Brand new day, and a brand new feature that may be aboard the new Google Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 XL. These phones have already been announced for an October 4 launch. We also know that these will be Google’s first devices to have IP68 rated water and dust resistance as well as storage options of 64GB and 128GB. Now, we have come to know that these two new devices may come with a new ‘Active Edge’ technology.
A new beta version of the Google App 7.12 has been released and a teardown test was performed by 9to5Google. The new report comes via the same team. ‘Active Edge’ technology will enable the users to perform certain tasks just by squeezing the edges of the phones. Thie same technology is also found aboard the HTC U11, which is a flagship offering. Given that Google’s new range of smartphones will be manufactured by HTC, it is hardly surprising that the squeezable technology has now made its way to the Google Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 XL.
Also, the Google Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 XL had received the FCC certification last week, indicating an imminent launch. There too, we had come across the ‘Active Edge’ technology issue, which indicates that this new tidbit may be more news than a rumor. Once the teardown of the Google App v 7.12 was carried out, a line of code said, “To change settings for the squeeze gesture, go to your phone’s Active Edge settings.” This is the closest that we have come to an official admission of the new feature.
When the phones launch, we might also be introduced to a new Google Lens which will allow any user to obtain any information about an object by pointing the Pixel 2/Pixel2 XL camera towards it. Lastly, the teardown has also provided one last clue to the final product: the Google Bar will be color and shape customizable. However, whether the new Google Bar is a widget or just a quick search bar is unclear at this moment.