Google Pixel and Pixel XL: Specs, price, screen size, news and rumours about Google's new Android smartphones

The search giant has nixed the Nexus brand for its 2016 smartphone - here's everything we know about the upcoming iPhone 7 rivals

Google is set to reveal two new phones next week that will offer an alternative to Apple's popular iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.

The search giant has been producing its own Android-based phones for the last few years under the "Nexus" brand - but that looks set to change.

According to the latest rumours, Google is planning to ditch the Nexus brand in favour of the Pixel moniker. In the past, the company has used the Pixel name on its tablet and laptop products.

Early rumours suggest the Pixel and Pixel XL phones could be revealed in early October.

Google

Nexus 6P

Although they won't be manufactured directly by Google the company will oversee the entire design process to help it integrate with Android's latest software as closely as possible.

Now the iPhone 7 launch has been and gone, the internet rumour mill is churning out plenty of information on Google's next gadget. Here's what we know about it so far.

Latest news

A leaked image supposedly showing a finished render of the Google Pixel has given us our clearest look yet at the new phone.

It was posted on Twitter and tech site VentureBeat before being swiftly picked up and circulated around the rest of the tech industry press.

 Release date

The unveiling for Google's new phones seems pretty clear cut - the company itself has just revealed a teaser video for an event on October 4th.

The video (see above) is a simple one: A standard horizontal search box slowly morphs inwards and upwards until it resembles the outline of a typical smartphone. Finally the date October 4 appears alongside Google's logo.

Getty Images

The caption to the video, posted on YouTube, simply reads "Something new to love on Oct 4."

As for the release date, things are a little murkier. Google will want to have the phones in store as soon as possible to compete with Apple's iPhone 7. Therefore it's reasonable to expect the new Pixel phones to land towards the end of October. If not, expect to see them around the first week of November.

A Nexus 6P smartphone is displayed during a Google Inc. event

Like the unveiling date, the name of the two new phones seem certain to be the Pixel and the Pixel XL. The Pixel will have 5-inch display, and the Pixel XL will come in at 5.5 inches.

“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 fromAndroid Police .

While it's not yet confirmed who will be making the handsets, Android Police have suggested that HTC will behind both of the handsets, while other rumours have suggested it will be split between HTC and LG.

The only things to distinguish the Pixel from the Pixel XL will be screen and battery size, with both models boasting quad-core Qualcomm processors, 4GB of RAM, and 12-megapixel cameras.

By ditching the Nexus name, Google is no doubt trying to put more of its own stamp onto its smartphones.

There have even been suggestions that Google follow Apple's lead and take manufacturing completely in-house - so that it has complete control over the over the design and engineering of its devices, as well as the software.

Design

So far it seems unlikely that Google will follow Apple's lead and ditch the headphone jack on the bottom of its new phones.

In fact, leaked images supposedly showing the upcoming Pixel phones give us an idea of what to expect.

Winfuture.de

The leaked images claim to show the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones

Both have a similar design to last year's well-received Nexus 6P albeit with a thinner bezel that means a near edge-to-edge display.

The images appeared on German site WinFuture and are believed to have come from a Hong Kong-based parts dealer.

Winfuture.de

The leak is believed to have come from a Hong Kong parts dealer

Interestingly, some tech commentators are saying the phones will have a dual-lens camera similar to the iPhone 7 Plus.

Price

There are two schools of thought when it comes to the pricing for Google's next fleet of phones.

Firstly, it may follow Apple's model of simply swapping the new phones in to the existing prices. That would mean the Pixel would launch at £299 for the 16GB version and £339 for the 32GB model.

The Pixel XL meanwhile would take the place of the Nexus 6P at £449 for 16GB, £499 for 64GB and £579 for 128GB.

The second school of thought is that Google will up the premium-ness of its phones (as it did with the Pixel brand of Chromebook) and therefore raise prices. We're not sure what kind of prices that means, but it probably won't be cheap.

Specifications

androidcentral

Android 7.0 Nougat is Google's way of refining what we already have, and adding some essential features to an operating system they were already happy with

One thing we do know about the new Pixel phones is they will ship with Google's latest version of Android. That means improved efficiency and (hopefully) better battery life.

Our friends at Alphr have an idea of what kind of power the new blowers will be packing.

"The Pixel XL will have a 5.5in 2,560 x 1,440 AMOLED display with a quad-core Qualcomm processor, 4GB of RAM, USB Type-C, rear-facing fingerprint reader, 12-megapixel rear camera and a 8-megapixel front-facing one. It will also have a beefy 3,450mAh battery and standard 32GB of storage, with the option to upgrade to a 128GB if needed," the site claims.

"The Pixel has similar specs, but it’s clearly the lower-end of the two flagships. It will sport a 5in Full HD AMOLED display, quad-core 2.0GHz 64-bit processor, 4GB of RAM, the same cameras as the XL and a smaller 2,770mAh battery. As expected, it will also come with a rear-mounted fingerprint reader and a USB Type-C port."

Should you buy it?

The Google Nexus 5X

If you don't like the idea of an iPhone 7 there's a lot to suggest Google's phones will offer a decent alternative. These phones will be developed to Google's spec so should have the best integration with Android on the market.

What's more, they're going to be entirely free of the third-party bloatware commonly loaded onto Android phones by other manufacturers.

We'll have to wait until October 4 to really find out what Google has planned.

Android roundup:Note 7 Nightmare Continues, Pixel Kills Nexus, Massive Galaxy S8 Leaks

Taking a look back at seven days of news and headlines across the world of Android, this week’s Android Circuit includes a timeline of the flawed Galaxy Note 7 battery issue, the financial damage to Samsung, how the Galaxy S8 can save the South Korean company, Blackberry improving handset security with Zimperium, the latest leaks about the Google Pixel smartphones, Android’s new gesture based UI that mimics 3D Touch, more UK banks signing up to Android Pay, and the launch of ‘all you can read’ with Google Play Books.

Android Circuit is here to remind you of a few of the many things that have happened around Android in the last week .

Who Shall Rid Me Of These Galaxy Note 7 Woes?

Samsung’s situation with the Galaxy Note 7 batteries, the corporate reaction to the events and the fallout in the markets will be ‘teaching moments’ for business classes over the next few decades. The narrative is still being set, although some elements are becoming clearer. Yoolim Lee and Min Jeong Lee have taken a long and in-depth investigation on the Galaxy Note 7 issues for Bloomberg:

Samsung engineers rushed to determine the cause of the problem, working through the Harvest Festival holiday last week. The company’s most complete explanations so far have come in reports to government agencies in Korea, China and the U.S. The initial conclusions indicated an error in production that put pressure on plates within the battery cells. That in turn brought negative and positive poles into contact, triggering excessive heat that caused the battery to explode.

The chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission was more explicit when his agency announced an official recall on Thursday. He said the phone’s battery was slightly too big for its compartment and the tight space pinched the battery, causing a short circuit. “Clearly, they missed something,” said Anthea Lai, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. “They were rushing to beat Apple and they made a mistake.”

It’s a long read, but it sets out a plausible timeline for Samsung’s woes.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 (Image: Samsung Press)

The Financial Damage Of The Galaxy Note 7 

How much financial damage will the Note 7 debacle inflict on Samsung? How about an eight percent drop in operating profits for the current quarter? That’s the figure put forward by a number of analysts, as SamMobile reports:

Analysts in South Korea believe that Samsung Electronics is going to bring in an operating profit of 7.4 trillion won ($6.7 billion) which will mark a decline of 8.6 percent when compared to the previous quarter. Samsung posted 8.14 trillion won ($7.23 billion) in operating profit in the second quarter of this year which happened to be its highest in two years.  This sequential estimate has been adjusted following the Galaxy Note 7 recall which was confirmed on September 2. Prior to the recall analysts were expecting status quo to be maintained, with many predicting as many as 8.5 trillion won in third quarter operating profit for Samsung.

Q4 is a bit harder to predict as customer loyalty might kick in, as might a forgetful public. Nevertheless the expectation is that the Galaxy Note 7 will now only reach half of the sales it was on course to deliver before the battery issue surfaced.

The Galaxy S8 Is Bigger, Better, And Could Be Early

As the Galaxy Note 7 looks to salvage whatever it can in terms of sales, Samsung will be looking towards its ‘next big thing’… which will be the Galaxy S8. More details on the flagship smartphone were discovered this week, including the idea of a massive 4K resolution screen (which will have the dual curved edges of the Note 7 and S7 Edge) alongside the aforementioned dual-lens camera and potentially dropping the 3.5 mm headphone jack for USB-C. But there is a bigger issue… when will the handset be released?

I would expect Samsung to already know the launch date for the Galaxy S8. Looking at the choices made by Samsung’s DJ Koh over the last year, his tendency is towards aggressive and the pro-active use of launch dates to weaken the opposition. MWC 2016 started on February 22nd, and the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge was announced the day before on the 21st. Samsung’s form book rarely varies, so Sunday 26th February would be a safe bet.

But that was before the Galaxy Note 7 became an awkward distraction. The quicker that the Galaxy S8 can reach the market the better. WIth a need to get a new flagship to market as quickly as possible, a desire to bolster the sales figures in the first calendar quarter of 2017 and the constant challenge of trying to stay ahead of the opposition (both Android- and iOS-powered), I think Koh will take the gamble, cut out some slack in the schedule, and bring the Galaxy S8 launch date forward.

Blackberry DTEK50

Zimperium Boosts BlackBerry’s Security Software

BlackBerry has increased the software protections for its Enterprise and Government customers though a partnership with Zimperium. The Californian based Zipermium will contribute its mobile threat management platform into BlackBerry’s expanding suite of Android (and iOS) apps. The partnership was announced on Wednesday:

“Good Dynamics and BES12 integrated with Zimperium zIPS offers comprehensive threat detection, visibility and protection against network, device and application mobile attacks on corporate apps and data,” said Dave Kleidermacher, Chief Security Officer at BlackBerry. “This is another example of how BlackBerry is working hard, every day, to secure, connect and mobilize the enterprise.”

Can You Spy The Refreshed Pixel?

With Google ready to launch the Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL smartphones early in October (killing the much-loved Nexus brand-name in the smartphone market), details on the two ‘clean’ Android-powered handsets are leaking out. Jacob Kleinman has more on the latest rumors, including some remarkably clear images:

Google is expected to position the Pixel and Pixel XL as premium smartphones. Both devices allegedly pack a Snapdragon 821 chip, a fingerprint scanner, USB-C and 4GB of RAM. The Pixel XL may also offer a 5.5-inch Quad HD display and a 3,450mAh battery, while the smaller Pixel sports a 5-inch 1080p display and a 2,770mAh battery.

…The rear panel features a shiny aluminum frame with a smaller glass rectangle covering the top third of the device. The fingerprint scanner, rear camera, flash module and a few other sensors are all located inside that glass section. The front panel is pretty standard with thick white bezels above and below the display.

Read on at TechnoBuffalo.

Android N Devices (image: Google.com)

When 3D Touch Arrives On Android…

As well as debuting Google’s new hardware, the Pixel handsets are likely to run the latest version of Android. 7.1 Nougat will be pre-installed in the handsets. Looking through the available code there may be an interesting UI feature that will be familiar to iOS users, shortcuts in the launcher offering pop up menu choices direct from an icon – which sounds remarkably like 3D touch in iOS. Cody Toombs has more:

So, this probably revitalizes the comparisons and questions about how Launcher Shortcuts will be surfaced to users. Will there be pressure sensitive screens? Will we have to use gestures like a long-press or swipe? Will launchers offer special modes to access shortcuts? The answer to every one of these questions is yes, or at least probably.

We’ve heard nothing about pressure sensitive screens in the upcoming Pixel and Pixel XL handsets. That doesn’t mean they can’t have specialized hardware, but at this point, the rumors probably would have exposed that detail. This means we should probably expect a gesture on these phones.

More thoughts on the UI change at Android Police.

Android Pay In The UK

When Android Pay launched in the UK, it was without three of the major banks, Barclays, RBS and Santander. The latter two have now switched on support for Google’s touch-and-pay cashless system. Chris Merriman for The Inquirer:

Google has unleashed the Android Pay phone payment system to a number of new banks in the UK and around the world, continuing its rapid adoption after coming from behind.

…This leaves Barclays as the last major bank not to take on the resident NFC payment options from the major operating systems. The company resisted Apple Pay too, continuing to promote its own Bpay service that works with dongles and wrist bands as well as phones.

Harry Potter eBooks for your smartphone

And Finally…

If the future of media services is a world of ‘all you can consume’, then Google has stepped up to challenge Amazon Prime’s lending library. Google Play Books has now launched worldwide. Full details can be found on Google’s Android blog.

With more than 5 million books to read on the go, what will you discover next? Google Play Books is introducing Discover, a new way to find books by browsing the latest reviews, news, lists, videos and more.

Available in 75 countries on both iOS and Android and the web, Google Play Books is the world’s largest ebookstore and offers readers like you smart technology that caters to your lifestyle — where you can start reading a book on your tablet at night and pick up where you left off the next day from your smartphone, as well as easily browse, skim, highlight and make notes.

The updated app is available now for Android and iOS.

Android Circuit rounds up the news from the Android world every weekend here on Forbes. Don’t forget to follow me so you don’t miss any coverage in the future, and of course read the sister column in Apple Loop! Last week’s Android Circuit can be found here, and if you have any news and links you’d like to see featured in Android Circuit, get in touch!

Google to launch Pixel smartphones on October 4

SAN FRANCISCO: Google late Monday sent out invitations to an October 4 event, hinting that the internet titan will show off a new smartphone powered by its Android mobile software. Emailed invitations revealed only the time and place for the gathering in San Francisco, the message topped by blue, red, yellow, and green dots of colour.

Google fired off a Twitter message with hashtag #madebygoogle and a video of what appeared to be a long rectangular search term box morphing into a silhouette of a smartphone.

Industry trackers have been expecting Google in October to show off its own smartphone, showcasing the prowess of its new Nougat version of Android software.

Google may stamp its latest smartphones with a "Pixel" brand instead of the "Nexus" name it has used in the past for Android smartphones it has made in collaborations with partners.

A Google smartphone would be fielded as a standard to which other's making Android devices should aspire, and would come just weeks after Apple's began selling new iPhone 7 models.

An enticing Google smartphone could also prove a contender for the attention of buyers during the prime year-end holiday shopping season.

Scenes in Apple stores around the world on Friday were reminiscent of days before online ordering became a norm and people camped out for days to be first to get hands on the California company's iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.

Enthusiasm was peppered with disappointment due to shortages of the large-screen iPhone 7 Plus and a jet-black iPhone 7, but it was unclear if the shortages were the result of strong demand or limited supply.

The devices chart a new path for the tech giant by eliminating headphone jacks, a move seen as setting a trend for a wireless future

The iPhones also boast Apple's freshly-released iOS 10 mobile operating system.

While the company has touted total iPhone sales of one billion, the number sold in the quarter ending June 25 fell 15% from a year earlier, highlighting concerns over growth for the key profit driver.

Growth has become challenging with many mobile phone markets saturated, with Apple rivals producing a wide variety of devices powered by Android software that Google makes available for free.

Apple faces stiff competition from traditional rival Samsung, although the South Korean giant is currently on the back foot after being forced into a massive recall because of exploding batteries of its flagship Galaxy Note 7.