Apple released its latest'budget' phone, the 599 iPhone 16e, back in February after months of feverish anticipation. But not to be outdone, rival tech giant Google has released its own handset at an'unbeatable' price – the Pixel 9a. The device – which at 499 is 100 cheaper than Apple's equivalent – has a 6.3-inch display, two rear cameras and more than 30 hours of battery life on a single charge. It's packed with'helpful' AI tools such as Gemini – Google's chatbot which was built to rival OpenAI's ChatGPT, now on Apple phones. MailOnline tests the new Google handset, described as a more accessible alternative to the firm's flagship Pixel 9 ( 799).

OnePlus is the latest company to hop on the AI train. The phone manufacturer is rolling out a new photo editing tool called AI Eraser, which lets users remove extraneous objects from their photos. The new feature will be available on a range of OnePlus smartphones, including the OnePlus 12 and 12R, OnePlus 11 and OnePlus Open. To use the OnePlus AI Eraser, a person first has to highlight the parts of the image that need removing. These could be random people or a dirty trash can, but they can also be "imperfections" in the photo.

With Apple, Samsung, Microsoft and Amazon already having had their fall announcement events this year, Google's hardware keynote is ostensibly the last major launch of 2023. The company has more or less told us what it's going to be unveiling today, teasing us with trailers of the Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro and Pixel Watch 2. If the keynotes of the other tech giants told us anything, it's that we should expect Google to also pile on with a ton of updates about its developments in generative AI, in addition to the new phones and smartwatch. We'll also probably learn more about features coming to Android 14, and it's highly likely the Assistant gains some new skills as well. The show kicked off on October 4 at 10AM ET, and so far we've covered the release of the Pixel 8 series, including the Pro, Pixel Watch 2, Pixel Buds Pro, and new AI features. Stay tuned as we update this liveblog with even more news coming out of the keynote.

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Google's latest update to its Photos app has deleted one of the major features of its newest phones. The smartphone giant announced the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro with a Magic Eraser tool that used artificial intelligence to remove wanted people and objects from the backgrounds of photos. However, the new version of Google Photos (5.67, as reported by Android Central), removed the feature – an ironic turn of events due to its function. The Independent was not able to recreate the issue on a Pixel 6 device, which had the 5.66 version of Google Photos. The feature is only available on Google's own flagship, but other manufacturers such as Samsung and Huawei have their own version of the tool in their respective photo apps.

I've long been a fan of Google's Pixel phones and the newest Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro don't disappoint. They're the first phones to use Google's new Tensor processor, which were custom designed to enhance the phone's features including its camera, voice recognition and current and future artificial intelligence applications. There are two models, which share much in common, but the Pro's 6.7-inch screen is noticeably larger than the Pixel 6's 6.4-inch display. The other major difference between the two models is that the Pro has both a 2x and 4x optical zoom while the Pixel 6's zoom is limited to 2x. The Pixel 6 sells for $599 while the 6 Pro costs $899.