HTC-made Pixel 2's codename has now appeared ahead of its purported October launch this year. HTC and LG are reportedly working on the next versions of Pixel smartphones codenamed Walleye and Taimen respectively.
Now the codenames of HTC-made Pixel 2 has appeared in HTC U11's system files. According to a Japanese blog HTC Soku, the system files of HTC U11 have references to international variants of Ocean (the codename for U11) and S2 and M2 devices. To recall, the original Pixel and Pixel XL made by HTC were internally codenamed S1 and M1 respectively.
If Google's naming pattern is anything to go by then these codenames does seem to be the ones for Pixel successor Walleye and Pixel XL successor Muskie. HTC Suko further notes that both the handsets will be powered by Snapdragon 835 and will come in the form of unlocked devices. It notes that there is no reference for carrier configurations of these devices.
HTC has two-year-contract with Google for Pixel and was supposed to manufacture the second-generation Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones codenamed Walleye and Muskie. According to recent reports, Google cancelled Muskie to concentrate on the third device codenamed Taimen, a large screen smartphone made by LG and not HTC. While the references do indicate second-generation Pixel smartphone, it needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Google hasn't spoken about its next Android flagship smartphones