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.