Some unexpected news has just come out of Google’s world. While we’ve been eagerly waiting for this year’s Pixel 2 smartphones, it seems that at least one of them is dead. Android Police has published after confirming from various high authority sources that Google Pixel 2 XL, which was recently benchmarked on Geekbench and was internally known from the codename “Muskie”, has now been canceled by the company. So it means that the better and more powerful version of Pixel 2 is now gone. But does it mean that this year’s Pixel 2 lineup is screwed? Not so quickly. Google will certainly not shoot itself in the foot that way.
There’ve been multiple reports in the past suggesting that this year Google is working on 3 separate Pixel devices. One was codenamed “Walleye”, another was known as “Muskie” and the third one is known as “Taimen.” Now when Muskie is no more, we’re left with Walleye and Taimen. And if we extract some patterns from the past, there’re one thing that can be observed easily: Google loves codenaming its phones around fishes, and that too in a proper order. See for yourself:
- 4.7-inch Nexus 4 (Mako)
- 5-inch Nexus 5 (Hammerhead)
- 6-inch Nexus 6 (Shamu)
- 5.2-inch Nexus 5X (Bullhead), 5.7-inch Nexus 6P (Anger)
- 5.1-inch Pixel (Sailfish), 5.5-inch Pixel XL (Marlin)
And now this year it was Walleye, Muskie and Taimen. Walleyes weigh up to 11kg, Muskies 17kg and Taimens weigh over 100kg. This naming scheme led many to feel that Taimen may be a laptop, tablet or convertible under Pixel brand. But now after demise of Muskie if Taimen is branded as Pixel XL, then it may be quite large. The path for this has also been opened by Samsung and LG, both of whom just launched smartphones with massive displays in the range of 5.7 – 6.3 inch.
Rumors are also suggesting that Google has taken over the production of this year’s Pixel phones from HTC and given it to LG instead. This further increases the possibility of a supersized Pixel XL.
As of now it’s difficult to say anything about Google’s plans. However, we can certainly be optimistic towards Taimen after this cancellation of Muskie. Because after all, it’s the time of bigger smartphones… isn’t it? Let us know what you think in comments.