Meet the New Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL

After months and weeks of leaking little by little, the newest phones from Google have arrived. This time, there is a special emphasis on the "Made by Google" part, much more than what we have been used to with the Nexus lineup. The Pixel lineup is Google taking the reins back in its own hands, as the devices no longer remain content with just being developer reference devices. These are the phones that are made with the end consumer in mind rather than enthusiasts, with a view to pull a consumer deeper into the Google ecosystem with a slew of exclusive (as of now) features.

Starting off with the design of the phones, the Google Pixel comes bearing a 5″ FHD AMOLED display, while the Google Pixel XL bumps the spec up to 5.5″ QHD AMOLED. Outside of the difference in the sizes, the devices are near identical when it comes to design. The front of the devices looks simple and plain, and also has sizable bezels on the top and bottom despite not having a front fingerprint sensor or front facing stereo speakers. The back of the phone shows off the flat, metallic chassis of the device, but also a glass window on the top half. The window adds a bit of contrast, color and means of differentiationm ultimately giving it a rather interesting look. The bottom of the back also sports a "G" logo, indicating its "Made by Google" origins. There is no HTC branding visible on the device.

On the inside, both the Pixel and the Pixel XL sport the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 SoC, coupled with 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM. Storage options on the device consists of either 32GB or a healthy 128GB. There is no microSD expandability on the device, but we expected as much out of a Google device. The smaller Pixel sports a 2770 mAh battery, while the larger Pixel XL sports a 3450 mAh battery. The devices come with a USB Type-C connector, and have Quick Charge 3.0 support.

The camera setup on the device consists of a 12MP rear camera with f/2.0 and PDAF, capable of video recording 4K at 30fps. The front is a 8MP shooter with f/2.0. There were no mentions of OIS specifically for either spec, so we assume it to be absent. Google dd mention that DXOMark rated the Pixel at 89, which is the highest they have rated any smartphone that they have tested. The complete camera package just on specs is not the most exciting when compared to the current competition, so we are curious to see what Google has done behind the scenes to make the setup competitive.

The most important part of the Google Pixel and the Google Pixel XL is the software. The devices launch with a new version of Android, Android 7.1 Nougat. Google has made a few changes to stock Android for these devices, making Google the centerpiece of attraction. The launcher on the device, aka the Pixel Launcher, replaces the Google search bar on the homescreen with a Google Search button, much inline with their current branding choices. The Pixel is the carrier for all things Google Assistant, so you have easy access to the Assistant at every step. Google is also offering free unlimited Photos storage for full resolution videos and images on the Pixel. And then, there's also 24×7 Customer Support present within the phone. Finally, there's automatic and seamless updates, where the update is downloaded and installed in a new partition and the phone then just switches over.

The Pixel devices come in Very Silver, Quite Black and (limited edition, for US only) Really Blue colors (much wow). The Google Pixel starts at $649, and is available for preorder from today in the US, UK, Canada and Germany. Pre-orders begin in India from 13th October. For the US, you can also get the Pixel from Verizon, but in case you want your bootloader to be unlockable, you can buy it off the Google Store unlocked as well.

The Google Pixel and the Google Pixel XL, on the hardware front, do not hold any edge over the competition. This is an approach to smartphones seemingly without stand-out gimmicks nor clear selling points beyond the Google branding: the camera setup is not the best, there is no modularity at play, nor is there any waterproofing either. Google is banking hard on the Google experience (and marketing) to sell the device. It remains to be seen if the average consumer finds this experience worth spending money on, but we certainly can't wait to take it out for a spin!

What are your thoughts on the Pixel and the Pixel XL? Let us know in the comments below!

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JCase: “Verizon Pixel Phone May Not Be Bootloader Unlockable”

We are just mere moments away from the launch of the Google Pixel phones, hoping for Google to settle whatever is left of the mystery once and for all. We do know that the Pixel devices will be coming to Verizon, but the extent of Verizon influence has remained unknown other than suggestions of it being SIM-locked.

XDA Senior Recognized Developer jcase took to his personal Twitter account to give some insight on what the Verizon influence possibly include.

I believe the Verizon Pixel phone will not be bootloader unlockable based on test firmware, if you care about an easy root buy unlocked.

— Jon Sawyer (@jcase) October 4, 2016

Based on test firmware, jcase mentions that the Verizon based Pixel devices will not be bootloader unlockable. This statement is based on the prerelease bootloader, but jcase is not a complete 100% sure of this, as often things change by the time of release. The Verizon Pixel has had different firmware packages than the Google Pixel, further fueling doubts on the status of its bootloader. Pixel phones also do not have a traditional recovery partition, with the recovery being inside the boot.img and mostly unused.

The locked bootloader status is likely to be restricted to only the Verizon models (if at all it is locked). So as jcase recommends, if you care about ease of root, either purchase the Pixel devices unlocked, or wait for more information and confirmation. With the devices being mere minutes away from launch, we should know more sooner rather than later.

Image Credits: @evleaks

What are your thoughts on this new development? Let us know in the comments below!

Check out XDA's Pixel Phone Forum! >>

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Huawei Allegedly Declined to Manufacture the 2016 Pixel Phones

Huawei has been trying to break into the United States smartphone market for a little while now and a new rumor claims this was planned to go big this year. We've seen the Chinese smartphone maker (well, its company Honor) have moderate success with the Honor 5X, but it seems Huawei wanted more. Android Police cities a "source familiar with Huawei's operations," and talks about how they have been wanting to have their smartphones on shelves of the major United States wireless carriers.

In particular, they've been wanting to make their smartphones available at Verizon Wireless. This source talks about how Huawei was in talks with Google get the Nexus 6P at all four of the major United States wireless carriers and that each of them would put money toward a multi-hundred-million dollar ad campaign for the device. However, something went wrong and they simply were not able to come to an agreement in the end.

Despite that, this source says Google was in talks with Huawei again to manufacture the Google Pixel and Pixel XL this year. The deal would have allowed Huawei to manufacture three devices for Google, but again the deal fell through. It's being said that Huawei was interested in the deal until Google required that the Pixel smartphones have the Google brand, and that Huawei was not allowed to have theirs on the devices.

Huawei was not happy with this stipulation and Huawei's CEO, Richard Yu, ceased all negotiations right on the spot. The rumor says this forced Google to go with plan B, HTC, even though Huawei and Google are still happy to work with each other. There have been rumors that Huawei will be producing a Nexus tablet for the internet search giant, but we'll have to wait and see if anything happens with that.

It's still interesting to think that if Huawei had signed on with the deal, then they would have had their first smartphone on Verizon Wireless shelves with the Pixel and Pixel XL phones. Even if that meant the Huawei brand wouldn't be on them.

Source: Android Police

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Google Publishes October’s Security Updates & Finally Releases Nougat for the Nexus 6

Google has released Android 7.0 Nougat for a number of Nexus devices last month, but they were still working on the update for Motorola's Nexus 6. It's unclear if the Android 7.0 update for the Nexus 6 was delayed because Google engineers were squashing bugs, or if Motorola was holding them back. Whatever the case, the Nougat update is finally rolling out to the Nexus 6 and you can manually flash the OTA update right now if you would like.

Along with 7.0 Nougat, Google also released the Android security patches yesterday. This update comes in two sets as there is a Security Patch Level for October 1st and a bigger one for October 5th. The October 1st level includes patches for 12 vulnerabilities marked with a high severity and 5 that are marked with a moderate severity. The October 5th level includes patches for 5 vulnerabilities marked with a critical severity, 17 that are marked with a high severity, 8 that are marked with a moderate severity and then 1 marked with a low severity.

As usual, Google has released both factory images for Nexus devices that include these October security patches, as well as the OTA files for those who want to manually install the update. So far, Google has released the October security update for the WiFi variant of the Nexus 9, the Pixel C, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus Player and Nexus 5. If you'd rather not update the Nexus 6 to Nougat right now, you can use the MOB31H build for the device to get the security patches and stay on Marshmallow.

Google has yet to release the update for the cellular variant of the Nexus 9, but we've seen this type of delay in the past. It can take Google a few weeks to get the update certified and then both the factory images/OTA files will be available for those who need it.

Source: Android Security Bulletin

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Google Hires New Talent to Run its New Pixel Phone Division

David Foster has worked at a number of big companies over the last few decades. The man was a staff manager at IBM Research back in the late 80s and early 90s, he was a senior director at Apple in the late 90s and early 2000s, and also worked as a general manager at Microsoft from 2005 to 2011. The last big projects Foster worked on were the Kindle and Kindle Fire tablet line when he was employed by Amazon from 2011 to 2014.

The Information is now reporting that Google has hired David Foster to lead the company's new Pixel brand of smartphones. Google has been known as a software company for years, but it's clear that they are finally starting to take hardware seriously. Rick Osterloh left Motorola back in March of this year, and it wasn't more than 2 months later that Google scooped him up to oversee their newly-formed hardware division.

This hardware division includes all of the products that Google is currently working on. This includes the Chromecast line, the Pixel line, the Nexus line, the new Daydream VR headset, Google Home, Google WiFi, OnHub, ATAP, Glass and the products that have yet to be announced. Osterloh isn't alone here, as he's reportedly been working closely with the Senior Vice President of Android Hiroshi Lockheimer.

With David Foster taking over the reigns of the new Pixel smartphones, and The Information is reporting that Foster will be reporting directly to Rick Osterloh at this time. It's nice to see Google taking hardware so seriously now and we're very curious to see how it all pans out in a year or two. Google is known for starting up projects and abandoning them very quickly before they can mature. If they end up dating this seriously though, which it seems like they are, then it will be exciting to watch Google evolve over the next few years.

Source: The Information

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Magisk Updated to v7, Now Completely Open Source

We've talked about Magisk in the past, and how it promises a world of modifications to be done in a systemless manner. The Magisk Universal Systemless Interface has ballooned in popularity recently much like Xposed has, and not without good reason too. In addition to all the benefits that going systemless brings to the table, Magisk also provided a way to run Android Pay, and even Pokémon GO, whilst maintaining root capabilities on your device. For many, those were reasons enough to dabble with all things systemless.

The Magisk Universal Systemless Interface by XDA Recognized Developer topjohnwu has received an update that bumps it up to version 7. There are a bunch of notable changes that follow in the changelog:

• Fully open source
• Remove supolicy dependency, use my own sepolicy-injection
• Run everything in its own selinux domain, should fix all selinux issues
• Add Note 7 stock kernel hex patches
• Add support to install Magisk in Manager
• Add support for image merging for module flashing in Manager
• Add root helpers for SuperSU auto module-ize and auto upgrading legacy phh superuser
• New paths to toggle busybox, and support all root solutions
• Remove root management API; both SuperSU and phh has their own superior solutions

Amongst the most notable changes, Magisk is now fully open source from v7 onwards, including the binaries that it makes use of. In addition to this, the Magisk Manager is now a completely different app altogether, becoming a part of the core experience. New features and improvements are planned, so we can be sure that things will continue to improve in the future.

Magisk is also moving towards a repo system for better module management. The aim is to bring Magisk and its modules at the same ease of management that Xposed currently is at — providing developers a platform to reach out to users, and for users to easily install and keep track of modules.

There's another change that v7 brings, and this is something that should be understood as part of a bigger plan. The v7 update removes root management and SafetyNet bypassing capabilities from Magisk itself. The developer mentions of two reasons for the aforementioned change: One, Xposed does not work with SafetyNet and suhide came from the efforts of XDA Senior Recognized Developer Chainfire, which rendered this as an incomplete solution. Second, XDA Senior Member phhusson is also in the process of creating his own solution in the form of hidesu, which topjohnwu plans to incorporate into Magisk's version of phh root. The methods mentioned are superior to the one that was in place, and hence it makes sense to let them shoulder the responsibility of hiding root.

If you would like to know more, head on over to the XDA Community Apps section. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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Xiaomi Launches the Mi Box in USA for $69

There's no denying that Xiaomi has become a strong player in the smartphone market in Asia, thanks to its affordable lineup, its spec-heavy mid-ends and great-value flagships. Markets outside of Asia, though, have not yet tasted the offerings from Xiaomi. That changes today, in some part at least, as Xiaomi is launching the Mi Box in the United States for a price of $69.

Although not a smartphone, the Mi Box is the first device from Xiaomi that is launching in the USA. The device was unveiled back at Google I/O 2016, and was supposed to land in early Q4 2016. In simple terms, the Mi Box is a Set Top Box that runs Android TV, but when you keep in mind the current scenario of Android TV STB products, the Mi Box is perhaps the cheapest you could buy, while still getting some great value for money.

The Mi Box supports 4K video at 60fps, made possible by quad-core Cortex-A53 with the Mali 450 GPU and 2GB of RAM inside the device. There's also support for Dolby Digital Plus audio playback. You also get 8GB of storage, HDMI 2.0a compatibility, a voice-activated Bluetooth remote, and optionally, a game controller (sold separately).

Of course, there is Android TV on the device, so you get all the apps and advantages of that ecosystem. Xiaomi is also bundling a few software service freebies to entice more users to purchase the Mi Box.

For $69, the Mi Box certainly offers a pretty good deal, especially for first time adopters who do not want to invest too much into Android TV. The device is available in the US from today (change the region to US to get the option to purchase), though orders will be shipped out on October 6th. You can also find the device in Walmart soon, though exact dates for availability in retail outlets is not known yet.

What are your thoughts on the Mi Box? Let us know in the comments below!

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