Google Launches “iPhone Killer” Pixel Phone [VIDEO]

TIME reports:

Google on Tuesday unveiled two new smartphones, the Pixel and Pixel XL, during an event in San Francisco. The Pixel will have a 5-inch screen, while the larger model will include a 5.5-inch display. The Pixel is available for preorder immediately. The lineup starts at $649, or $27 per month. Verizon is the exclusive carrier partner in the United States, though Google is also selling unlocked versions directly to customers.

These are the first Google-branded phones that were designed solely by the company. This marks a new approach for Google, which typically outsources the design and production of its branded devices to other smartphone makers like HTC and LG. Those Google phones were previously given the “Nexus” moniker.

The Pixel has a more premium design that some of Google’s previous Nexus phones, with a glass-covered back and polished aluminum casing. It will also be among the first smartphones to include Google’s new Google Assistant, a Siri-like app activated by pressing and holding the home button or saying a trigger word. The Pixel will be available in three colors: Quite Black, Really Blue, and Very Silver.

More from The Verge:



Every year, the recurring complaint with HTC phones is that they might be the best in the world if only they ran stock (which is to say Google’s best version of) Android and had high-quality cameras. Well, that’s exactly what the Google Pixel is. It’s a new Android smartphone, built by the highly experienced team at HTC, augmented with Google’s best Android, Google’s timely and longer-lasting software support, and a camera good enough to surpass every other mobile camera on DxOMark. Now, I don’t invest too much trust in such benchmarks, but this paints a promising picture for the Pixel’s photo-taking capabilities.

We asked and asked, for many years, to see Google get serious about building and designing its own smartphones. The Pixel isn’t everything we wanted, but it is definitely the device and strategy we’ve been demanding from Google for so long. And just like the enigmatic Google Assistant, this new initiative of Google acting as a hardware designer and builder is likely to only grow better with more time and experience.

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