Google has today launched its latest flagship smartphones — Google Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL. The phone comes with upgraded camera, new features, as well as better specs internally along with a new color option — “Oh So Orange”.
The smartphone is now up for pre-order in the United States for a starting price of $799 and will start shipping from 24th October. However, the Pixel 4 lineup isn’t coming to India — one of the largest smartphone market in the world.
The main reason behind that is Project Soli, a radar-based motion-sensing chip which is introduced in these new flagship phones. It uses certain frequency band — 60GHz mmWave and Google needs permission to use the band.
However, it is being reported that the company failed to secure permission from the local authority in India to use this frequency band and apparently India has yet to open for commercial usage. The FCC had approved the commercial usage of Soli earlier this year.
In a statement regarding this, a Google spokesperson said, “Google has a wide range of products that we make available in different regions around the world. We determine availability based on a variety of factors, including local trends, and product features. We decided not to make Pixel 4 available in India. We remain committed to our current Pixel phones and look forward to bringing future Pixel devices to India.”
The radar sensors on the new Pixel smartphones enable support for a number of human interactions. It is claimed to have the fastest secure face unlock on a smartphone. It also enables hands-free gestures for several tasks such as rejecting a call.
The decision from Google of not launching the Pixel 4 lineup in India is shocking given that this is the first time Google is skipping its smartphone phone in India. So far, all the Google’s Nexus and Pixel smartphones have made their way to the Indian market, mostly days after their global debut.
