Google Pixel: Tech giant unveils new smartphone to rival Apple's iPhone 7

Tech giant Google today unveiled its much-anticipated new smartphone to rival Apple’s popular iPhone 7.

The Pixel has Google Assistant built into the software, the firm's artificial intelligence program that is designed to understand context and help with tasks.

The new phone was unveiled at an event in San Francisco, both in a 5in and 5.5in XL size.

The tech giant event went as far as to reference Apple on stage showing a “storage full” message from an iPhone, something it said Pixel would avoid with unlimited full resolution backups of photos and videos using Google Photos’ cloud storage.

It has been billed by Google as housing the "best smartphone camera ever made" and the first device to be built to work with Google's new Daydream virtual reality platform.

Users will be able to access the Assistant AI program from any screen on the device, and it will be able to understand context.

When demonstrated on stage, Pixel was able to find details on a restaurant that was mentioned in a text message conversation - offering contact details, photos and directions.

Google chief Sundar Pichai said the Pixel marked the beginning of a new era in computing and smartphones.

"We're at a seminal moment in computing," he said.

"We've always had big shifts in computing in every 10 years or so. It began in the 1980s with personal computers. In the 90s the web arrived and it was the biggest platform shift ever.

"10 years later in the mid 2000s, we had the smartphone revolution. Now the shift continues. We are evolving from a mobile first to AI first world."

Google also revealed the first virtual reality headset for its new Daydream VR platform, Daydream View.

Unlike rival headsets - including Samsung's Gear VR - View is finished in fabric, a conscious design decision, the tech giant said, aimed at replicating the type of materials used in other wearable products.

The new headset is powered by placing the new Pixel smartphone into it, though Google did also confirm that future Android phones would also come with Daydream support.

It will enable users to watch YouTube videos and access Google Maps in virtual reality, as well as play games.