It may seem like Twitter is slowly falling apart, but the platform is still a good place to go for breaking news.
On Thursday, Google introduced its latest device in the Google Play Store tweet. It’s a foldable Pixel phone.
Twitter content
This content may also be viewed on the Site Arises from.
The phone is called the Pixel Fold, and that’s all we know about it for sure. The company says it will reveal more details about the device during the keynote address for Google IO, its annual developer conference that will be held in Mountain View, California on Wednesday, May 10.
There are a few things we can tell about the Pixel Fold just from the image and short video released by Google. The same images appear on the Google Store on what is supposed to become the product page where the phone can be purchased when it goes on sale.
It folds book-style, like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold, and not clamshell-style like the Z Flip or Motorola’s Razr redux. Also remarkable is that the Pixel Fold has a full-size display on the front. Many foldable phones that collapse like a book use a smaller screen on the front, but the Pixel Fold is larger, with an edge-to-edge screen like that of regular non-foldable smartphones.
Video: Google
The Pixel Fold’s inner display doesn’t appear to go edge-to-edge, but instead sits inside a slim, black bezel. On this foldable screen, we can see some Android widgets and widgets that look as if they have been optimized for the large foldable screen. No doubt when the Pixel Fold is revealed, adaptive Android elements will be a big part of the demo.
There are some chrome accents on the edges that remind us of Pixel Pro-level models and some recent Samsung Galaxy devices. There is also a chrome finish applied to the camera bump on the back of the phone. (The Chrome accents on the phone always remind me of the Ford Crown Victoria, and I wish companies would stop doing that because who wants to be reminded of the Crown Vic eight times a day? The Fold would be a premium device.
They also indicate a very high price. Google hasn’t said anything about the price — or anything really, other than showing pictures and re-updating the history of the main I/O letter — but we can assume that this foldable will come with a much higher price tag than the non-foldable Pixels.
Google’s news of a luxury foldable smartphone comes at a time when smartphone sales are in a deep slump. Also, consumers haven’t responded to foldable devices with the same enthusiasm that smartphone makers experimenting with the form factor would have hoped. Perhaps the arrival of a foldable phone made by the same company that makes the software on it — a “full stack” approach — is the impetus that makes the still-awkward hardware design out of its niche and into the mainstream.