Google launches new phones, speakers in hardware push

Alphabet Inc's Google on Wednesday unveiled the second generation of its Pixel smartphone along with new voice-enabled home speakers, redoubling its commitment to the hardware business as it competes with a surge of devices from Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc.

The new devices, which include a Pixelbook laptop, wireless earbuds and a small GoPro-like camera, showcase Google-developed operating systems and services, notably the voice assistant.

That means usage of those devices should stoke the company's core ad sales business as buyers of the hardware use Google services like search and maps.

The Pixel 2 smartphone comes in two sizes, with comparable features, including aluminum bodies and no traditional jacks for headphones.

Prices for the base model start at $649, while the high-end version starts at $849. The phones will be available Oct 19.

Pixelbook, priced at $999, is the first laptop powered by Google Assistant and will support Snap Inc's Snapchat, the company said. It will be available in stores from Oct 31...

Google Home Mini, the new speaker, is priced at $49 in the United States and would rival Amazon.com Inc's popular Echo Dot. It will be available by the end of the year.

The Pixel debuted a year ago, with analysts estimating sales of more than 2 million, pushing Google to record amounts of non-advertising revenue. Google's "other" revenue category, which includes both hardware and sales of online storage services, accounted for about 12 percent of overall sales in its most recent quarter.

Last month, Google expanded its hardware development capabilities by picking up a 2,000-person smartphone engineering team at HTC for $1.1 billion.

"It’s pretty clear Google is serious about hardware," said Avi Greengart, research director at consumer data firm GlobalData. "Given that there is a Pixel 2, and given the financial investment, there must be a longer-term strategic intent."

Five years ago, Google moved into smartphones with the $12.5-billion purchase of Motorola Mobility. But Motorola's hardware team under Rick Osterloh and Google's Android mobile operating system division remained independent

Google avoided giving a special advantage to Motorola to protect its relationships with Samsung, LG and other distributors of Android. The company later sold the Motorola smartphone business but kept its patents.

This time around, Osterloh moved to bring in-house the HTC team that Google had been contracting to design the Pixel.