It’s official. Google will be taking the wraps off its much-rumored Pixel smartphones next month on October 4. The company has started teasing the event with a “Made by Google” micro site that promises to keep you “updated about devices from Google”, as well as a short teaser video. Both teasers show a search bar transforming into an outline of a phone, which is all the hint we need to guess that the event will be all about the Pixel smartphones. The invite also shows the Google Assistant logo, which we believe will be one of the central elements of the new Google UI as the company is expected to move away from the stock Android experience.
Google’s event on October 4 will kick off at 9:00AM Pacific Time (9:30PM IST), and it will be live streamed on Google’s YouTube page. Here’s a roundup of everything we expect Google to be unveiling in less than a fortnight.
The highlight of the October 4 event will be the new Pixel smartphones as Google seems to have decided to change the nomenclature from Nexus. Based on what we have come across so far, Google will be launching the Pixel and the Pixel XL, which have both been manufactured by HTC. On the design front, both smartphones are expected to look largely the same and they will only be differentiated on the basis of size, display resolution and battery. Though manufactured by HTC, there won’t be any HTC logo on the device, and instead renders show a ‘G’ at the back.
AndroidPolice has leaked the first real-life photos of the Pixel smartphones, and the overall design is in line with previous leaks.
The Google Pixel is expected to feature a 5-inch full HD (1920×1080 pixels) display, Snapdragon 820 chipset, 4GB of RAM, 32GB storage, 12-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapixel selfie camera. It is also expected to include a fingerprint scanner at the back, a USB Type-C port and a 3.5mm audio jack.
The Google Pixel XL, as the name suggests, will feature a larger 5.5-inch QHD AMOLED display, Snapdragon 820/821 chipset, 4GB RAM, 32GB and 128GB storage options, 12-megapixel rear camera, an 8-megapixel selfie camera, a 3,450mAh battery, and USB Type-C port. Both smartphones are expected to run on Android Nougat 7.1 out-of-the-box.
Besides the smartphones, Google is also expected to unveil a few other devices. These include a 4K-capable Chromecast, a Daydream device reportedly called Daydream View, and Google Home that was unveiled at I/O earlier this year. Google Home is a small speaker and in essence is an Amazon Echo competitor. You can plug it into the wall, and it will constantly listen and answer your questions, play music, and control certain of home automation gadgets.
Recently, we had also come across reports about Google launching its own branded smartwatches running on Android Wear. Per reports, these Moto 360-like circular smartwatches are codenamed Angelfish and Swordfish. But the rumors have dried up of sorts recently, and it is unclear if these will also be unveiled on October 4.
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