Google's newest phone, the Pixel, made its first appearance online when an image was tweeted by Venture Beat's Evan Blass. The Pixel is set to be announced on Google's Oct. 4 event along with other new products.
Blass first tweeted an image of the Pixel, with a link to Venture Beat's report on the device. The post was later updated to include an image of the Pixel XL. Google Pixel will have a 5-inch display with 1080p resolution, while the Pixel XL will have a 5.5-inch screen with a QHD display. Both devices will have quad-core 2.0GHz processors, 4GB of RAM and a 12 megapixel rear camera.
Perhaps the most noticeable change to the new Google device are the on-screen keys. The new set of keys are not too far from that of the Android 5.0 Lollipop, which features an outlined triangle, circle and square. The Pixel version, which will carry the Android 7.1 Nougat, made these shapes solid, with the circle key - which is the Home key - sporting a prominent border.
Blass's tweet received mixed reactions from his Twitter followers. While others compared it to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 5s, some were not impressed though with the use of round icons.
This is the Google Pixel https://t.co/7nJdaXhDAV pic.twitter.com/nAKIsvKEIq
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) September 26, 2016
"That must be a mockup or something, because my nexus 6p looks way better with stock icons," said @rekaarts.
"It's so rounded, it looks like it's from 2012," added @CamCovington.
"I hate this rounded icon," @McBob stated more plainly.
It's not clear whether this design will be exclusive to the Pixel or be seen across all Android 7.1 devices.
Most tech reports are confident that the Pixel will be manufactured by HTC, following a leak from someone with insider knowledge of HTC's involvement.
These devices will be available on Verizon in the US. An unlocked version can be bought from Google for $649, according to Android Police.
