Earlier this year many blogs were reporting that the Nexus program is dead and that Android Silver will be taking it’s place. Here at Ausdroid we have taken the different view that the Google Play Edition program will be replaced by Android Silver and that the Nexus program will live on. Afterall, app and Google developers (the guys and girls who work on Android for Google themselves) need a reference device to test their work on. With this in mind we have been waiting with bated breath for some leak or rumour to give us more confidence in our theory. Six weeks ago the head of Android engineering Dave Burke reinforced our opinion by stating:
When Google’s engineers write the open source code for new versions of Android, another team is also designing a Nexus device designed to take best advantage of Android’s new features. The two development processes go hand-in-hand, and that’s not going to change any time soon.
When we are working, there are sort of two outputs. We’re building a Nexus device and we’re building the open source code. There is no way you can build the open source code without the phone or tablet or whatever you are building. You have to live and breathe the code you are developing.
You can’t build a platform in the abstract, you have to build a device (or devices). So, I don’t think can can or will ever go away. And then, I think Nexus is also interesting in that it is a way of us explaining how we think Android should run. It is a statement, almost a statement of purity in some respects. I don’t see why we would ever turn away from that, it wouldn’t make sense.
Over at the benchmark site, Antutu, an image for the results for an unknown product showed up lending more weight to the presence of a Nexus phone in development. Said product is codenamed “Google Shamu” with the manufacturer not listed. The listed specs of the device are very impressive including a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805, 3GB RAM, and a 5.2in QHD display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440pixels. With Nexus phones getting bigger each year this may be the year for a Nexus phablet, although the 5.2in screen possibly sits somewhere between a phone and a phablet.
If this device is indeed the rumoured Motorola-made sixth Google Nexus phone then it appears to be much more highly specced than any other Motorola device we have seen recently. With this being the first Motorola-made Nexus device it seems appropriate that they put the best hardware they can into it being formerly Google-owned.
Does this look like the Nexus device for you to spend your hard-earned on? Are you ready for a Nexus Phablet?
Battery that lasts 7+ SOT would be great
Those are some tasty specs. Looking forward to seeing the design as I’m hoping for ultra-thin bezels. 5.2″ is pushing the boundaries of comfort for a phone.
I really hope they’ve put some R&D into the camera. Not that the Nexus 5 is bad or anything, it’s just not amazing either.
Although 5.2 is a lot better than other rumours suggesting 5.9!
Do you have specifics on these improvements?
Yeah I watched a video from Google I/O 2014 that went through everything in detail. I’ll dig it up when I get home from work.
Cool. Thx.
Go to YouTube and look up: Google I/O 2014 – Building great multi-media experiences on Android.
Watch from 29:55. Most of this is very technical as the presentation is focused on developers. That said, there are definitely parts that non-developers will understand.
Can I just point out the MotoX+1 ~$400+ with otherwise quite similar specs (Snapdragon 801, 2.46Ghz, 5.2″ 1920×1080, 2GB + 32GB,12MP/5MP)
There is much scope for confusion between the two in rumours; as well as the Nexus 6 being a tweak of the MotoX+1 design. Only issue is that with the Nexus 5, LG tweaked *down* the spec of the G2, but this would be a tweak *up* – are Motorola really likely to do that?
Yep that’s right, I don’t see how they can have better specs on the Nexus and also sell it at a bargain price, irrespective of the margin (or lack thereof) Google makes on it.
The screen specs (5.2″) seem alot more believable than previous rumours of a 5.5″ or 5.9″ screen!!
IMHO Nexus phones when released have a similar screen size to other flagship phones such as HTC One, LG G series and in particular the Samsung Galaxy S series.
If these specs are true I’ll be selling my GN5 on eBay and buying this phone.
My additional specs wishlist are:
IP67 certified (water dust resistant)
Micro SD card slot.
I hope they managed to reduce the bezel around the screen. The N4 is about as big a phone as I can comfortably hold with one hand. Not that keen on anything bigger, unfortunately. 🙁
I hope it’s LG again. Their camera system is top notch.
its hard to justify upgrading my n5 this year, looks like ill have to put my money into my pc
Nexus 8/9 is where my money is going later this year. Also the Moto 360. The PC can wait till AMD forces Intel to release a decent CPU. Intel’s PCs are only single percentage points faster each iteration since the i/Core range.
i have a 17-3770k and cpus arnt bottle-necking in games so no point, my moneys going into a gtx 880ti or gtx 980
I wouldn’t mind a regular 880 or even the 870 if it turns out to be as fast as the 780 with lower power as some rumours are indicating.
yeah i need enough processing power for for 4k gaming so hopefully it will be a huge increase in performance (unlikely) or ill have to wait for 9xx or 10xx 🙁
unless it has 64gb or uSD I will not be getting another Nexus
You’re out of luck buddy. Never going to happen.
yeh i doubt the uSD but I reckon 64gb is possible
I’d be all over this. Need an upgrade for my Razr HD soon. Would no doubt go well with a moto 360 too…
They seem more like the specs from an LG-built phone, in the same way the last couple of Nexus phones had similar specs to LG’s flagship at the same time, but with smaller screens.
Would love to see Motorola take a swing at the Nexus though, so really hoping that rumour pans out.
keen to finally replace my sgs2! it’s lived on for a long time thanks to cyanogenmod, but definitly time to upgrade
You’re going to replace a 4.3″ device with a 5.2″ one? I was in the same dilemma months ago but didn’t want a 5″ device so settled for the Z1 Compact. Things would be so !much easier if I thought big phones were actually useful or more stylish than carrying around a brick.
5.2inch now that sounds much better than 5.9. I got hold of a Moto X on the cheap after using the Nexus 5 since it came out and I’d really love to see a Moto Nexus. Though they would really need to pack in the Moto software enhancements. The hand feel of the Moto X is fantastic (some of that may be lost with a 5.2inch device) but the software feature are what really makes the Moto X a joy to use. I’ve purchased every Nexus since the Nexus S and a Moto Nexus with those specs and the handfeel… Read more »
OMG I cannot wait for this to come out. It is about time I update my HTC One X and I wasn’t gonna buy any of the current flagships this late into the year so the Nexus 6 will be the perfect upgrade for me and the bigger the screen the better I reckon.
if this is made by moto it’s going to be pretty tasty.
I was really torn between the Moto X and the N5. I went N5 in the end and don’t regret it because I like having a bigger screen