Rick Osterloh, senior vice president of hardware at Google, has confirmed that Google is working on a successor to the Google Pixel.
In an interview given to AndroidPIT, Osterloh said, “You can count on a successor this year, even if you don’t hear a date from me now. There is an annual rhythm in the industry, so you can count on us to follow it.”
The executive also denied a recent report that claimed Google plans to release a more affordable Pixel smartphone this year. The Pixel range will continue to stay “premium” according to Osterloh. That means this year’s Pixel smartphones too will carry a premium pricing, on par with flagship smartphones from other Android OEMs such as Samsung.
What we’re curious about is who will actually be manufacturing this year’s Pixel handsets. Last year, it was HTC that built the Pixel smartphones for Google, so there is a possibility that the 2017 Pixel phones may also be made by the Taiwanese company. Or, Google could partner with another manufacturer this year, similar to what it used to do with the Nexus devices.
In terms of specs, we expect this year’s Pixel smartphones to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 or a newer flagship SoC under the hood, paired with at least 4GB of RAM. Camera performance will likely remain a key strength this year, just like last year’s models.
Source: AndroidPIT
