Google Doubles Down on Hardware With New Phones and Speakers

Google, the core unit of Alphabet Inc., is betting the upgraded devices will help it crack the competitive market for consumer-tech devices and catch up to juggernauts Apple Inc., AAPL -0.06% Samsung Electronics Co. and Amazon.com Google's new home speakers range in price from $50 to $400, challenging Apple at the top of the market and Amazon at the bottom. Throughout the event, Google touted the devices' smarts as a main selling point, versus their hardware upgrades. "To be honest, it's going to be tougher and tougher for people to develop new exciting products each year because that is no longer the timetable for big leaps forward in hardware alone. And that is why we're taking a very different approach," Google hardware chief Rick Osterloh said at the event.