What’s next for the Pixel may already be leaking. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
The Pixel 7 and 7 Pro have barely been out for a month, and we’re already hearing rumors about Google’s next flagship phones. German mobile news site WinFuture reports two new Google devices with codenames “Husky” and “Shiba” have been referenced in publicly available source code. Both devices are apparently housing a new “Zuma” chip that could be a successor to the company’s Tensor G2 SoC (via XDA Developers).
The code was analyzed by WinFuture writer Ronald Quandt, who found the doggy-nicknamed smartphones within and found that they run on Android 14. Google seems to have given it a new dessert name, too: “Upside Down Cake,” continuing the tradition of sweetly naming its Android OS versions, even though those have faded to the background since version 10.
Pixel 8 (Pro)? Google has two new devices in the works codenamed “Husky” and “Shiba”. Both have a new SoC codenamed “Zuma”, plenty of RAM and proper high res screens. https://t.co/D90qXLqqNx #Pixel8 #Pixel8Pro
— Roland Quandt (@rquandt) November 9, 2022
In terms of specs, the “Shiba” device has a 2268 x 1080p resolution display that is more comparable to the Pixel 7’s 2400 x 1080p screen, though the Shiba has 12GB of RAM vs. the Pixel 7 with 8GB. But with the likely larger-sized “Husky,” the resolution comes at 2822 x 1344p, which is just a bit under the current Pixel 7 Pro’s 3120 x 1440p screen. Both the Pixel 7 Pro and the Husky have 12GB of RAM. The “Zuma” chip also seems to include the same Samsung G5300 5G modem that the current Tensor G2 SoC has.
The existence of this hardware in the code doesn’t necessarily mean we are seeing the first glimpses of the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro — or even a possible Pixel 7A and 7A XL — but it could just be internal test hardware. Whatever the case, the next leak (yes, Pixels have always leaked) will probably reveal a lot more, or we can just wait for one to show up on eBay before it’s even revealed.