Google app includes image of dock for Pixel 3 smartphone

An image of the Pixel Stand, the suspected dock that Google plans to release for its upcoming Pixel 3 smartphones, has surfaced. For the time being, it is an animation, and not a photo of the actual hardware.

The website 9To5Google discovered the animation in a beta version of the Google application. Although the short impression of the Stand was hidden, the website managed to retrieve it, so that an impression of the new hardware can be seen. The animation shows that Google wants to place the Pixel smartphones upright in the dock, probably to be able to use them as a kind of assistant.

References to this Pixel Stand have already leaked out, showing that the functionality relies heavily on the speech and information software Assistant. As a result, the dock with Pixel smartphone should probably compete for smart speakers and screens, such as Amazon’s Echo.

Google is expected to introduce the Stand at the same time as the unannounced Pixel 3 smartphones. That announcement is scheduled for next month.