Google launched its two new phones, the Pixel and Pixel XL, in California on Tuesday.
They’re the first devices to result from Google’s hardware road map, a year in the making. Google says that the fact that it controls both the hardware and software means the devices can have superior performance.
And when new Google hardware boss Rick Osterloh revealed the Pixel, he couldn’t help but throw shade at the Pixel’s main competitor, Apple’s iPhone.
“Pixel has no unsightly camera bump,” Osterloh said before highlighting the device’s virtual-reality capabilities and artificial-intelligence assistant.
Apple’s iPhones have been criticized for having a camera that juts out from the back of the device.
Later in the presentation, Google took another shot at the iPhone's built-in storage.
"So as a special bonus for Pixel owners, we're including free unlimited photos and videos at original quality," a Google engineer said. "So with Pixel, you'll never run out of space for your memories."
"You can say goodbye to those painful 'storage full' pop-ups," he said while showing an iPhone pop-up:
Finally, Google poked fun at Apple's latest iPhones lacking a headphone jack, touting its presence on the Pixel phones as a feature:
However, people are noticing that Google's new phones look a lot like the iPhone, and other Osterloh talking points - "the intersection of software and hardware," and that the phones "just work" - are classic lines Apple has used for marketing, too.
Google will also include a dongle for transferring data from an iPhone to a Pixel phone.
