In hardware push, Google debuts Pixel smartphone to challenge Apple

SAN FRANCISCO – Alphabet Inc.'s Google on Tuesday announced a new Pixel smartphone and a virtual reality headset, making a concerted move into home electronics and challenging Apple Inc.'s iPhone at the high end of the more than 400 billion global smartphone market. The string of announcements, including the 649 Pixel, a new Wi-Fi router and its voice-activated digital assistant for the living room, Home, is the clearest sign yet that Google intends to compete directly with Apple, Amazon.com and even its own Android mobile operating system customers to create a world of integrated devices and services that meet every digital need. The moves also show Google is taking tighter control of its products. Google lets Android device makers modify software almost without limit, which has helped make Android the most-used mobile operating system in the world. But company executives boasted that the Pixel was developed in-house from start to finish and gives it a direct hand on a platform for the distribution of its internet-based services.