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Pixel Watch: The saga
The weekend featured a truly wow story that competed with the infamous “found iPhone 4” from over ten years ago: A Pixel Watch was apparently left in a restaurant.
Timeline:
- First, Android Central published a wild scoop: someone sent pictures of the Pixel Watch, from a source who said it was left in a bar: “A Google Pixel Watch was apparently left behind and found at a restaurant in the United States.”
- The world noticed it (we wrote about it here). It’s almost certainly Google’s Pixel Watch ahead of an expected launch next month on Google I / O.
- The laptop was apparently found in a box that said the device was for “internal testing and development” only, and “labels and packaging are not final.”
- Skepticism began to build with questions everywhere: Huh, what are these pictures? Has anyone just left the watch itself and not the strap and not returned for it? Why is the device not turned on? Did Google leak this itself?
- Keep in mind that Google “left” a Pixel 3 XL in a Lift back in late 2018.
- Then an Ask Me Anything (AMA) was released on Reddit by u / tagtech414, which claims to own the watch in a post titled “I’m the guy who leaked the Pixel Watch to Android Central.”
Here is the post on Reddit:
“To answer a few questions right from the start:
- “My buddy is the one who found the watch. He’s the bartender at the restaurant it was left on. They kept it for a few weeks and expected the people who left it to return, but it never happened. He gave it to me because I’m the tech nerd, so he let me take care of it.
- The reason the straps are not attached to any pictures is simple – my buddy forgot to give them to me clockwise. They were packed separately and he forgot to take them with him so he sent me pictures of them for the article (note that the background is different). I get them from him at some point and send a picture of the whole package.
- There was no charger left and the battery is dead. The picture with the ‘G’ boot logo was taken by my buddy the day he found it. It had a small amount of charging at the time, but only started for that screen, and guess that there is not a full OS loaded. “
- In response to questions, Redditor said he has not been contacted by Google and still does not have bands to be able to link it all together, and that it was found in the “NW suburbs of Chicago.”
- And no matter what it’s worth, this person has been a Redditor for eight years and did not ask for money from Android Central for the leaks, either.
See details:
- The device matches what we’ve seen in seemingly leaky renderings: circular dial, rotating crown, two buttons on the side.
- There are four pins on the side, but speculation is that the pins are for testing purposes and may not appear on the final model.
- In AMA, u / tagtech414 says that the dial is about 1/2 inch thick and 1.5 inches in diameter, and posted a comparison with the Apple Watch (40 mm) and Samsung Galaxy Watch (46 mm) (original, not the latest Galaxy Watch) Look at).
- The bottom of the watch shows a rounded health tracking sensor that “looks metallic but feels like it’s coated with glass,” according to the poster.
- You can see the frame here, here it is on his arm.
- Apparently there was no charger left with the watch and there was only enough charging on the device when it started to display a white Google logo and nothing else happened so maybe there is no software on it yet.
- Wireless chargers did not work. Another quote: “I have not got the wireless charging to work. Multiple Qi chargers, Galaxy Watch charger and reverse charging from Galaxy Fold 3 and Pixel 6. They all detect it initially but then stop. My guess is that this is a technical test, so I do not want to guarantee that it will not have it at release.”
- Also, in more speculative theories, someone said the four pins are for a typical four-wire USB connector, and a spliced USB cable could be connected.
- Another said they should try a Fitbit charger from Versa to see if it would work.
As I write this, it was the last post from the source almost six hours ago. There is definitely more on the way!
Round up:
🎂 Android 14 will not come until next year, but we have already got a dessert name: Cake upside down (Android Authority).
SE iPhone SE 2022 second review: Vintage look and approach means it can not compete with the best budget Android phones (Android Authority).
💰 Apparently, Twitter’s board met yesterday to negotiate with Elon Musk in the early hours of this morning to consider selling to a now cashed Musk. Quote: “What at first seemed to be a very unlikely deal seemed to be nearing an endgame” (NY Timesgavelink).
🕳 We all know about Elon Musk and promises, but Musk says his Boring Company “will try to build a working Hyperloop” that aims to go from one city center to another, saying that spaceships are faster at longer distances . A glimpse of the future, or should we just take fast trains? (Teslarati).
🤔 “How does radar over the horizon work? Jumps off the ionosphere like shortwave radio?” (ash / science).
Monday Meme
How is this tweet so true? Everyone I’ve shared this with has a memory of one of these books:
Have a good start to your week,
Tristan Rayner, senior editor