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With Nexus 6, 9 & Lollipop in hand Google ready to take on Apple

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Associated Press Press Trust Of India San Francisco
Google is coming out with bigger, more expensive versions of its Nexus phone and tablet to attract more of the affluent consumers who faithfully buy each new generation of Apple's iPhone and iPad.

It's also releasing a new streaming video and music device, Nexus Player, to compete with Apple TV and Roku, among others.

The new lineup announced on Wednesday is Google's latest volley in its duel with Apple in the increasingly important mobile device market. Google's Android software and Apple's iOS software power most of the world's smartphones and tablets.

The Nexus 6 smartphone has been developed by Motorola and will be available for pre-order in late October and in stores in November.
 
The tablet, Nexus 9, has been developed by HTC and will be available for pre-order on October 17 and in stores starting November 3.

According to sources, both the devices would be available in India in November, in line with the global launch.

Apple, too, has launched its latest iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in India within a month of its global launch to cash in on the multi-billion smart devices market here.

"Advances in computing are driven at the intersection of hardware and software. That's why we've always introduced Nexus devices alongside our platform releases. Rather than creating software in the abstract, we work with hardware partners to build Nexus devices to help push the boundaries of what's possible," Google SVP Android, Chrome and Apps Sundar Pichai said in a blogpost.

The Motorola Nexus 6 has a contoured aluminum frame, a six-inch quad HD display, 13 megapixel camera and 3220 mAh battery. It also comes with a Turbo Charger so that users can get up to six hours of use with only 15 minutes of charge.

"Nexus 6 will come to 28 countries, including India, across Europe, Asia Pacific and North America, starting later this year and as we head into Q1," Motorola said in a statement.

The 32GB version of the unlocked Nexus 6 is expected to cost $649 (about Rs 40,000), while the 64GB version will cost $699 (around Rs 43,000).

The HTC Nexus 9 tablet comes with brushed metal sides and 8.9-inch screen, Nvidia Tegra K1 64-bit dual-core processor, 8MP rear and 1.6 MP front cameras. It will come in 16GB, 32GB and 32GB LTE models, priced between $399 (about Rs 24,500) to $599 (about Rs 37,000).

HTC had earlier worked with Google on the original Nexus One in 2010.

The firm has also launched the new version of its Android operating system Lollipop.

Successor to the Android KitKat OS, Lollipop is designed to be flexible, to work on all devices and to be customised for users.

"As you switch from one screen to another, the experience should feel the same. So Lollipop has a consistent design across devices - an approach we call Material Design. Now content responds to your touch, or even your voice, in more intuitive ways, and transitions between tasks are more fluid," Pichai said.

Android 5.0 Lollipop will come pre-installed on the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 and will also be available on Nexus 4, 5, 7, 10 and Google Play edition devices in the coming weeks.

The move will help Google further strengthen its position in the global market, where it already commands a lion's share. The most widely used operating system globally (for smartphones and tablets), Android has about 80 per cent market share, compared to rival Apple's iOS (which powers iPhones and iPads), which has around 17 per cent of the market.

Google has also released the first device running Android TV - the Nexus Player in collaboration with Asus. A streaming media player for movies, music and videos, the Nexus Player can also be used to play Android games on a HD TV with a gamepad.

Google's product unveiling came on Thursday eve event where Apple is widely expected to update the trend-setting iPad that has defined the tablet market since its 2010 release.

The dramatic price increases on the Nexus devices represents a strategic shift for Google. The Mountain View, California, company traditionally has hailed the Nexus line as state-of-the-art products available at more affordable prices than Apple's devices.

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First Published: Oct 16 2014 | 9:40 PM IST

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