Google’s annual hardware launch event will take place on October 9 in New York City. The company sent out invites to media (including Digital Trends) confirming the date, which had leaked in August.
The date and venue are a change of pace, considering the past two Google October events have taken place in San Francisco on October 4. The company is widely expected to launch a slew of hardware products ranging from smartphones to smart home devices.
The highlights will be the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, successors to last year’s critically acclaimed Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones. There have been an alarmingly high number of leaks for the Pixel 3 series, and if true, we know quite a lot about the phones. It may be due to carelessness. Recently, someone left a Pixel 3 in the back of a Lyft. Separately, a group in Russia claims to have gotten its hands on a shipment of Pixel 3 XL smartphones and even posted an unboxing video, showing everything you get in the box.
The Pixel 3 XL is expected to have a notch design, where a cutout at the top of the screen houses the front-facing camera. This has garnered some criticism, as the notch on the Pixel 3 XL looks unusually large. The smaller Pixel 3 may have a more traditional design, with slimmer bezels on the top and bottom. You can learn more about the two phones in our Pixel 3 roundup.
As the new Pixel 3 devices are rumored to support wireless charging, leaks suggest Google will also announce the Pixel Stand — a wireless charging dock that also turns the phone’s screen into a Smart Display for Google Assistant, similar to what Lenovo offers with its Smart Display.
Google is also rumored to be launch its own Smart Display to compete with the likes of Amazon’s Echo Show. It will essentially be a Google Home with a screen; you’ll be able to access YouTube videos with your voice thanks to Google Assistant, and make video calls with Google’s Duo app.
Other products rumored to be on the docket are two Pixelbooks, which are Chromebooks from Google running Chrome OS, and a potential followup to the Google Pixel Buds. There’s likely more Google will announce at the event that we haven’t heard much about — for example, last year Google’s Clips announcement came as a surprise.
Digital Trends will be on the scene in New York on October 9, reporting on everything Google will announce, so stay tuned.
