It’s been pretty well accepted but not confirmed that Google is working with multiple manufacturers to bring about a range of Nexus Phones for their next release, now Digitimes is reporting leaks from industry sources who have advised that Google is currently working with ‘Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Sony Mobile Communications and HTC’. The report marries closely with the story from the Wall Street Journal they released in May which stated that Google was planning to release up to 5 Nexus Devices from different manufacturers.
The other part that Digitimes is reporting is that Google will allow manufacturers to set hardware specifications themselves which would bring a number of headaches for Google who would be better of maintaining a tight control over minimum hardware requirements to ensure that the devices would be ready for at least one further OS upgrade down the track as access to the latest version of Android has been the major advantage of the Nexus program so far.
Working with multiple manufacturers for Nexus devices also offers the headache of co-ordinating all of the manufacturers to be ready to launch their devices at a single event, unless we see something similar to the rollout of Windows Phone 8 devices with announcements of the hardware but no software announcements till a later date.
Missing from the list is of course the elephant in the room : Motorola. I secretly love Motorola hardware but I haven’t seen anything from them recently to sway my decision to stick with the Nexus line for my phones, so their absence from the list of vendors making Nexus phones is disappointing yet understandable to me due to concerns that members of the Open Handset Alliance must have regarding Google including their newly purchased hardware manufacturer into the Nexus program so quickly
I really don’t know if I am sold on the viability of multiple Nexus devices with things such as minimum hardware requirements and launch logistics being my main concerns. However the possibility of getting stock Android on a choice of hardware seems particularly pleasing to not just me but to most people I have spoken to. Well, over to you guys is the continued multiple Nexus rumour credible or are we going to see the usual single reference device release?
