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Google enters the hardware sphere

With an impressive device range in the pipeline, Google is taking the fight to Apple, Amazon and Samsung, vying to become a household name for hardware as well as software

Google's Pixel smartphone is the company's first to feature only Google branding, though it was made in collaboration with HTC

Google has unveiled a range of consumer electronics products designed to compete with Apple, Microsoft and Amazon. The launch marks Google’s first serious attempt at breaking into the hardware market, and signals the company’s renewed focus on artificial intelligence.

At the Made by Google event hosted at Alphabet’s San Francisco headquarters, the company debuted the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones. Both are high-end devices designed to be direct competitors to both the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy ranges. Alongside the phone is a virtual reality headset called Daydream View VR. Similar to the Samsung Gear VR and seemingly a replacement for Google’s Cardboard headset, the device will play games and feature a digital cinema experience for services like Netflix and YouTube.

Also shown was the updated Chromecast Ultra, the latest version of Google’s streaming device that is now capable of displaying 4K video. Google Home was also shown; a speaker system that can answer questions and control smart home systems much like Amazon’s Alexa. Google Wi-Fi made an appearance too; it’s an expandable Wi-Fi system that can cover any size of home through the use of multiple signal boosters.

The event marks a serious change of tack for Google’s hardware plans. While dominant in the software market, Google has traditionally struggled when it come to physical products. Its experimental devices like Google Glass failed to take off, and third-party companies have manufactured almost all devices running Google’s Android operating system. Google’s now-discontinued range of Nexus devices were built and branded by a range of different manufactures, such as LG and Huawei, leading to inconsistent designs.

The launch marks Google’s first serious attempt at breaking into the hardware market, and signals the company’s renewed focus on artificial intelligence

With the launch of the Pixel phone, Google is looking to take greater control over what people expect an Android phone to be. While the Pixel is manufactured by HTC, it only features Google branding and, Business Insider reported, the device contains custom Google hardware. This move should worry competing smartphone manufacturers, in particular Samsung, who currently makes the leading Android devices.

Google also showed its AI-powered Google Assistant, the software behind all of its new devices. Google Assistant features prominently in the Pixel phone and upgrades have expanded its capabilities to respond to more complicated requests and questions. While hardware is clearly a greater focus, the underpinning of AI in all of its devices shows Google is still aggressively developing its software products.