Google Pixel 2 squeezes through regulatory filing

If you needed more proof that the Google Pixel 2 is on its way, look no further than what appears to be HTC’s official FCC filing for the device.

Hidden within the list of documents, which illustrate that the device meets federal standards for its internal antennas and doesn’t interfere with that of others, 9To5Google points out that there’s quite a bit of revealing information shown off in the images below to sort through about the upcoming flagship.

One of the documents reveals screenshots appearing to be captured by the Google Pixel 2. The first bit of info to parse is that in the gestures menu option, “Active Edge” is listed – likely the squeeze-friendly technology we’ve heard that HTC is implanting into, at the very least, the smallest Pixel 2 rumored to be released.

The setting looks to be customizable, as the screen shown states that squeezing the phone will bring up the Google Assistant. We liked the implementation of Edge Sense in the HTC U11, though its implementation seemed half-baked. It’ll be interesting to see how Google applies its own spin on the innovative hardware feature.

Next up, we can see that this particular phone looks to have 64GB of onboard storage. Approximately 14GB of that amount have been gobbled up by the operating system, as well as whatever else is installed on the phone. Let’s just hope that 64GB is the new default, yeah?

So, when can you get the Google Pixel 2?

Unfortunately, the filing doesn't give us any new release date information to work off of. However, it’s still very likely to debut shortly after the arrival of Android O, which itself is rumored to graduate from developer preview on August 21.

In the same batch of visual snippets spotted on FCC’s site, we can see that this device will launch with Android O version 8.0.1 – a small step above what users will get when the software launches on currently available devices like the Google Pixel and Nexus 6P.

Given that the Google Pixel 2 will have some hardware-specific features, like Active Edge and possibly no headphone jack, it’s possible that this update applies only to this model when it launches while other O-ready phones will stick with the vanilla update.

As the Pixel 2’s release date gets closer, we’ll no doubt hear more about it and see more of it leaked. Until then, check out everything we know about Android O and download it right now.

Cameron Faulkner

Cameron is a writer at The Verge, focused on reviews, deals coverage, and news. He wrote for magazines and websites such as The Verge, TechRadar, Practical Photoshop, Polygon, Eater and Al Bawaba.

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