Friday, June 1, 2018

New Google Phone?

Google is working on an upgraded Pixel smartphone line
for this fall, including a model with a nearly edge-to-edge
screen, seeking to boost revenue for a critically acclaimed
phone that has yet to make a major sales impact in the
Market.

The Alphabet Inc. unit is planning at least two new models,
likely to be dubbed the “Pixel 3” and “Pixel 3 XL,” said people
familiar with the matter. The larger phone is designed with a
nearly edge-to-edge screen, except for a thicker bezel known
as a chin at the bottom of the phone. The display also will have
a notch -- or a cutout -- at the top. The smaller model will look
similar to the Pixel 2 and won’t include the notch or edge-to-edge
look, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the
plans aren’t yet public.

Google’s Pixel smartphones are widely regarded as some of the
best Android-based devices, but they continue to lag far behind
Apple Inc.’s iPhone and products from Samsung Electronics Co.
in sales and market share. Google shippedfewer than 4 million
units in 2017, according to data from analytics company IDC.

That compares with 216 million iPhones shipped in the same
period. Google intends to keep updating its Pixel line annually
as it sees the hardware division as important to the company’s
long-term future.

As it has done the past two years, Google plans to roll out the
new phones in October, about a month after Apple typically
announces its new devices. Verizon Wireless Inc., for the third
year in a row, will be the exclusive U.S. carrier partner for the new
Pixels, the people said.

The plans for the new Pixels could change before the phones are
released, the people said. A spokeswoman for Google declined to

comment on the new phones.

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