Google's latest Phone app beta has inadvertently revealed a potential early glimpse into the company's next-generation Pixel lineup. Among the list of internal codenames found in the app are 'cubs', 'grizzly', 'kodiak', 'yogi', and 'formosan'. The 'formosan' moniker, previously linked to the Pixel 11a, has now appeared within Google's own Phone app, suggesting that the budget Pixel is already under development. While codenames alone don't confirm a product, their presence in a first-party Google app makes it hard to dismiss as a random coincidence. If Google sticks to its recent release schedule, the Pixel 11a is expected to launch around March 2027, following the company's newer spring release cadence for A-series phones. This discovery raises an intriguing question: what features and specifications might the Pixel 11a bring to the table? The absence of specifications or feature hints in the app teases the possibility of exciting innovations, but it also underscores the need for caution. As APK teardowns can predict future features based on work-in-progress code, it's important to remember that these predictions may not always materialize in public releases. Nonetheless, the appearance of 'formosan' in the Phone app is a significant development, indicating that Google is already laying the groundwork for the next generation of Pixel hardware. As we await the official reveal of the Pixel 11 series on August 12, the anticipation for the Pixel 11a continues to build, leaving us eager to see what Google has in store for its budget-conscious consumers.
