San Francisco/New Delhi, Oct 5 (IANS) Betting big on artificial intelligence (AI), software and hardware, Google has launched Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones and a refreshed Daydream View Virtual Reality (VR) headset that will be available in India in November.

Pixel 2 is priced at Rs 61,000 for the 64GB variant and Rs 70,000 for the 128GB variant. Pixel 2 XL (64GB) will cost Rs 73,000 and Pixel 2 XL (128GB) will be available for Rs 82,000.

The pre-orders commence from October 26. The devices will be available in over 1,000 stores across the country and on Flipkart, starting November 1 (Pixel 2) and November 15 (Pixel 2 XL).

“Computing will now be conversational, ambient and contextual. It’s a unique moment in time, when Google can bring AI, software and hardware together. The rate at which we are seeing progress in AI is amazing,” Indian-born CEO Sundar Pichai told the gathering at the San Francisco event.

Pixel 2 comes with a 5-inch and Pixel 2 XL with a 6-inch Full-HD OLED displays with Portrait Modes on both rear and selfie cameras.

Rated 98 by independent camera testers DXO, the rear camera comes with Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) and Electronic Video Stabilisation (EVS) technology to remove shaky photos and videos.

The camera can also click “Live Photos” by recording up to three seconds of footage.

It also has AR Stickers and Pixel users would get free unlimited storage on Google Cloud to store photos and videos in the original quality. The devices have IP67 rating making them water and dust resistant.

Both phones come with “squeeze” interaction technology called “Active Edge” that opens Google Assistant, USB-C charger and front facing stereo speakers. The company claims it has the fastest fingerprint scanner in a smartphone.

The devices have Google Lens — a new set of visual features that help you learn more about the world around you and get things done.

Currently, in its early stages, Google Lens builds on Google’s advancements in computer vision and machine learning, combined with Google knowledge graph which underpins Google Search.

At the start users can look up landmarks, books, music albums, movies, and artwork, right from Google Photos on your Pixel.

Both phones have Snapdragon 835 processors and 4GB RAM. Though there is some bad news as the headphone jack is gone.

The phone will support an “Always On Display” this year, to show the notifications and time.

Google also announced a refreshed Daydream View VR headset which can be paired with Pixel 2 or any Daydream-ready phone. It sports a premium fabric that makes the headset soft and light and will be available in Charcoal colour for Rs 7,999 on Flipkart.

The company also launched smaller smart speaker “Home Mini”, a larger version called “Home Max”, high-performance convertible Chromebook called PixelBook and “Google Clips” action camera.

Google Home Mini is priced at $49. Reimagining the sound, it also launched Google Home Max, with 2-inch tweeters and 4.5-inch woofers for amazing audio with ‘SmartSound’ powered by Google Assistant that automatically tunes sound.

It supports Chromecast, AUX and Bluetooth 5.0 and will be available in December for $399.

The PixelBook is 10mm thin and weighs a kilo. It has 12.3-inch Quad HD LCD display, 512GB SSD, 16GB RAM and i5 and i7 processors.

The device has multiple layers of security, automatic updates and it is the first laptop with Assistant built-in.

The Pixelbook Pen, priced at $99 can help users get information of whatever they have on the screen. Write and draw with Pixelbook Pen that has 10ms of latency and 2,000+ levels of pressure sensitivity.

Google also launched a small, wearable camera called “Clips” for $249. The device is packed with AI to make some cool images.

–IANS
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