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Google has added an advert for its own phone to its desktop home page.
A linked message has started appearing beneath the search bar, directing people to the company’s new Made By Google marketing site.
The message reads, “Ask more of your phone. 4 Oct.”
The company earlier this week revealed that it will hold a launch event on 4 October , where it looks set to unveil two new flagship smartphones.
The Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2, built by HTC and LG respectively, are expected to be among the most powerful and feature-rich handsets on the market when they come out.
However, they'll face serious competition from the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S8, Note 8 and iPhone 8, all three of which will already be on the market by the time Google reveals its phones.
Still though, advertising its own wares on the iconic Google home page is an unexpected move.
The message and link also appear when you open a new tab.
Show all 9 1 /9How to improve your phone's battery life How to improve your phone's battery life Limit notifications Notifications are incredibly useful, but they also drain battery life and not all of them are actually necessary. Switching off notifications for certain apps can help your phone’s stamina. On Android, head into Settings, hit Apps and select those you don’t need to be notified by. On iOS, go to Settings and then Notifications.
How to improve your phone's battery life Disable auto-sync Certain apps, such as email and social networks, constantly run in the background even when you’re not using them. This is so you see updated information and updates when you do open the apps, but the benefits can be offset by the amount of battery life auto-sync can eat up. On Android, you can turn off auto-sync by going to Settings, Accounts and hitting the menu button. On iOS, go to Settings, General and Background App Refresh. However, since auto-sync is genuinely useful, we’d recommend disabling it when you know you’re going to be running low on battery life, rather than switching it off all the time.
How to improve your phone's battery life Switch off location services GPS is a huge drain on your phone’s battery, as more and more apps use your location data to work out where you are, and shape your experience according to that information. Unless you’re using a Maps app, you can get by without it. To turn off GPS on Android, go to Settings and Location. On iOS, go to Settings, Privacy and Location Services.
How to improve your phone's battery life Lower brightness Your phone’s display is responsible for the biggest impact on your battery life, but it’s easy to limit how much energy it uses up. Auto-brightness is convenient, but often sets the screen brightness to a much higher level than it needs to be. Turning auto-brightness off, setting your display’s brightness to a lower level and adjusting it when you need to is much more sensible.
How to improve your phone's battery life Uninstall apps you don’t need Some apps drain more battery life than others, and it’s worth working out which ones you can do without. Facebook, for instance, is known to have a big impact on your phone’s battery, and you can eliminate this by deleting the app and using the social network in your web browser instead. On Android and iOS, you can see the apps and processes that are affecting your battery by going to Settings and Battery. From there, work out what you can delete or replace with a less-demanding alternative.
How to improve your phone's battery life Cut your assistant off Virtual assistants are becoming increasingly capable, and therefore increasingly important in tech companies’ eyes. Not all consumers share the enthusiasm of Google and Apple though, and rarely - if ever - use Google Assistant and Siri. Whether you use them or not, by default the two assistants are always listening out for their trigger words, and this uses up battery life. On Android, you can switch this off by going to Settings, Google, Search, Voice and “Ok Google” detection. On iOS, go to Settings, Siri and Allow “Hey Siri”.
How to improve your phone's battery life Stop vibrating Vibrate is a great middle-ground between a potentially disruptive ringtone and total, uncertain silence, but it also uses up the most battery life of the three options. You can go a step further by also disabling tap feedback, which can be reassuring, but is ultimately unnecessary.
How to improve your phone's battery life Turn off connections If you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network, switch your mobile data off, and vice versa. Similarly, remember to turn off Bluetooth and NFC when you’re not using them.
How to improve your phone's battery life Airplane mode Airplane mode isn’t just for when you’re on an aeroplane. If you know you’re not going to have or won’t need signal or a Wi-Fi connection for a good amount of time, it’s worth enabling Airplane mode. Otherwise, your phone will use up battery life by pointlessly trying to connect to a network.
A video teaser released by the company suggests that the new generation of Pixels will focus on improving battery life, storage, camera quality and durability.
Last year's handsets were widely praised for their performance and camera capabilities, but attracted criticism for their rather dull design.
Both new phones will come pre-loaded with Android 8.0 Oreo , which was announced last month and has just started rolling out to users.
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