Accidental first look at new Tensor-powered smartphone.
Forget the Zuckerburg vs Musk cage-fight, there is bigger news in the world of tech. With much anticipation but little details forthcoming about Google’s much-heralded new Pixel 8 Android series, the world nonetheless got its first look at the new smartphone when images of it were inadvertently uploaded to Google’s own promo page for its subscriptions and services. But no sooner had it went up that the mistake was quickly noticed and the images taken down tout suite.
Those who did catch a glimpse of it – and many screenshot it for posterity – saw a Porcelain White color casing housing a triple rear camera setup. Some have remarked that it looked very similar to its predecessor, and indeed, enlargements of the images had to be made before people were sure it was, in fact, the new Pixel 8.
The leaked image first appeared on Google Store and uploaded to X (formerly Twitter) before Google had time to remove it.
Analysis of the leaked image seems to show another sensor near the LED flash but without a ‘clean’ high-resolution image, it’s hard to tell exactly what it is and its purpose. Another report with apparent insider connections also said that the new Pixel 8 Series will likely get 5 years’ worth of OS updates, but again, this is unconfirmed speculation at present.
This would, in fact, give the new Google smartphone a distinct software advantage over rivals such as Samsung, Oppo, and OnePlus, all of whom offer a mere four OS updates and one year of security updates.
Additionally, it’s also being rumored that the new Pixel 8 Series will ditch the physical SIM card slots in favor of eSIM support. This gives users the ability to connect to the network without needing an actual SIM card in their phones.
All in all, it is an exciting time for smartphone aficionados and it will be interesting to see the reality of the Pixel 8’s range of features when it comes to market later this year.
