Bunch a’ stuff

Company announces new Pixelbook, Pixel phones, assistants and earbuds

Google on Wednesday continued its push into hardware and its battle for market share against Apple and Amazon with the release of new phones, virtual-assistance devices, a computer, standalone camera and headphones.

The suite of products represents integration of artificial intelligence, hardware and software, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said.

“The rate at which we are seeing progress with AI is amazing, which is why we are really excited about combining it with hardware and software to bring it together for our users,” Pichai said.

After launching its first housemade phone, the Pixel, exactly a year ago, Google on Wednesday announced two new versions, the Pixel 2 with a 5-inch screen, starting at $649 and the Pixel 2 XL with a 6-inch screen, starting at $849. Available for pre-order now, the devices are scheduled to ship and hit stores Oct. 19. Following Apple’s lead, the new Pixels, like the newer iPhones, lack a headphone jack, and come with an adapter for plugging in headphones.

And a little over a year after introducing the “Google Home” virtual-assistance device, the

Mountain View search giant on Wednesday launched two new virtual assistants. The “Google

Home Mini” is a small, round device for $49 that can be pre-ordered now and is to ship and be available in stores Oct. 19. The other assistance device is the music-focused $399 “Google Home Max,” a much larger gadget with two large bass speakers and dual tweeters, scheduled to hit the market in December.

Google also announced a new laptop, the “Pixelbook,” a slim, light computer with a 12.3-inch touchscreen. Starting at $999 and now available for pre-order, the computer will arrive in stores Oct. 31. To go with the Pixelbook, Google is selling a $99 “Pixelbook Pen,” which can be used to highlight portions of photos, for example, to bring up information on what’s depicted.

While the company highlighted the features of the camera on the new Pixel 2, it also announced its first standalone camera. The “Google Clip,” for $249, can be attached to an object and aimed at a scene, then it uses artificial intelligence to identify the best moments and take photos and short videos. Google said the device was “coming soon.”

Rounding out the new offerings were touch-controlled “Pixel Bud” earphones, for $159, available for pre-order now and scheduled to become available in November.

“The rate at which we are seeing progress with AI is amazing, which is why we are really excited about combining it with hardware and software to bring it together for our users.”

— Google CEO Sundar Pichai

PHOTOS BY JEFF CHIU — ASSOCIATED PRESS A Google employee demonstrates a Google Pixelbook Pen at a Google event at the SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco

Google’s Rishi Chandra speaks about the Google Home Max speaker at a Google event at the SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco.

Google’s Isabelle Olsson, left, and Juston Payne give a demonstration of translating languages through Google Pixel Buds at a Google event at the SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco.