Google lays out its ambitions for your phone, your home, your car and your wallet

Google made clear that it's still fighting a multifront war against its old rival, Apple -- and that the battles are as heated as ever. Top Google executives took to a San Francisco (CA) to tout their agenda for the next year to a crowd of excited developers. In a series of reveals, Google sketched out ambitious plans to challenge Apple's ever-expanding reach on mobile devices by bringing the Android mobile operating system into just about everything we use -- from watches to televisions to cars. "We are taking computing beyond mobile," said Sundar Pichai, Google's senior vice president of products, specifically touting the launch of Android Auto, an in-car Android system that's now available on Hyundai, General Motors and other major car brands.

In the home, Google is introducing a new lightweight operating system, Brillo, for smart appliances such as thermostats, security systems and smart locks. That ubiquity is important for Google and Apple as more everyday objects become "smart," or capable of connecting to the Internet. That trend that carries the two companies' bitter gadget rivalry far beyond the smartphone, as they try to match each other feature-for-feature. Apple is expected to release home hub software at its own developers conference, which will take place at the same convention center next week. Google also took a decisive stand against Apple in the realm of mobile payments, introducing its own "Android Pay" system, which will be built into the operating system to allow users to pay for items by tapping their smartphones at the register. Google is also adding support for fingerprint authentication for all Android phones, a key feature of Apple's competing Apple Pay program.