Google on Tuesday unveiled the latest generation of its slow-selling Pixel line of smartphones, promising better cameras, a smarter Google Assistant and a built-in radar sensor.
The tech giant also unveiled a mid-price laptop, a rival to Apple’s AirPods earbuds and updated versions of its bite-size smart speaker.
The Pixel 4 comes in two sizes: one with a 5.7-inch display and the other with a 6.3-inch display. The smaller model starts at $799, while its big brother starts at $899.
The fourth-generation Pixel will be the first carried by all four major US wireless carriers, a distinction that may help the company boost middling sales of the line.
Google brags that the phone features the fastest face-unlock technology in the business, and introduced a new radar chip that will allow users to do such things as skip songs or silence the ringer — by gesturing with their hands above the screen.
The camera has a telephoto lens for high-quality long-distance photography, and the company has improved its portrait mode software so that inanimate objects can receive the same treatment as human subjects. The low-light technology has also been updated to allow the phone to take gorgeous photos of the night sky.
The Pixel 4 does not, however, feature an ultrawide lens on its camera array — something that both Apple and Samsung have on their flagship smartphones.
The new 13.3-inch touchscreen Pixelbook Go laptop, starting at $649, features a textured bottom panel, meant to make it easier to grip with one hand while working in transit.
It follows the Pixelbook, which debuted in 2017 with a starting price of $999. It has barely made a dent on the market; some researchers have stopped tracking it.
Google slashed costs for Pixelbook Go by shifting to magnesium from aluminum for the laptop exterior and removing hinges and wiring that enabled the prior model to be used like a tablet.
The Pixel 4 and Pixelbook Go will hit stores on Oct. 28, while Google’s new Pixel Buds will launch next spring in the United States for $179.
Shares of Alphabet were up 1.9 percent Tuesday afternoon, at $1,240.74.
With Reuters
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