A few weeks ago, word got out that Google’s Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL phones are codenamed Walleye and Muskie, respectively. Google may have confirmed in early March that the Google Pixel 2 is on track for a fall launch, but it’s yet to reveal any details about the two devices. However, after the Walleye and Muskie code names first popped up in the AOSP gerrit, Google tried to remove them. But now the Pixel 2 has popped up yet again.
It’s still Android Police, which discovered the first reference to the codenames, that found both phones mentioned yet again on the AOSP forums where Googlers hang out.
Muskie, the larger Pixel 2 phone, was just spotted in the AOSP gerrit, although you’d have to pay close attention to the code logs to find it. Apparently, Google’s automated update bot Treehugger is to blame, as it was reporting targets for the changes. The same bot also mentioned Walleye and Taimen — the latter is a third device Google is working on, but details remain a mystery. It’s unclear whether Taimen is also going to be a Pixel device at this point, but Taimen is supposedly bigger than the Pixel 2 phones that should follow the Pixel and Pixel XL.
It’s likely these codenames will appear in additional AOSP posts in the coming months, but don’t expect any huge revelations from this particular source. Google will probably try to further limit leaks ahead of the Pixel 2 launch.
What’s remarkable is that Google is looking to remove these names, which only seems to emphasize the fact that they’re important. Android Police reported a few days ago that a Googler commented on the same forum, linking to the original story that revealed these codenames to the world. Later, the reference to Walleye and the comment were both removed, but then Walleye appeared on the same forum in a different thread.
