So, Google just confirmed the official

release date for the Pixel 11 series. We

also got the leaked prices, the leaked

colors, a brand [music] new exciting

hardware feature, and possibly the

strangest leak of the whole year. An

unreleased Pixel Watch 5 that turned up

at the bottom of the ocean.

Seriously. So, get your snacks ready,

and let's dive in.

No pun intended. But, I may as well

start with one thing that's actually

been fully confirmed, and that's the

date. [music] Because Google has sent

out the invites for the Made by Google

2026 event, and it's happening on

Wednesday, August the 12th, in New York,

which would make it the second year

that's running there. And the cool part

is that Google didn't just confirm the

release date. The invite actually

doubles as our first official look at

the upcoming Pixel 11. We can see the

shiny gold metal frame that actually

lines up with what the leaked renders

have been showing for months. That we've

got a very similar flat metal edge, and

the same pill-shaped camera bar that's

stretching nearly the full width of the

phone. So, yeah, don't expect a dramatic

redesign this year, but rather a

refinement of what we already had. As

for the actual lineup, we're expecting

to see the Pixel 11, the Pixel 11 Pro,

the 11 Pro XL, and also the Pixel 11 Pro

Fold, alongside a brand new Pixel Watch

5, and maybe some new Pixel Buds as

well. Now, here's the fun part. We

actually know the exact colors for every

single model, courtesy of leaker

Billbil-kun. The standard Pixel 11 is

set to come in fuchsia. How do you

pronounce that? I've got no idea.

Fuchsia? Then, light sterling, midnight

haze, and moss. Pixel 11 and the Pixel

11 Pro XL, on the other hand, those

actually have different colors. We've

got dune, light fog, midnight haze, and

also a new green called pine. As for the

Pixel 11 Pro Fold, uh this one's

simpler. We just have midnight haze and

pine. [music] And out of all of these,

pine is definitely my favorite color. It

looks absolutely gorgeous. Now, compared

to last year's fold, the camera bar

looks slightly narrower with the lens

cutouts now stretching all the way to

the edge. And yeah, I do think that this

design is noticeably cleaner than the

current Pixel 10 Pro Fold. Although,

when it comes to the thickness, we

aren't really getting anything

revolutionary here. The Pixel 11 does

actually shave off 0.1 mm. Now, speaking

of the 11 Pro Fold, we actually do get a

thinner body. That's allegedly going

from 10. 8 mm when folded to 10.1 with

the 11 Pro Fold. And while this is a

solid improvement, unfortunately, uh

it's still very far off the competition,

such as the Galaxy Z Fold 7 or the

upcoming Z Fold 8 Ultra at about 8.9 mm

thin. Now, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold does

actually keep its satin metal frame,

while the standard Pro models are

expected to go shinier and also

glossier. Now, one more thing on the

colors, if you want 1 TB of storage,

you're apparently stuck with midnight

hates. That's said to be the only color

offered at the top storage tier. I know

it's a bit weird, but hey, Google

actually did the same thing last year

where the 1 TB version was only

available in moonstone. But regardless

of which color you end up picking, well,

our latest oval oscillations back by

Michael from Wallpapers looks right at

home on a Pixel. And so does Seaside

Sanctuary by Wallrod. You can check them

both out either in our app, Wallpapers,

or on our brand new online store at

wallpapers.at.com. And now it's time for

the part that nobody's going to love.

That same leak also gave us the pricing,

and it's actually going up across the

board for two reasons. The first reason

is that Google's apparently dropping the

120 GB base model entirely. So, every

single Pixel 11 will now start from 256.

Now, that's good, but

uh it's also increasing in price on top

of that. And based on all the leaks,

these are the updated prices. As you can

see, they're going up across the board,

although the increases are not as

massive as some of you may have

expected. As for when we can actually

buy one, well, the leak points to August

the 20th, a day after my birthday, and

also about a week after the

announcement, which does suggest that a

pre-order window will be opening pretty

much after the event. Okay, now let's

talk about that really cool leaked

hardware feature that we may be seeing

on all of these new Pixel models, and

that is Pixel Glow. There's some code

found in an Android 17 beta that

describes a feature that actually uses

lights and the color on the back of the

phone to flag notifications while your

phone is sitting

>> [music]

>> face down. Essentially, kind of like an

ambient light system, and apparently

it's also tied into Gemini somehow. And

the second I saw this, it actually made

me think of the Nothing Phone's Glyph

interface. And honestly, I think it will

be quite similar in terms of the

functionality, where you can kind of

customize what these lights alert you

of. Also, remember that pine render of

the Pixel 11 Pro Fold? Well, if you look

closely at the camera flash, it's

noticeably bigger than last year's. It's

actually almost the same size of an

actual lens. And that's got 95 Google

speculating that Pixel Glow may not be a

separate lighting strip around the

camera bar at all, but rather it may

just be a beefed-up version of the

existing flash. But anyway, it's likely

coming. In fact, even when I attended

Google I/O,

they actually showed what looked to be a

teaser for this Pixel Glow feature. But

yeah, I guess we'll find out the full

extent of it on August the 12th at the

event. Now, let's zoom out for a second

because there's a bigger software

feature that's set to be working

possibly with this new Pixel Glow. Back

in May at the Android Show I/O edition,

Google, of course, introduced Gemini

intelligence. Essentially, Android

becoming more proactive across the

board. Think automated multi-step tasks

like booking a ride or handling an order

without touching five different apps. A

smarter Gemini powered Chrome that can

research and summarize for you, a

feature called Rambler that cleans up

your messy voice-to-text, and also the

ability to build your own custom widgets

just by describing what you want. Gemini

intelligence is rolling out this summer

starting with the newest Samsung and

Google phones and then expanding to

watches, [music] cars, and laptops later

this year. Now, here's where it connects

to the Pixel 11 specifically. Because

you guys remember Magic Q, the Pixel 10

feature that surfaced flight info or

restaurant suggestions right when you

needed them? There's some code found in

the phone app beta that suggests that

Google is going to be renaming it

apparently to Gemini Proactive

Assistant. Same functionality, but now

explicitly branded under Gemini instead

of having its own separate identity.

Basically, Google is looking to combine

all of the Pixel exclusive AI tricks

into one unified Gemini brand across all

of Android. And I think that Pixel Glow

will also be playing some sort of part

[music] into all of this. And now onto

the most interesting leak. Back in May,

Gearbox co-founder Randy Pitchford

posted that a friend of his found a

Pixel Watch 5 while scuba diving near

the island of Saint Martin

>> [music]

>> in the ocean. The watch was dead, but

thanks to some reserve power, it still

lit up and showed the correct time with

Pixel Watch 5 clearly printed on the

back. Pitchford somehow later tracked

down the real owner and arranged to send

it back, [music] which honestly raises

even more questions than answers.

Personally, I think it's planted. Like,

how can you even find randomly a Pixel

Watch 5 in the ocean?

And then also one that still has reserve

power, which takes, you know, a few days

to discharge. So, I don't know. I feel

like it's pretty much impossible for

that to actually happen. But hey, the

good part is that we actually do get

some real details. The Pixel Watch 5 is

expected to come in two sizes like

before with up to four finishes. On the

smaller 41 mm model, we are said to get

dark anthracite, natural silver,

pyrite, and warm gold. And then three of

those would be on the 45 mil as well.

Dark anthracite and the pyrite options

are expected to come in a satin finish

with natural silver and warm gold going

polished. That new pyrite shade, that's

like a pale brassy yellow, and that's

also expected to be the signature color

this year across both sizes. Although

the pricing is climbing here too with a

rough 15% hike pushing the starting

price to 399, right in line with the

Apple Watch Series 11. And just like

with the Pixel phones, the Pixel Watch 5

is also expected to hit the shelves on

August the 20th. So that's everything we

know so far heading into August the

12th, the new colors, the higher prices,

a mystery lighting feature that may just

be a new flash or maybe more than that,

a full Gemini rebrand, and a Pixel Watch

with quite an interesting story. We

don't really know anything about the new

Pixel Buds, but I am expecting to see a

new model there as well with a Pixel

Buds Pro 3s. And we will have more

videos featuring the Pixel 11 lineup, so

stay tuned for a full episode of the

final rumors,

and that would also include the latest

camera details, the chip details, as

well as some actual dimensions, so make

sure that you subscribe to the channel

for those. Let me know in the comments

which leak has excited you the most or

got you the most worried, and as always

don't forget to check out our app

Wallpapers for some stunning designs

like this one. Go to wallpapers.zed.com.

I'm Daniel, this is ZDNet Tech, and I'll

see you guys in the next one. ZDNet Tech

signing out. Peace.