According to Android Police, this is HTC’s Nine inch Nexus tablet, the Volantis.
With talk of Android Silver rumors and LG’s Ken Hong stating that the manufacturer doesn’t have a Nexus phone in the cards, the future of the Nexus line is uncertain.
There’s no confirmation yet on whether a new Nexus phone exists, but there is information on HTC’s Volantis (or Flounder), an 8.9″ Nexus tablet. The information indicates the possible specifications, features, and pricing, as well as an early look at the form factor, although the images may not be final renderings of the device.
The tablet is internally referred to as the Nexus 9, though this name could change before it comes to market. Here’s what we know of the specs:
- 8.9″ Display at 2048×1440 (281ppi)
- NVIDIA Logan 64-bit processor (Tegra K1)
- 2GB RAM
- 16/32GB internal storage
- 8MP OIS main camera, 3MP front facing camera
- Aluminum zero-gap construction
- Stereo front-facing speakers
- 8.91″x5.98″x0.31″ body (that’s 22.63×15.19×0.79cm)
- 418g (or 427g with LTE)
The Volantis looks like a combination of LG’s Nexus 5 and ASUS’ 2013 Nexus 7 , although the image above doesn’t quite correspond with the listed features.
With rumors that the Nexus 6 was canceled in light of the Android Silver program, we need to take this information with a grain of salt. That said, a source familiar with Volantis stated that the hardware already exists, and that the tablet is already being touted by some at Google. The first devices pegged for the Android Silver program aren’t expected until 2015, so it would make sense that Google is prepping a Nexus to launch Android L.
The Volantis is due to be released in Q4 2014 and is expected to be the launch device for Android’s L release so don’t expect it at Google I/O this year.
From the information available possible price points are as follows:
- $399 for the 16GB version
- 499 for the 32GB version
- $600+ price range for LTE version
However, pricing is something that can change easily up until release.
