The Made for Google program announced at the October 4th event will yield a bevy of cases for the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. However, Google is still making first-party cases for its phones, including revamped Live Cases that forego one notable feature, while adding more protection.
With the design of the Pixel and Pixel XL being nothing to rave about, it’s likely no coincedence that print ads often showcase the phone with a very colorful Live Case. The latest line of Artwork Live Cases for 2017 (via Design Milk) are from fashion house Opening Ceremony and are rather topically-themed.
Along with third-party case makers, Google has slowly been releasing official case options through the Google Store for the Pixel and Pixel XL. Now, Google has added four more options for Pixel and Pixel XL users.
We took an in-depth look at the Google Pixel last month, but something you might not have known was that around that time I also went ahead and ordered a Google Pixel XL “Places” Live Case from the Google Store. Today that case arrived at my doorstep, and it being my first Live Case — I didn’t grab one for the Nexus 6P/5X — I thought I’d share a few thoughts…
Google’s “Live Cases” debuted on the Nexus 5X and 6P, since expanding to the Pixel and Pixel XL. To date, we’ve seen three main options for these customizable cases ─ photos, places, and artwork. However, it seems Verizon has jumped the gun a bit, showing us two new Live Cases that have yet to be announced.
We’re literally minutes away from Google’s massive hardware event, and yet leaks — even from official sources — just won’t stop pouring. We showed you images that told us Live Cases were coming back for the Pixel phones, but we now have confirmation that something even juicier is on its way…
Google announced back in May that it was introducing some new limited edition cases for a variety of popular Android devices, starting with a partnership with electronic music artist Skrillex. The cases sported unique modern designs, custom wallpapers to match, and even had a special button on the reverse side that could be programmed to launch basically any app or action on your Android phone.
If all of this sounds interesting to you, well, that’s too bad. They’ve been removed from sale on the Google Store as of today.
Notably, Google mentioned in its original post that it would be giving away the satellite—named Nanou—it used to create the Earth images used for the cases.
To capture the Earth images, Google and Skrillex launched a custom-designed balloon satellite named after Skrillex’s dog, Nanou. Once Nanou’s photographic mission is complete, a lucky fan will win the autographed satellite in an upcoming giveaway.
We’ll keep you updated and let you know when that giveaway is announced. Also coming up, we can assume that Google is introducing another round of custom cases to be sold exclusively on the Google Store. When these Skrillex cases were announced, Google said that it was just starting the Editions series of cases with Skrillex. Who knows what’s up next. “Stay tuned for the next collaboration. We can’t wait to tell you all about it,” the company said.
