Another source says that Android 7.1 will ship on the upcoming Pixel phones

Ben Schoon | Sep 6 2016 - 5:51 am PT

With just under a month between now and the release of Google’s 2016 “Pixel” devices, we’re continuing to learn more and more about the upcoming smartphones. We’ve known the specs for a while, the designs, and most recently, the names. Just a couple of weeks ago we also heard that Google would be releasing Android Nougat’s first maintenance release along with these phones, and now another source has helped to confirm that…

Twitter user LlabTooFer — notorious for HTC-related leaks — revealed last night that NMR1 (Nougat maintenance release 1), will ship on these phones, supposedly at version 7.1 and with build number NDE63B. LlabTooFer has been known for leaking HTC information for quite some time and since the new Pixel phones are being built by HTC, he probably knows what he’s talking about.

Unfortunately, we don’t know at this time what this new version will bring along with it. It’s possible that some of the features Google has hidden just below the surface could be brought back in this version, or we could see the Nexus launcher and some other new features released. We will probably see Google Assistant integration in this version.

Google is apparently set to announce the upcoming Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones on October 4th along with a new 4K Chromecast, Google Home, and possibly even the rumored Huawei-made 7-inch Android tablet.