Google Introduces the Pixel, Its Own Smartphone

For all the bells and whistles of Google's new smartphone, the biggest point of emphasis is tucked away in small type on the back of the device: "Phone by Google." Today, most of Google's smartphone software runs on devices manufactured by companies like Samsung, LG Electronics and Lenovo, with Google's presence often relegated to the background. But with its new Pixel smartphone, introduced Tuesday at a press event, Google is front and center and selling a phone that it created from the industrial design to the components. Google's new strategy of controlling both hardware and software for its devices puts the company more directly in competition with Apple and many of its own Android partners. It's a necessity, Google says, because of the advent of artificial intelligence.