Google is working on a new Pixel 3 laptop that is set for a Q3 2017 release, according to the folks over at Android Police. They have garnered this information from a couple of independent and reliable sources, and the new Pixel 3 laptop goes by the internal nickname of 'Bison'. Of course, Pixel 3 is not the final name just yet between now and the third quarter of next year, but chances are it will be the first device that comes with the merged operating system from Google known as Andromeda.
Andromeda will be a combination of Android and Chrome OS, and this unified OS is a move that the industry is slowly moving towards. It would be the masterpiece of work from Google's Pixel team and Google's Android and Chrome OS development teams. In fact, Andromeda OS is not a surprise at all if and when it arrives, since Apple is said to be going down the same road for its iOS and MacOS -- although no concrete date has been set yet.
No doubt when Andromeda OS from Google arrives, it will be very different from what is happening at the moment, with Android apps running on Chromebooks. For starters, the Pixel 3 will not be sold as a Chromebook. It will not take the existing route that Android apps on Chrome OS are on, but rather, intends to merge Chrome features into Android. To be more specific, Bison would run Android as opposed to Chrome OS.
The hardware specifications of the Pixel 3/Bison will no doubt change from time to time, as we are still in very early days. There is also no guarantee that the Pixel 3 will be released as it could actually be canceled, depending on the atmosphere surrounding it. Hence, none of the rumored specifications that you read about at the moment have been set in stone, and delays in the Andromeda OS release should not come across as a surprise, either.
Hardware-wise, the Pixel 3/Bison is tipped to arrive with a 12.3" display, with Google hoping to have it be a hybrid by supporting “tablet” mode. Will this translate to a Lenovo Yoga-like device, or will it take the Microsoft Surface Book’s detachable route? An Intel m3 or i5 Core processor (or whatever better is available then) accompanied by 32GB all the way to 128GB of internal memory storage with a choice of either 8GB or 16GB of RAM should be standard.
The possibility of 2 variants is there: with a fingerprint scanner in both, a couple of USB-C ports to keep up with the times, a (legacy) 3.5mm jack, stylus support (Wacom pens will be sold separately), stereo speakers, quad microphones, and a 10-hour battery. Modern amenities include a backlit keyboard, a glass trackpad with haptic and force detection, all crammed into a chassis that should not be thicker than 10mm. This would make the Pixel 3/Bison a whole lot more thinner than Apple’s MacBook Air offerings to date.
No idea on how much the Pixel 3 will cost, but based on past Pixel laptop releases, this one should be more expensive than usual. The Pixel 3/Bison has been touted to cost from $799 upward with its expected retail launch in Q3 2017.
