ThereisnoofficialwordonwhentheGooglePixel8awillship.However,Googlehasjustmadeamovewithoneofitsotherphonesthatseemstoclearthedeckforthelaunchofanewmid-rangePixeldevice.

ThePixel6a,whichbeganshippingtwoyearsago,hasdisappearedfromtheGoogleStore.Sure,youcanstillfindthephoneatotherretailersandwirelesscarriers,butalllinkstoGoogle'sonlinestoredirectyoutothePixel7a.

Despitebeinganoldermodel,thePixel6aremainedinGoogle'slineupafterthelaunchofthePixel7alastyear,andGooglehasreducedthedevice'spriceto$349.ThiseliminatedsomeofthewrinklesofthePixel7a'spriceincrease,makingit$499,$50morethanthePixel6a'soriginalshippingprice.

GooglepromisedthreeyearsofsoftwareupdateswiththePixel6a,butsincethephonedebutedwithAndroid12,twoofthoseupdateshavealreadyexpired.TheendofthissupportperiodjustifiesGoogle'sdecisionnottosellthePixel6aanymore.

Italsobooststhelikelihoodthatanewerphoneiswaitinginthewings;Pixel8arumorsaregainingsteamaheadofthearrivalofthatphone,whichmostexpecttomaterializeatGoogleI/O2024.GooglehasalreadysetthefirstdayofitsannualdeveloperconferenceforMay14,whereitiscustomaryforthepastPixelAseriestodebut.(ThisincludesthePixel6a,bytheway.)

ThePixel8awilllikelybepoweredbytheTensorG3chipsetfoundinthecurrentPixel8flagship,andthesameAI-poweredfeaturesfoundinthesemodelswillbeavailableinthelower-priced8aThePixel8a'scamerasetupisnotexpectedtochangefromthePixel7a,butthenewmodelcouldfeatureadisplaywitharefreshrateof120Hzandamaximumbrightnessof1,400nits.Bothofthesespecswouldmatchthoseavailablefromthe$699Pixel8.

TheseimprovementstothePixel8amaycomeataprice.EarlyrumorssuggestthatthePixel8awillbepricedhigher,inwhichcasethephonewouldexceed$500.

UntilthePixel8aarrives,perhapsasearlyasmid-May,wewillnotknowifthatpricepredictionwillcometrue.ButwiththePixel6aoutoftheGoogleStore'sproductlineup,atleastthereisplentyofroomforGoogle'snewphone.