Potential foldable Pixel codenamed Jumbojack pops up in code –

(Pocket-lint) – Details about a second folding Pixel device have been uncovered in the details for future Android versions, specifically a mid-cycle software update which could add features for folding phones.

We’ve long been hearing about Google’s work on a folding phone going under the codename Passport. That’s always thought to be a device similar to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold. Although there’s been little confirmed, other than the Passport codename appearing from time to time, we’ve built up quite a picture of that device.

The Jumbojack could potentially be a second folding device. Based on data gathered by 9to5Google, Jumbojack has appeared in documentation before, with 9to5Google speculating that the name might refer to Jack in the Box cheeseburgers.

That in itself could be a hint at design, with the hamburger more like the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip – so this might be a different format to the Passport device we’d previously been tracking.

For details in the code suggest that there will be support for a number of different screen positions, with split-screen functionality, something that Samsung has pushed in its folding phones.

The emergence of a new folding phone shouldn’t come as a surprise. Technology companies often have a number of experimental devices and with the growth of folding phones, there’s going to be a wide range of prototypes and reference devices in circulation – with no confirmation that any of these will actually launch.

On the one hand, Google could be working on its line-up of release devices, on the other, it could just be using a variety of devices to refine Android to support devices coming from other manufacturers.

What we know for sure is that Google will be announcing the Pixel 6 family soon. Whether we’ll see a foray into folding phones at the same time remains unknown. To us it seems unlikely – although a folding Pixel device was originally rumoured for a Q4 2021 debut, the lack of concrete leaks suggests this is unlikely.    

Writing by Chris Hall. Originally published on 20 September 2021.