Pixel 2 XL are the first Google-made phones to be released since the California tech giant bought key segments of Taiwan-based electronics group HTC.
The upgraded smartphones are officially available in six countries (including Singapore but not China and Hong Kong) starting at US$649 for the five-inch display Pixel 2, and US$849 for the six-inch Pixel 2 XL.
Google bets on hardware growth in US$1.1 billion deal with Taiwan’s HTC
The new aluminium smartphones, along with Google’s upgraded connected speakers and new laptop computer, all aim to infuse AI to make the devices more user-friendly, built around the Google Assistant – the rival to Amazon’s Alexa, Microsoft’s Cortana and others.