Google Unveils New Pixel Phone, Adds Tablet in Apple Challenge

Rick Osterloh, Google's hardware senior vice president, speaks during a news conference on the Google Pixel 3 third generation smartphone and other products in Manhattan, New York, on Oct. 9, 2018. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO—Google unveiled the third edition of its Pixel smartphone, a Google Home smart speaker with a display and its first tablet computer on Oct. 9, as it makes a come-from-behind push into hardware.

The company’s Android software has gone from being an also-ran to the brains of most of the world’s smartphones and Google topped Amazon.com in smart speaker sales in recent quarters.