Close observers of the Android rumor mill will know that Google made an abrupt change to its Pixel phone plans this summer, shelving its original successor to the Pixel XL, which was codenamed “muskie,” in favor of another device bearing the code title of “taimen.” Taimen went on to become the LG-manufactured Google Pixel 2 XL, while muskie seemed to fade into oblivion — however this week the latter name has resurfaced in the latest Android source code drop. More than that, the code associates the device with HTC as the manufacturer, points to it having the same pixel density as the eventual Pixel 2 XL, and indicates that muskie had a pretty huge battery.
Here’s the cool part: muskie didn’t die, it just became the HTC U11 Plus.