For The First Time Ever, Google Will Battle The iPhone

It seems hard to believe, but Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL has yet to battle Apple Inc. AAPL in the smart phone market — until now.

While Google's Android operating system has indeed competing against Apple's iOS operating system, the two industry titans will now battle it out in the hardware space after Google unveiled its Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones.

As noted by Bloomberg, Google's phone features a Siri-like virtual assistant and other high-end features, which indicates it is "willing to risk alienating" its partners like SAMSUNG ELECTRONIC KRW5000 SSNLF and LG Electronics to take on Apple head on.

Related Link: Google's Pixel Phone: Everything You Wanted The iPhone To Be

The Pixal phone was approved by Google's boss Sundar Pichai in 2015 after realizing it can no longer be "dipping a toe" in the smartphone hardware business. As it turns out, Google's six-year-old Nexus program was a way for Google to experiment with hardware before going full-court press and giving consumers a broad portfolio of electronic products.

"The difference with this device is that we started from the beginning," Bloomberg quoted Dave Burke, head of Android engineering, as saying.

By contrast, Google's contribution to the old Nexus phones didn't occur until they were 90 percent done. Now the back of Google's new phone will read "Made by Google" — perhaps a subtle hint it is ready to take on Apple; Apple phones read "Designed by Apple in California" on their back cover.

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