Nexus Launcher renamed Pixel Launcher, hints that Google is ditching Nexus brand

Multiple reports have suggested that Google is dropping Nexus branding from its upcoming phones, instead release them under a new Pixel brand name. Now a screen shot shared by @LiaTooFeR confirms this report.

According to the source, the Nexus Launcher is being renamed to Pixel launcher, which confirms reports that Google's upcoming phones will be called Pixel, instead of Nexus. This year's Pixel (ex-Nexus devices) include Google Pixel and Pixel XL which are codenamed Sailfish and Marlin.

As seen in the screen shot, the Pixel launcher will have new icon and new version number v7.1-xxxx, which suggests that Google's upcoming Pixel phones will ship with the unreleased Android 7.1 Nougat, which is the first maintenance release for Android Nougat.

As for Pixel Launcher, it will allow the home screen of the phone to rotate. There's also changes to the app drawer, Google Now pane and search widget. It also has a new Google Calendar icon that will update the date, each day. It will also have transparent navigation and few other minor tweaks.

You can download the Pixel launcher zip file from here, which contains the launcher apk and wallpaper picker apk. 

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