Google’s Andromeda Operating System is getting a lot of column inches this week, with leaks and rumours surfacing about the OS and devices set to run it. According to 9to5Google, one of the first devices, alongside the rumoured ‘Pixel 3’ that Android Police spoke about this morning will be a Huawei built ‘Nexus’ tablet.
According to 9to5Google though, this may not be the final branding for the tablet, though the tablet is the source of the tweet put forth by Evan Blass just weeks ago. That device, according to Evan, will have a 7″ display and 4GB of RAM, and is due out before years end, contradicting the 2017 launch rumours for Andromeda, which 9to5Google seem certain that the so-called Nexus will do.
9to5Google has also reported that internally Google has been testing Andromeda on a Nexus 9, though release of Andromeda on the Nexus 9 won’t be happening publicly.
It’s a bit confusing right now, as can be the case when leaks come in from various places. Google has always used the ‘Nexus’ platform as a reference device for their latest version Android, showing just what the platform can do on hardware, with Andromeda coming up perhaps Google is considering leaving a Nexus branded device as a reference platform, but switching the reference platform from Android to Andromeda.
The switch to Pixel for Googles hardware efforts seems designed to capitalise on the perceived ‘premium-ness’ of the Pixel brand that two Pixel Chromebooks and an Android Pixel tablet have offered the market in terms of build quality.
There’s really nothing more to look at here as Google approaches the October 4th #MadeByGoogle event. Hiroshi Lockheimer seems to think the event will be a watershed moment in Google history, and there are quite a few fans out there who’d like to see this come to fruition. We’ll just have to wait and see.
