Prediction: Will Google unveil Pixel Watch and Pixel Tab this month

Now that the reveal date is finalized for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, some people speculating that this event may include some other hardware reveals. Specifically the Pixel Fold, Watch and Tab.

I don't think that any of these are credible. Though, if I had to choose one to be "most" credible it would be the Fold.

As for the "why". It isn't much different than when I doubted that the Pixel 6 would be revealed in early September and launched nearer the end. Though, there is even more evidence than when I shot down that one. The first, once again, is the lack of any FCC filings at this stage. These aren't new, visionary products like when Microsoft first unveiled Hololens. These are the sorts of products which already exist. And so this is also not the venue to go spilling the beans until you have some final products and they are ready or nearly ready for sale.

Google is also NOTORIOUSLY bad at stopping things from being leaked. There are no images circulating the net of any of these devices aside from the odd renders here and there. And, even then, it is pretty much limited to the Fold. Hence why I think that one has the most credibility. But, even that is not enough to make think it is truly likely. 

And so, given Google's history with leaks, it seems pretty safe to say that if Google is even seriously pursuing ANY of these products, that none of them are anywhere a stage where they are ready for any sort of reveal. We've had leaks of the Pixel 6 design for MONTHS by now. Leaks of physical hardware which turned out to be near (if not completely) identical to the final shipping product. 

AND, even if we take a company, like Apple, which is much more successful at preventing and delaying leaks of this sort, we still get credible reports from multiple sources that production is underway. We don't even have THIS sort low grade leak for any of these devices.

What we have are patent filings which are not an indicator of much and community renderings which amount to either visualizing what was patented or what the artist wants to see. These are not leaks. They are wish lists and fantasies.

I think a good indicator of the sort of curve ball you get in these situation is what happened the last time the community was so sure that there would be a Pixel Watch reveal but no evidence of one actually being released; Google announced a partnership with Fitbit. There was watch related news, and it concerned Google, but it was not new hardware.

IF there is any sort of surprise Watch, Tab or Fold announcement this is the likely nature of it. That the actual product people are predicting won't appear but that some sort of joint venture with another company on a similar product may have taken place. About the best you can hope for is for Fitbit to be making what would be tantamount to a Nexus Watch. This might fly under the radar because there is less focus on Fitbit and they are better at guarding their secrets.

MORE likely? Google will announce the Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, Android 12 and perhaps a new version of Wear OS. If there is a new version of Wear OS, then they may also highlight some new hardware from partners which will run it. If Android 12 has new support for foldable displays, then again, you might see some partner hardware revealed or showcased.

My prediction however is that the event will focus solely on Android 12 and the new Pixel 6 devices. While there have been a few rumblings of Watch, Tab and Fold rumors, there really hasn't been anything of substance. Certainly nothing with even a quasi-official vibe to it. Which even leads me to believe that we won't see Wear OS so much as mentioned. 

Also, I don't think that this should be too surprising. We are still in the midst of a microchip shortage and Google is trying to ramp up production of this phone compared to earlier launches. All of their efforts will be on the supply chain and marketing of this one product line for the next few months. Even without the pandemic and chip shortage, the Pixel 6 represents a shift in Google's strategy and it seems unlikely that they would willingly detract attention from that product. 

And there you have it. I think October 19th will be about Android 12 and the Pixel 6 ONLY. I also suspect there will be a lot of Pixel specific features and that a larger number of them than usual will be limited to the Pixel 6, at least at launch. On that front, I expect the most "surprising" news to be about AI features in key Google apps which lean on the Tensor SoCs AI smarts. 

Given what has been leaked thus far, what the rumor mill is producing and what Google has said about this upcoming launch, this is what makes sense to me.