Google Will Release THREE Pixel Phones In 2017

 According to the latest rumours there will be THREE Pixel branded devices in 2017 and ALL of them will use Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 processor.

The word comes via Android Review, which reports that Android Open Source Project code was spotted which strongly implies this to be the case. Allegedly 'code commits' were picked up which not only show the Snapdragon 835 is involved, but also shows a new third codename.

Previously spotted codenames "Muskie" (Pixel 2017) and "Walleye" (Pixel XL 2017) have shown up again, but the third new codename to appear is "Taimen". Literally nothing is known about what kind of device the Taimen might be, but speculation is rife. Some suggestions include a new Nexus 6-sized phablet, bigger even than the Pixel XL, or a Pixel C tablet successor.

Taimen has now been spotted in Geekbench running Android O and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor with a clock-speed of 1.9GHz and 4GB of RAM. Still no indication of what type of device it is though, or indeed, any other specs which might help make a clearer picture of things.

Pixel 3 (2018) Already In Development With LG?

On a slightly different note, rumours have already emerged of a possible Pixel 3 handset in-development by LG. The word comes via Korean publication Chosun which claims LG is "expected" to be involved with 2018's run of Pixel branded hardware. PhoneArena reports having spoken to LG on the subject, with the firm branding it "pure speculation".

Our thought is that this really could go either way. On the one hand, with the Pixel 2 series not even out the gate yet - and frankly not expected until the latter half of the year, given 2016's Pixel launch date - it's difficult to imagine the Pixel 3 plans are very concrete at this stage. But, on the other, as we know from the last few cycles of rumours for Apple, Samsung, and indeed several other OEMs, planning does seem to start very far in advance of new releases, like, before a successor is even out, its subsequent successor is already on the drawing board. That would certainly fit here.

And LG does make quite a compelling candidate, having worked on the Google Nexus 5 and Google Nexus 5X in the past; two of Google's more popular Nexus blackberry replacement parts . It doesn't get any less believable for the firm's denials either, given that it has made similar denials about alleged involvement in Nexus products in the past, only to turn out to be very much involved indeed! So yes, it's standard MO for LG to play coy when it's suggested the firm is in cahoots with Google on a new product. We pretty much expect them to go "who? moi?" at this stage.

The Google Pixel and Pixel XL launched in 2016 and were, for the most part, very divisive handsets. People either loved or hated them. I fell into the former category and I even went as far as saying the Google Pixel XL was the best Android phone released in 2016.

That was my opinion, of course, after living with the Pixel XL for a month and while many might not agree with me, a lot of people will because Google's Pixel lineup of phones weren't just great looking handsets, they were also solid performers.

The camera was brilliant, the battery life superb. I loved the software, pure Android, and I do actually regularly use Assistant for a variety of tasks on a day to day basis.

Google even sold quite a respectable number of Pixel zte parts too.

The big G has now confirmed that there WILL be a series of successor model Pixel handsets in 2017, as expected. Whether these handsets will be called the Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2 remains to be seen, after all, Google used to name its Nexus series primarily based on the display size (Nexus 5, for example) and would then put a year in brackets afterwards for repeated iterations of the same size device.

All of these naming conventions are somewhat clumsy, however, it would be great if Google could come up with a neater, tidier naming scheme for the Pixel series.

Source: Google Will Release THREE Pixel Phones In 2017