Google Nexus saga continues: Now, Motorola’s 5.9-inch ‘Shamu’ tipped to be Nexus 6

While we were made to believe that Google plans to pull the plug on its celebrated Nexus lineup in favour of the new Android Silver series, several reports circulating the web have been suggesting otherwise. In this conundrum over whether Nexus will survive or not and who is building the next device, a new report now talks about the next Nexus smartphone and that it could be built by Motorola.

A new report by AndroidPolice says that Motorola is working on a new smartphone codenamed Shamu, hinting it could probably be the upcoming Nexus 6.  “We are confident that Shamu is a real device under active development, and fairly confident that it is a contender for the Nexus program, but are just slightly less confident about its specs, simply due to the information at our disposal,” says the report.

Just like most of the earlier reports that lacked conviction, the new Motorola built Nexus 6 appears to on similar lines, at least for now. It is rumoured to sport a large 5.9-inch display and run Android L. Expected to launch in November, no other specs of the device are known yet.

Apple is planning a large 5.5-inch variant for the iPhone and given the existing fad for giant screen devices in the market, we wouldn’t be surprised to see a large Nexus 6 phone. However, a 5.9-inch display appears far too large, even in this current market situation. After all, none of the 2014 flagships have exceeded 5.5 inches for display size. For now, let’s take this news with a pinch of salt.

A tweet from Google’s official handle had sparked some rumour around the Nexus 6 last month. The tweet was intended to show off the new ingredients feature in Google Search, and the UI was rendered on an all new device, which was highly speculated to be the Nexus 6. Now, if you remember, Nexus 5 was first spotted in a promotional video last year.

Earlier this year, rumours around Google’s premium lineup known as Android Silver spread like wildfire. It was speculated that Silver would replace Nexus. Moreover, at the Google I/O, the company spoke about Android One for the budget segment. So, obviously, it led to speculation that the budget ‘Droids would fall under the One segment while the expensive, premium lineup of device will be branded Android Silver, with Nexus killed off.

But just then there were reports about HTC ‘s Nexus tablet. A 9-inch Nexus tablet codenamed Volantis popped up. We got more evidence that the Nexus programme is not going anywhere, from the company itself.  Google’s Dave Burke, the head of Android engineering and the Nexus programme had disclosed the company plans to keep building Nexus phones.  “We are still invested in Nexus. People have been commenting about Nexus because there is something else and they think that means the end of Nexus. That is the totally wrong conclusion to make,” he said.

Whether the Nexus programme survives the cut or not, we are surely in for some new hardware, as Google prepares to release Android’s L version in the fall.

Posted by : Gizmeon