Google confirms Pixel 8 launch date with official invite

Google has officially announced that its next Made by Google event will be held on Wednesday 4 October 2023.

It will launch the Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro as well as a host of other devices, maybe even the much-rumoured Pixel Watch 2.

The event was first confirmed by an invite sent to US journalists. It states that the Made by Google show will be held in New York and is an in-person affair this time around.

"We'll introduce the latest additions to our Pixel portfolio of devices," it says.

That was followed by a post by the official Made by Google X (Twitter) account, which amusingly pokes fun at the other big phone series to be launched soon – Apple's iPhone 15.

In it, the existing Pixel 7 chats to what's obviously meant to be an iPhone while they are having a spa day together. There are several digs over how slow Apple is in introducing new features, including the USB-C connection coming with the next-gen handsets.

It's cheeky and an ideal way to announce the event.

Google won't be so happy about the picture leak that occurred yesterday though. Especially as it leaked the image of a Google Pixel 8 Pro being used on its own Google Store website.

It was quickly removed, but not before Android phone journo Mishaal Rahman managed to grab a screenshot and post it on X.

The pic shows the handset in the "porcelain" colour scheme – something that was actually mentioned in a caption on the official site.

To be honest, there's not a lot of extra detail to be gleaned from the leak, although we have learned previously that the handset will sport the new Tensor G3 processor and a 6.7-inch LTPO OLED display with a resolution of 3200 x 1800.

It's also said the flagship model will be available in a 512GB version - a bump up over the Google Pixel 7 Pro it replaces.

Certainly, it's shaping up to be one of the best Android phones around. We'll find out for sure on 4 October.

Hopefully, that'll also cue some great deals on the existing Google Pixel 7 models, which are still well worth a look at if you're budget can't quite stretch for an upgrade.