New information has come to light about Google's smartphone flagships for this year and it seems that one model has been canceled.
Last year, Google rebranded its popular Nexus line into Pixel and released the Google Pixel and Pixel 2, which are expected to get successors later this year. In fact, for a good while now, rumors have been indicating that Google was working on three smartphones for 2017 — a Pixel 2 codenamed Walleye, a Pixel XL 2 codenamed Muskie, and a third handset codenamed Taimen, which has been shrouded in mystery for the most part.
LG-Made 'Taimen' Smartphone Coming As Pixel XL Successor
An intriguing bug report uncovered by 9to5Google, however, makes an interesting reveal. It seems that Google has ultimately decided to drop the Muskie model, believed to be the Pixel XL successor, and instead replace it with the Taimen model. This means that the company would no longer release three handsets this year, but two.
Even more intriguingly, it seems that the Taimen phone may come from LG, which made the Nexus 4 and the Nexus 5X for Google years ago. So far, the general belief was that HTC would make the second-generation Google Pixel handsets, but the newly discovered bug report hints otherwise.
More specifically, 9to5Google found a bug report entry dating back to March, mentioning a "USB PD Compliance Failure" in the Android Issue Tracker. An LG employee filed that bug report, then a Google representative asked them to move it in Android > Partner > External > LGE > Taimen > power.
"From this hierarchy, we can see that LG Electronics is manufacturing a device referred to as Taimen," 9to5Google points out. "The Google employee likely wanted the bug entry, along with power report, moved from the public-facing Issue Tracker."
Based on these clues, it seems that LG is working on a Taimen smartphone in collaboration with Google and the handset is expected to be larger than the Pixel XL from 2016.
Google Cancels 'Muskie' Smartphone
The latest rumors indicate that the Walleye model will be a direct successor to the 2016 Google Pixel, sporting the same 5-inch screen. Taimen, meanwhile, will reportedly be larger than the Pixel XL, but it remains unclear for now just how large. The handset could resemble the skinny and tall Samsung Galaxy S8 and LG G6, which feature aspect ratios of 18.5:9 and 18:9, respectively.
Just after Android Police reported that Google has ceased development on Muskie, 9to5Google learned from a tipster that the company likely made this decision because the device did not meet the expected battery life, nor other goals related to cost effectiveness.
That said, Google is now expected to release a Walleye smartphone this year, which would be the Pixel successor and will likely come from HTC, and a Taimen handset made by LG, which would be the Pixel XL successor, but larger.
No additional information is available at this point and none of these rumors are officially confirmed, so take these reports with a grain of salt. We'll keep you up to date as soon as we learn more, so stay tuned.
