Sources: Google's second-gen Pixel XL, muskie, has been cancelled - probably to be replaced by even larger phone

David is the former Editor-in-Chief of Android Police and now the EIC of Esper.io. He's been an Android user since the early days - his first smartphone was a Google Nexus One! David graduated from the University of California, Davis where he received his bachelor's degree, and also attended the Pepperdine University School of Law.

Based on information from three separate sources, we are now confident that Google has shelved plans to release one of its upcoming Pixel phones. The device, codenamed 'muskie,' was intended to succeed the Pixel XL. While we know very little about muskie, and now likely will never learn much else, we are confident that this phone was supposed to be the second-generation Pixel XL.

We rate this information 9 out of 10 on our rumor confidence scale. We have corroborated this story with several sources we deem reliable. The good news? That doesn't mean there won't be a new Pixel XL - just that it's not going to be muskie.

You may recall earlier this year that Droid-life rumored a device codenamed taimen that, according to DL's source, was bigger than both muskie and walleye. We're fairly confident that taimen is actually going to be the 2nd-generation Pixel XL, and that muskie was shelved for an unspecified reason in favor of the larger taimen. I can speculate as to why, but to entangle that speculation with things that we actually know and feel confident in isn't something I'm comfortable doing in a post like this.

Just know that Google currently plans to release two, not three, Pixel smartphones this year, and that their codenames are likely walleye and taimen. We don't know much else at this point, but as we learn it, we'll let you know.