Over the weekend, news cropped up about a phablet sized, Motorola built Nexus that was in the works code-named Shamu. There was a little bit of evidence to back it up, including a reference to ‘Shamu’ in the Android L Preview issue tracker, now according to PayWalled site – The Information – at least three new sources have corroborated the existence of the Nexus phablet.
According to ‘according to three people with knowledge of the matter’ the Nexus Phablet will definitely be coming – although really, nothing is certain till you can purchase it on Google Play. Sources have also indicated that Google waited until they had announced the sale of Motorola to Lenovo before starting work on the Moto NeXus (yes, I emphasised the X), so that other members of the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) would not feel there was any favouritism involved in picking Motorola as the next Nexus maker.
The decision to go with Motorola for a Nexus phone – long a request from many Nexus phone fans – is apparently due to Moto X features such as Active Display and Touchless Control.
Also from The Information is a rumour that the much-rumoured-never-announced Android Silver program may not happen. According to sources, now that former Google Chief Business Officer Nikesh Arora, the driving force behind Android Silver, who recently left Google to take up the role of Vice Chairman of SoftBank Corp. and CEO of SoftBank Internet and Media, has left the fervour within Google for Silver has dropped, so it’s uncertain as to how far it will go.
Of course a 5.9″ Nexus phablet isn’t for everyone, and maybe it won’t have to be. Back in 2012, prior to the launch of the Nexus We saw a rumour that Google was working with multiple OEMs to deliver multiple Nexus phones, while that rumour died, it’s certainly possible that Google could do something along those lines here. We’re running purely on speculation here, but it’s possible that Google could want a range of Nexus phones this year – a phablet, as well as more traditional phone-sized device – this would cover more of the consumer base and get Nexus to more people.
With Nexus phones launched for the last few years between the end of October and the beginning of November, we’ll surely be seeing more about upcoming Nexus phones – or tablets – but as Nexus phone fans, we’re just glad that talk of the Nexus program ending has died off.
What do you think? Nexus Phablet or should Google go for a multi-handset approach with a Nexus 2014 series?
