Google Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones to be launched in October

Google will unveil its Pixel (Nexus) range of devices along with Daydream virtual reality (VR) and a new 4K compatible Chromecast to replace the currently available options on October 4, media reported on Tuesday. Earlier reports pointed out that HTC is making this year’s Nexus phones and there are two of them – Pixel and Pixel XL, codenamed Sailfish and Marlin, respectively. “Google’s Pixel XL has allegedly surfaced on a Geekbench benchmark listing recently, showcasing a couple of pieces of information that seem to confirm once more that the codename for the device is Marlin,” technology website AndroidHeadlines.com reported on Tuesday.  Pixel XL is expected to have an aluminium unibody design, a rear-facing fingerprint scanner, and a 5.5-inch screen, according to earlier leaks. Pixel XL is rumoured to pack quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor clocked at 1.59GHz paired up with 4GB of RAM and will be running on NMR1, a version of Android 7.0 Nougat operating system. According to other rumours, the devices will run Android Nougat 7.1 out of the box. Some reports have suggested that **Pixel lineup will replace** the existing Nexus lineup to realign the hardware line. With inputs from IANS