Google the new Apple?

Source%3A+CNN+Money

Source: CNN Money

  Google housed a hardware event this past week and unveiled a hardware lineup to compete with other tech giants like Apple and Amazon. The event was expected to announce the next Google Pixel phone as a renovation to last year’s Pixel. The next phone by Google was announced and massive improvements were made. Everyone was shocked by the wide variety of products Google released. The new product lines by Google include high and low end home speakers, wireless earbuds, a laptop, and flagship phones.

  Google wears many hats when it comes to software. They have made their name through Android, Google search, and Google adsense and haven’t really been into hardware until now. Google did make Nexus devices that ran the purest build of Android straight from Google, but the phones themselves were produced by companies other than Google. Google discontinued the Nexus line in 2015 and came back in 2016 with the Pixel: Phone by Google. This new line paired Google’s pure Android software with new Google designed hardware and changed the smartphone market at the time. Google price matched the Pixel to the luxury price tag of the iPhone to directly compete with Apple. They have done it again with the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL.

  Google’s competition with Apple goes farther this year with new product lines, such as wireless earbuds. With the cancellation of the headphone jack on most new phones, different companies handle the change differently. Most companies include dongles in the box to support traditional wired headphones with a headphone jack, but more companies are getting serious with wireless buds. Apple came out with the Air Pods last year alongside the iPhone 7 and now Google has the Pixel Buds to accompany their first phone without a headphone jack.

  Google also put out a high-end laptop to combat Apple’s MacBook line. The new Pixel Book directly challenges the Macbook with features many MacBook owners want. The Pixel Book has a touch screen display and 360 degree hinge so that the laptop can be folded back and used as a tablet. The first laptop from Google can be accompanied by the Pixel Pen, an Apple Pencil competitor.

  It’s clear Google is trying to compete in hardware with Apple, but Amazon’s hardware is a whole other ball game. Amazon’s Alexa dominated the home assistant market until Google Home came out in 2016. Since the original Google Home, Amazon has put out cheaper, smaller home speakers running the same assistant at a lower price. This past week Google matched that with the Google Home Mini at the very compelling price of just $50. Also announced was the Google Home Max, a home speaker for high end audio that is expected to release at the same time as Apple’s HomePod.

  Google is serious about hardware. The products announced are making the switch to Android more and more appetizing to the iPhone user with the accessories to feed into an all Google ecosystem.