For those waiting with bated breath for the new Pixel phones to emerge, well it is Oct 4 that seems to be the likely date. This piece of information can be traced to an otherwise innocent looking billboard that appeared in Boston carrying the message ‘Ask more of your phone.’.
That again would have easily passed off as one among the scores of such billboards dotting strategic position in the city but for the Google, symbol attached below together with the above-mentioned date. As it is, Google has already been rumored to launch its new Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2 on Oct 5, but it seems it has brought the date forward by a day. That again isn’t bad considering that the first gen Pixel phones were also launched on Oct. 4.
Of course, there will be something more comprehensive coming in between for promoting the event, like maybe more such billboard (if Google has taken to that to spread awareness about its forthcoming smartphone launch) or calculated leaks and such. Then, of course, there will be an official invitation sent out closer to the launch date.
Whatever be it, what should be consoling is that there isn’t a lot of waiting to be endured. We have just had the mega Apple iPhone event and a gap of a few weeks will surely be welcome to usher in another big name flagship phone. This also is likely to be the last of the major flagship phone launch of the year before we drift into the holiday craze thereafter.
In a related development, the Pixel XL 2 has recently made it through the FCC regulations, which makes it fit for entering the consumer market. The smaller Pixel 2 made by HTC has already earned its FCC badge earlier. The bigger Pixel 2 XL is being put together by LG.
However, while a new device and that too from a company as popular as Google is bound to evoke a lot of enthusiasm, the Pixel 2 range could still be missing the oomph factor. That again has to do with a more or less similar specification with almost all year 2017 Android flagships.
Google reported to be in advanced stages of acquiring HTC’s smartphone division
So there is going to be the Snapdragon 835 chip coupled to say 4 GB of RAM along with another 64 gigs of storage and such. That again is largely the same with every other Android flagship we have had in the year, starting with the Galaxy S8 to the Galaxy Note 8 launched a few weeks back.
Under the circumstances, Google will be faced with the challenging scenario of making a fresh pitch at the smartphone segment with its Pixel 2 range with both handsets sporting the same hardware setup. Apple raising the bar higher with its iPhone X along with its awesome AR capabilities should be another concern for Google, and it will be mighty interesting to see how the Mountain View company responds.
