Gadgetory

google has created hardware before but never quite like this google just announced a suite of new products including a brand new phone called the pixel that takes direct aim at Apple's iPhone there's also a smart speaker called Google home which is the first serious challenger to the Amazon echo both are stuffed with a voice-activated digital assistant called simply Google assistant this nameless female voice software is Google's main weapon against Apple and Amazon to rule your pocket and your living room together with a new virtual reality headset Wi-Fi router and chromecast Google is creating a suite of products that just feel like they belong together let's start with Google home it's 130 dollars it comes in 6 colors and it arrives next month on November 4th sure it plays music and answers trivia questions like you expect but it also can control some smart home devices you can ask it to turn lights on and off or even pull up a show to watch on youtube or netflix but you will need a google chromecast for it to pull up videos speaking of chromecast Google's new ultra chromecast is twice the price of the original cost and about seventy dollars but with it comes higher definition 4k video and wider resolution HDR google wants to be in all corners of your home with its new Wi-Fi routers it's not exactly exciting tech but it does show google seriousness about being in every facet of keeping you connected to the world unlike a single router the idea is that with google you'll have several of these Wi-Fi routers in the home to expand coverage they ship in December and start at one hundred and twenty dollars but let's go back to that pixel phone Google's directly targeting the iphone with this one Google puts its own touch on the phones design with a rear glass panel and aluminum casing like most phones these days it also comes to two sizes but the big point with the pixel is the camera it claims to be the best smartphone camera based on a ranking by camera testing lab dxo all pixel owners also get unlimited online storage for photos and videos at full resolution charging is another selling point 15 minutes of charging will get you seven hours of battery life but unlike Google's previous Nexus phones this is pricey it starts at six hundred and fifty dollars in the u.s. you're going to have to buy it directly from to get it unlocked or buy it through verizon google is taking pre-orders now but it arrives October 20th the phone even has its own virtual reality accessory the daydream view is a fabric headset that you pop your phone to the front to watch vr video it comes out November and it costs eighty dollars that's much more than the original $15 google cardboard but hey it's also still cheaper than samsung hundred-dollar gear vr that's it for this tech news update I'm Bridget Carey you can stay on top of the biggest stories cnet com / update