Analysts are lukewarm about Google’s new gadgets

The phones drop its existing Nexus branding in favor of “Pixel”, a nod to Google’s existing tablet and Chromebook line.

The newest “home assistant” is a small, affordable tabletop speaker with a brain, created by Google.

Google’s Android operating system already runs millions of phones worldwide.

Up till the Nexus line-up, Google partnered with other OEMs to build their phones.

The Home device represents an important move in an intensifying battle between Google and other major tech players to establish the dominant “digital assistant”.

You can ask Google Assistant questions and it can perform tasks, like searching for things like photos, sending texts, and reserving a table at a restaurant. A central element of all the new devices is the Google Assistant, which uses artificial intelligence to deliver what CEO Sundar Pichai described as “a personal Google for each and every user”.

“Just like we built a Google for everyone, we want to build each user his or her own individual Google“.

Google had briefly been involved in manufacturing its own phones when it acquired Motorola back in 2012, though it sold Motorola Mobility on to Lenovo in 2014.

Performance wise, Google’s Pixel smartphones both use the same chipset so these should have pretty much the same performance, at least in benchmarks. Apart from the screen and batter size, both the phones have the same internal working process.

The prices are comparable to Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy models.

The blue offering is certainly the boldest among the three. Pixel XL is the more expensive phone, with prices starting at $769 (Rs 51,000) for 32GB and $869 (Rs 58,000) for the 128GB model.

The absence of physical Home Button is notable in iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The phones support 4K recording and have video-stabilisation as well.

It has been billed by Google as housing the “best smartphone camera ever made” and the first device to be built to work with Google’s new Daydream virtual reality platform.

“And as a special bonus for Pixel owners, we’re including free unlimited storage for original quality photos and videos at full resolution in Google Photos“, Google said in the blog post. Google claims that both Pixel smartphones provide 7 hours of battery life on a mere 15 minutes of quick charge. The next time the phone is turned on, the update is complete. So users will be in touch with the latest features in no time.

During a media event, Google executives showed off a series of gadgets in rapid succession.

As widely expected Google announced the Pixel and Pixel XL, its first purely self-branded smartphones. Caty Weaver was the editor.