Google debuts new Pixel phone, Google Home & Google Assistant

Google unveiled its new Google Pixel phone today and began taking orders for its previously announced Google Home hands-free home assistant. Those were the stars of a special event focused on new Google hardware, underpinned by the new Google Assistant.

The Google Pixel phone comes in two sizes and features unlimited photo storage and a camera that Google said is the best any smartphone has ever had.

Google Home marks Google’s direct challenge to the popularity of Amazon Echo, a hands-free device that can provide answers to spoken questions, play music, interact with smart home devices and more.

Built into both of these is the software star of the show: Google Assistant, which is designed to allow people to interact with Google in a conversational way.

For more about Google Assistant, see our two stories:

• With Google Assistant & Google Home, Google seeks to win the hands-free generation of search
• Google seeks to humanize its brand with new “Google Assistant” female persona

Google also announced Google WiFi, a smart multi-router system for the home, and Chromecast Ultra, an improvement to Google’s existing Chromecast device that now supports 4K.

More information about all the devices can be found at the “Made by Google” site, including the ability to preorder Pixel and Google Home. Google also has a blog post up. The live stream of today’s launch event is here.

Below, our live blog as the event unfolded: