Let’s face it, the era of the leaker and consistency of annual release cycles means the surprise smartphone launch is a thing of the past. Heck, even most of the major players have given up trying to hide things at this point.
Case in point; the head of Google’s hardware division, apparently sending out a tweet from the unreleased Google Pixel 4a smartphone.
The venerable Rick Osterloh tweeted today to commemorate a personal achievement – unlocking the Earth badge by walking the diameter of the Earth on Fitbit (fair play to him). But closer examination of the screenshot drops a hint over which smartphone he was using at the time. There’s a space to the left of the clock, which would suggest a punch hole display.
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Which Pixel phone is widely tipped to be the first to rock a punch hole display? Why, it’s the Pixel 4a, of course!
Earth badge on Fitbit! pic.twitter.com/TvUs4dYQF6
— Rick Osterloh (@rosterloh) May 4, 2020
If you need any more hints, Android Police has done a little number crunching and found the resolution of the screenshot is 2048×945, which is the same ratio – albeit scaled down by Twitter – as the rumoured 2340×1080 resolution we expect to see on the Pixel 4a.
The tweet is still live too, so it appears our Rick is fully aware of the Easter egg he has just laid.
Of course, this is no guarantee. However, we can’t imagine the chief evangelist for the Pixel range was strutting around the Earth using a device from another Android manufacturer as his day to day phone.
Most observers are expecting the Pixel 4a and 4a XL smartphones to land at some point in the next couple of weeks. The Pixel 3a and 3a XL were launched a year ago this month at Google I/O 2019.
This year’s event has been cancelled, but it had been scheduled to take place on May 12. Could we see the mid-ranger and rival to the iPhone SE launch next week? Let’s hope so.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
