Google’s New Lineup of Phones and Gadgets

They added references to how people want more than just “a 1,000 songs in your pocket” (a famous Steve Jobs line) and a product that just works for you, another nod to Jobs.

While the Google Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X are on Android Nougat, the Nexus 6 is still running on Android Marshmallow. On Twitter, the Nexus team made it clear that you will continue to receive updates as you would expect, at least until the devices reach their end of life in terms of software support.

“We’ve now made a decision to take the next step and provide our take on the best Google experience, by bringing hardware and software design together under one roof”, said Brian Rakowski, Google’s vice-president of product management.

The company has issued its first public comments since the Pixel phones it helped to create were announced as a Made By Google product on Tuesday.

The front of the Pixel and Pixel XL is clean and fuss free, while the rear of the two devices features a combination of metal and glass, with the latter housing a fingerprint sensor and a rear camera that sits flush to the device. And VR fans can pop the Pixel into Google’s new Daydream View-the first Daydream-ready headset and controller, available next month for $79. It seems like Google is set to focus on its Pixel smartphones and keep a few aspects of the devices completely exclusive, in order to boost sales and appeal. It appears that will continue with the Pixel, even for Verizon devices, but when it comes to OS updates, rollout schedules will be Verizon’s call. By contrast, Google’s contributions to Nexus phones typically didn’t happen until they were 90 percent done.

Apple hasn’t come out with a specific “Google Home”, “Amazon Echo” style product. It also demonstrates how the Pixel can be used to take thousands of photos.

I tried the larger 5.5-inch Pixel XL in Quite Black (yes, that’s a color; Pixel is also available in Very Silver and Really Blue).

Because Google designed the hardware and software, it was able to ideal features that may be half-baked on other Android-powered devices. The Google Assistant was developed separately from Android and offers suggestions based on previous queries.