It is now being reported that Google might indeed be working on not one, or even two smartphones, but three smartphones, for 2017. This is coming from a new report out of Droid Life which credits the information with coming from “multiple sources”. The third smartphone is reportedly going by the codename “Taimen” and it is the name in particular that has drawn one very specific conclusion – that this will be the biggest of the three devices to come from Google in 2017.
This follows on from a report which came through yesterday detailing that the likely follow-up smartphones to the Google Pixel and Pixel XL are currently going under the codenames “Muskie” and “Walleye.” Interestingly, the sources mentioned in this latest report are said to be further confirming that Muskie and Walleye are indeed the “correct” codenames for two of the upcoming Google smartphones, adding further weight to the reliability of the first report. That previous report had also made the distinction that Walleye was likely to be the smaller of the two phones, with Muskie, adopting the position as the larger device. In a very similar manner to how the Pixel and the Pixel XL are currently distinguished. With the assumption essentially being that Walleye is the 2017 Pixel and Muskie is the 2017 Pixel XL.
However, and as mentioned, this latest report is highly suggesting that Taimen is neither of the mentioned devices. Instead, it is a third smartphone and one which is bigger in size than both Muskie and Walleye. How big, remains to be seen. Although the sources have looked to confirm that while it is bigger, it is not big enough to be mistaken or classified as anything other than a smartphone. There is also the suggestion being made that Taimen is actually “separate” from the other two rumored devices. As such, it is unclear exactly what this means, although it does raise the possibility that Taimen might not even be a Pixel phone at all. Especially considering the suggestions are that Muskie and Walleye are definitely Pixel phones. Unfortunately, that is the extent to the information that has come through on Taimen at the moment.