Google’s Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones may be the hottest new Android phones to buy now that the Galaxy Note 7 has died. The phones will soon be available in stores, and Google released a couple of new TV commercials for the Pixels. Meanwhile, in Australia, a few lucky buyers have already received the phones, thanks to a delivery mistake.
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Google’s new Pixel commercials are somewhat on the stranger side of town. Called Together by you and Crush by you, the short ads seem to indicate that the Pixel are a natural transition from a desktop Google experience to a mobile one. In both ads, the image on the screen morphs from what looks like a browser’s search bar to a mobile phone. This is probably a subliminal hint to the Google Assistant that resides on the phones. That said, the ads do not highlight any particular feature of the Pixel phones, which is what you’d expect from such commercials, not even the Assistant.
However, Google did mention one hidden feature of Google Pixel phones in a statement to WonderHowTo. The phones will be rootable out of the box. “Pixel owners who purchased the device from the Google store will be able to root their devices. Pixel phones purchased from the Google store will ship with an unlockable bootloader,” Google said.
Come October 20th when the phone launches, you’ll be able to try to root the phone yourself, if you’ve got the skills. That said, at least one buyer in Australia has already received the phone ahead of launch, as local carrier Telstra made a shipping mistake. You can read more about this early hands-on experience with the Pixel on Reddit at this link.
