Can Google's Pixel give the iPhone a run for its money?

Google officially became a hardware company on Tuesday. Not only did the company announce new Pixel phones (RIP Nexus), but the company also provided pricing and release dates for Google Home, its Amazon Echo killer, unveiled its mobile VR headset called Daydream View, Google Wi-Fi network extenders and Chromecast Ultra. See? A lot of hardware.

Joining me this week's MashTalk is Deputy Tech Editor Damon Beres and — for the first time — our wonderful tech intern Alex Laird.

Obviously we talked the new Google gadgets and whether or not they pose a threat to the iPhone.

Damon scored us an exclusive look at Giphy Cam 2.5 (the company says it with a hard G, which is wrong, but whatever!). The ultimate time-wasting camera app got updated with new augmented reality "stickers" that you can overlay on top of your face and other objects. They're kind of like Snapchat lenses.

TL;DR: The app is awesome and so is augmented reality!

Apple CEO Tim Cook agrees and thinks AR is the future, not VR. But don't tell Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg that.

Zuckerberg believes VR is the "next computing platform" and with Oculus VR, he intends to make it so.

He keynoted a good chunk of Oculus Connect 3, where Oculus finally announced how much the Rift's Touch controllers will cost and unveiled the $50 Oculus Earphones that apparently sound as good as $900 earphones. Oculus is also working on a standalone VR headset that will occupy the middle space between mobile VR headsets like the Gear VR and PC-based VR headsets like the Rift.

Is the future just better phones? AR? VR? The only way to find out is by listening to this week's MashTalk.

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