If there was ever any doubt that
Google would release a successor to the Pixel and Pixel XL, its best smartphones
ever, you can now lay those fears to rest and sleep easy at night. Speaking
with Android Pit, Rick Osterloh, Google’s Senior Vice President of Hardware,
confirmed the company will release a new Pixel smartphone this year.
“There is an annual rhythm in the
industry. So, you can count on us to follow it,” Osterloh said. “You can count
on a successor this year, even if you don’t hear a date from me now.” He also
reaffirmed the Pixel will remain a premium device with a premium price, which
means it likely won’t start at a price that’s lower than the current $650 for
the 32GB Pixel (a 128GB version sells for $100 more). In other words, Google’s
really done with selling premium phones at affordable prices, like it did for
years with the Nexus devices.
And assuming Osterloh’s comments
don’t change from now until launch, we can probably expect the Pixel to arrive
sometime this fall, which would be a year from when the original Pixel
launched. As for what to expect from the Pixel 2… that’s still mostly unknown. The
only clue we have is this report from January that claims Google’s working on
several versions of the second-gen Pixel. Early rumblings suggest the phone
will be powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 835 processor, sport
waterproofing, and the cameras will be improved in a big way. Last month,
Google’s Krishna Kumar, product lead on the Pixel, asked on the Pixel User
Community board for thoughts on the existing Pixel and how it could be
improved.
Whatever form the Pixel 2 takes
on this year, it’ll have to be more than just high-end specs. Samsung and Apple
are both expected to launch flagship phones with curved edge-to-edge screens
that’ll make current phones look downright ugly. If Google wants to compete,
it’ll need to really bring it with a killer design too.
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