Google has sent out invites and posted a teaser video for an event in San Francisco on 4 October.
This appears to confirm rumours that the technology firm will be unveiling its new range of ‘Pixel’ handsets, and dropping its current ‘Nexus’ smartphone moniker.
The new Pixel and Pixel XL handsets are expected to go head-to-head with Apple’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
The new product name was first mentioned earlier this month.
The minimalist teaser trailer gives very little away apart from the event date and the generic outline of a smartphone.
A caption on the video simply says ‘Something new to love on October 4’. The new handsets are expected to be manufactured by Taiwanese firm HTC, which produced Google’s very first Nexus phone in 2010.
Google has since used a variety of phone makers to produce its handsets in the past, including LG and Samsung.
Google has previously used the Pixel name for the Chomebook Pixel computer that it launched in 2013, as well as the Pixel C tablet, which made its debut last year.
‘Speaking to two independent sources, we now strongly believe that Google’s formerly-maybe-Nexus-phones, Marlin and Sailfish, will be marketed as the Pixel and the Pixel XL,’ wrote David Ruddock of Android Police.
‘We do not have pricing information.‘
‘At this time, it is unknown to us when Google decided to shift its in-house smartphone brand from Nexus to Pixel or why (though speculation will likely run wild).’
These new HTC-built devices are said to completely different from any other Pixel hardware Google has released.
Included in October event will also be a new 4K Chromecast device, which could be called either the Chromecast Plus or Chromecast Ultra.
The firm is also expected to show off the Google Home smart speaker, which made its debut at I/O in May, and in-house design for a Daydream VR viewer device, which is being called ‘Daydream View’.
What they do know is that the Pixel phones should be available on or sometime after the event.
Although rumours are spreading that Google could dump Nexus, it isn’t turning its back on the name just yet.
Source:Daily Mail
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