Smartphone enthusiasts got their hopes up as Google indicated it has not scrapped the idea of a Pixel successor, but much to their chagrin, its Head of Division, David Foster threw in the towel hinting at another story, but fret not! Google Pixel 2 is still slated to hit the store shelves; however, there's no word regarding the exact time window.

Foster was roped in to look after the entire Pixel phone segment before he resigned to join Amazon. As expected, this piece of news added more fuel to the already burning rumors about Google's plan to abandon the Pixel brand.

Now, with Rick Osterloh at the helm, Google Pixel 2 is expected to release on schedule but not without a warning -- it will come bearing a steep price tag. Multiple sources suggest the search giant is prepping to launch three variants with one sporting a colossal display coupled with a thinner form factor, according to Forbes' contributor Gordon Kelly.

Following in the footsteps of AndroidPolice and DroidLife, German site WinFuture uncovered new reference in Google's new AOSP (Android Open Source Platform) to a triad of Pixel 2 codenames: 'muskie', 'walleye' and 'taimen'. The references suggest all three will be powered by Qualcomm's latest 'MSM8998 chip' a.k.a. Snapdragon 835. It's worth noting that the same hardware is used inside the US version of Galaxy S8 smartphone, which is not spared from flaws. Nevertheless, this clarifies a couple of key things:

First off, Google is in no mood to make a low-priced Pixel this year since a budget phone is not likely to pack Qualcomm's cutting-edge Snapdragon 835 processor. Secondly, this is the third time Google has independently confirmed the codenames in its own codes. It can be recalled that Google has resorted to fish/aquatic mammals to not only brand its smartphones but also use them as an indicator of size, for instance:

Nexus 4 (2012) - codenamed Mako, size 4.7-inch
Nexus 5 (2013) - codenamed Hammerhead, size 5-inch
Nexus 6 (2014) - codenamed Shamu, size 6-inch
Nexus 5X (2015) - codenamed Bullhead, size 5.2-inch
Nexus 6P (2015) - codenamed Angler, size 5.7-inch
Pixel (2016) - codenamed Sailfish, size 5.1-inch
Pixel XL (2016) - codenamed Marlin, size 5.5-inch

As far as the 2017 iteration of Pixels is concerned, Walleyes is likely to be 11kg / 24lbs, muskies up to 17kg / 38lbs and finally the taimen could be quite large at up to 100kg or 220 lbs. This indicates the latter could actually be a tablet (since a laptop wouldn't pack the Snapdragon chipset); however, Google has already confirmed that it doesn't intend to oust its last tablet i.e. the Nexus 9 and the company doesn't seem bent on coming out with Chromebook Pixel 2's successor as well.

If this comes to fruition, smartphone lovers will soon have something to cheer about in the form of Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL and Pixel 2 XXL.