Google Assistant is star of Google's big hardware event

SAN FRANCISCO -- The star of Google's splashy launch event in San Francisco was the one with the speaking part: The super-smart digital helper Assistant whose task is to maintain the Internet giant's tight grip on consumers and their wallets as their attention shifts to smartphones and Internet-connected devices. Assistant will create a "two-way conversation between our users and Google," CEO Sundar Pichai said at a splashy launch event in San Francisco. The goal: "a personal Google for each and every user," Pichai said. At Tuesday's coming out party for Assistant, Google introduced two new devices, Amazon Echo competitor Google Home and Pixel smartphones as vessels to show off what Assistant can do and "get Assistant in the hands of our users," Pichai said. Google will now focus on this intersection of hardware and software, Rick Osterloh, chief of the company's new hardware division, told reporters.