In this May 18, 2016 file photo, Google vice president Mario Queiroz gestures while introducing the new Google Home device during the keynote address of the Google I/O conference in Mountain View, Calif. On Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, the search giant will ramp up its consumer electronics strategy with expected announcements of new gadgets including new smartphones and an internet-connected personal-assistant for the home similar to Amazon's Echo speaker. All are intended to showcase Google's software and online services. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File) The Latest on Google's product event (all times local):
9:40 a.m.
Google is introducing a new line of smartphones in its most aggressive challenge yet to Apple and Samsung.
The phones unveiled Tuesday in San Francisco will carry the Pixel brand, which Google has previously stamped on a tablet and a Chromebook laptop. The phones will have Google's virtual assistant and artificial intelligence service, Google Assistant, built in. The company says computing is becoming more dependent on AI, not just on being mobile.
Google has released a series of its own phones, dubbed Nexus, since 2010. Those phones had limited distribution and were typically embraced by Google purists. Now, the company is casting aside the Nexus name as it aims to become an even more prominent player in the mobile market
Google, of course, already provides the Android system software that powers more than 80 percent of the world's smartphones.
The new push pits Google against a familiar foe in Apple and its iPhone. But it also poses a new threat to Samsung, the biggest maker of Android phones.
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9:30 a.m.
Google is taking a page from Apple's playbook by making a bigger push to build its own hardware.
Rick Osterloh, head of Google's newly formed hardware group, says that by building hardware itself, Google can take full advantage of capabilities it's designing with artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Apple has long taken a similar approach by designing both iPhone hardware and the iOS operating-system software that runs on it.
Google has designed hardware before, but Osterloh says Google will now get deeper into it.
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9:15 a.m.
Google is opening an event in San Francisco with a prediction that artificial intelligence will play a greater role in our lives.
CEO Sundar Pichai says computing is transitioning to an artificial-intelligence-first world, just as it moved to a mobile-first world just a few years ago.
Pichai says, "Our goal is to build a personal Google for each and every user. We want to build a Google for each user."
Google services along those lines include Google Assistant, software that's designed to answer questions and retrieve information, conversation-style. Google Assistant made its debut in a chat app called Allo a few weeks ago. It will also be part of the upcoming Home smart speaker. Google is expected to announce more details at the event.
The event—held at the former power plant for a chocolate factory—started with video showing characters from the HBO show "Silicon Valley" bantering about expectations.
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7:35 a.m.
Google will ramp up its consumer electronics strategy Tuesday as it's expected to announce new gadgets at an event in San Francisco.
The products include new smartphones and an internet-connected personal-assistant for the home similar to Amazon's Echo speaker. All are intended to showcase Google's software and online services. Analysts and industry blogs say a virtual-reality headset and a home router could also be on tap.
Google makes most of its money from online software and digital ads. But it's putting more emphasis on hardware as it faces rivals like Apple, Amazon and Samsung. Julie Ask at Forrester Research says new devices could help Google keep its services front and center in the battle for consumers' attention.
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