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Today was the day of the Eclipse. Everyone knew about it and everyone was focused on it.
Even Google.
With Android Oreo being fully announced during the East Coast’s time in the eclipse’s path, most of us were left with a bit of a ‘Is that it?’ feeling.
To be fair, Android O preview builds have been around, so there’s little need to have a whole presentation about the new features as they’ve been written about at length by many tech blogs.
Still, I couldn’t help but feel a bit underwhelmed.
Some Big News Not Related To Oreos
According to Android Police today, an inside source provided them with a couple choice pieces of info.
First, a more diminutive Google Home could be launched at Google’s next hardware event. Second, (and way more importantly around here) a Pixel-branded laptop will also be debuted on stage along with the new Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL.
Most importantly, the source is confident this new device will be branded a Chromebook.
Let’s All Say It Together: ‘EVE’!
With all the work we’ve done uncovering ‘Eve’ and all we know about it so far, it is a pretty sure bet that we will be meeting this much-anticipated Chromebook whenever Google chooses to host its event this fall.
While most outlets picking up this story aren’t being so bold to connect ‘Eve’ to this news exclusively, I have a very strong suspicion that ‘Eve’ is, in fact, exactly what is being talked about here.
Android Police claims this might be what the mysterious project codenamed ‘Bison’ morphed into, seeing that whatever Andromeda was is now clearly dead.
Honestly, I have to agree that this could be the case. Look at the specs from ‘Bison’ that circulated almost a year ago from Android Police:
Bison is planned as an ultra-thin laptop with a 12.3″ display, but Google also wants it to support a “tablet” mode. It’s unclear to us if this means Bison will be a Lenovo Yoga-style convertible device, or a detachable like Microsoft’s Surface Book, but I’m personally leaning on the former given how thin it is. Powering it will be either an Intel m3 or i5 Core processor with 32 or 128GB of storage and 8 or 16GB of RAM. This seems to suggest there will be two models. It will also feature a fingerprint scanner, two USB-C ports, a 3.5mm jack (!), a host of sensors, stylus support (a Wacom pen will be sold separately), stereo speakers, quad microphones, and a battery that will last around 10 hours. The keyboard will be backlit, and the glass trackpad will use haptic and force detection similar to the MacBook. Google plans to fit all of this in a form factor under 10mm in thickness, notably thinner than the aforementioned Apple ultraportable.
Sound a bit familiar? Everything we have discovered about ‘Eve’ lines up perfectly with this. Literally, everything we know is found on this list. This part is pure speculation, but I do think whatever ‘Bison’ was is now known as ‘Eve’.
A Final Piece To Mull Over
Lastly, according to the leak last September that we just quoted above, the ‘Bison’ rumor also came with an attached price tag: $799
Looking at all ‘Eve’ possesses and its possible Pixel lineage, I have to say this price would be insanely attractive. Considering this thing will be positioned against the iPad Pro and Surface, that price feels really apt.
Make sure you file this all under speculation for now. Sure, we feel confident about ‘Eve’ being a #madebyGoogle device and also feel strongly that it will be debuted with the upcoming Pixel phone. Beyond that, we’re hoping.
After all, Google expressly said there would be no more Pixel Chromebooks. But we all know Google is prone to change its mind from time to time, so there’s little reason to get hung up on that.
As a matter of fact, we’re hoping that is exactly the case.
