Gaming

Several images reveal an unreleased Pixel Fold that was canceled by Google for not being up to par

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Google’s adventure with foldable devices has been, to put it mildly, a bit of a sad one. Even though the company was quick to introduce improvements to Android to adapt it to this form factor, the Pixel Fold arrived rather late, back in 2023. By then Samsung already had a well-established Galaxy Z range and Chinese manufacturers were coming up with more mature products, with the result that the first foldable of Google passed without pain or glory. Before the Pixel Fold that we all knew, however, it had another folding screen mobile that went nowhere.

The first images of this phone were published several months ago on the forums. XDA Developers, where they did not have a great impact, being confused with a fake or a very embryonic device. Now, Android Authority confirms that the device was a prototype known internally as “pipit.” This would be the foldable phone that, as revealed some time ago by Ivy Ross, Google’s head of hardware design, was cancelled for not living up to internal expectations.

According to Android Authority sources, “pipit” was going to go on sale after the Pixel 6, combining a chipset Exynos Modem 5123 with the first generation Tensor processor. Equally unremarkable was the camera, which incorporated the same Sony IMX363 sensor from the already much surpassed Pixel 3. In short, very unattractive hardware.

Perhaps more interesting were the displays. “Pitpit” would have had a 66 x 128 mm outer panel, while inside it would have had the same 7.6-inch display as the original Pixel Fold, albeit with the possible integration of a digital pen. This is speculative, though it can be reasonably inferred from the name of the last known prototype: PIPIT EVT 1.0 Stylus.

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Currently Google does not seem to have much interest in foldable devices, at least as a manufacturer, and proof of this is the absence of a Pixel Fold 2. Its next launch will be the Pixel 9 family, which will be unveiled at an event that will take place on the 13th. of August. It will be then when we meet the future Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL, as well as the Pixel Watch 3 watch, which should arrive with very reinforced arguments with respect to the previous generation.

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