Google just tweeted out an image of the backside of the Pixel 4. After numerous leaks surfaced this week, and it essentially confirms the leaks we’ve seen already.
The tweet from the @MadeByGoogle account reads “Well, since there seems to be some interest, here you go! Wait ’til you see what it can do. #Pixel4”
This is definitely not what you’d expect a company to do, basically confirm the leaks, months ahead of the release. But that is exactly what Google has done here.
Unfortunately, we can only see the backside of the Pixel 4. There’s still the big “G” logo at the bottom of the phone, with the new square camera module in the upper-left hand corner. It does show two cameras, as well as a flash and another sensor at the top. So it looks like Google is finally going to be jumping on the multiple-camera bandwagon. After many years of having just one camera and it beating the competition, it’ll be interesting to see what this camera can do.
Now there’s another reason why Google likely put out this teaser image for the Pixel 4. Which is to wet our appetite for what Google could do with two cameras on the back of a Pixel smartphone. As mentioned, the Pixel camera has been pretty impressive. Beating out many other phones with two and three cameras on the back. It’s also going to kickstart a number of conspiracy theories, like is Google going with a telephoto lens and a main lens? Or will it be a wide-angle lens? There is also the new Time of Flight sensors that most smartphones are using these days, which is what Google could be doing here.
Not only was it surprising that Google confirmed the leaks of the Pixel 4, it’s surprising how far in advanced that Google has done this. It’s June. Google usually unveils the new Pixel in October. That’s about four months from now. In the world of smartphones, that is an eternity. When people wonder if leaks are “controlled leaks” or not, this really is going to make a lot of people wonder if it was all controlled leaks or not.
There is also the possibility that Google could be releasing the Pixel 4 earlier this year. The release schedule is all kinds of messed up this year, since the Pixel 3a debuted in May. And with the Pixel 3 lineup doing terrible, in terms of sale, it would not be surprising at all to see Google rush the cycle and release the Pixel 4 in the summer, or even in September.
Google usually unveils the Pixel in October, as it is after all of its partners new smartphone releases. So that it is not competing with its competitors. Since Google is both a partner and a competitor to companies like Samsung and LG now, that’s a pretty big deal. But as of right now, we’d still pencil in an announcement for the first week of October, for the Pixel 4. The rumor mill is only getting started though.