Google introduces new smartphone to combat iPhone dominance

Alphabet has thrown down the gauntlet to prominent smartphone makers such as Apple by introducing its own phone to the market, the Google Pixel.

The Pixel and Pixel XL are the first to lead with a Google brand without the association of other manufacturers such as Samsung or Huawei.

The new phones feature a slick design, a virtual assistant, and unlimited storage options in an effort to compete with Apple's flagship phone.

Previously, Google had focused primarily on smartphone software, providing its Android operating system to its partners Samsung, Huawei, LG and others, who may now be worried about the Pixel's impact on an already saturated market.

The project was approved by CEO Sundar Pichai in summer last year, and it will be a wholly different animal to Nexus, which the company has said it only actually contributed about 10% of the development towards.

The Pixel smartphones also have 12 megapixel cameras with large 1.55 micrometre pixels for boosted low light performance on the back, and have been rated as having a better camera than both the iPhone 7 and Galaxy S7 Edge.

Ana Corrales, vice president of global operations and Google Store, said that the Siri-like virtual assistant is one of the shining features of the Pixel.

"We're leveraging 18 years of search and evolving it into an assistant powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence that we believe will be the next wave of computing for the next 10 years or so and it will get better and better as people use it," Corrales said.