Android tweet sparks Nexus 6 chatter
A recent tweet from the official Android account has fanboys in a tizzy in the run-up to Google I/O. Are talks of a new smartphone unfounded?
The Nexus 6 is close at hand! Surely it has to be; I mean, it did show up on the official Android account for Twitter yesterday. And, if I remember correctly, everything I see on the Internet is true...right?
The tweet in question, designed to showcase the ingredients feature in Google Search, featured a smartphone that has yet to see the light of day. Fanboys, fangirls, and conclusion-jumpers assumed this must be an unannounced Nexus 6. Is it? Sorry, but I'm not so sure it's anything other than a generic mockup.
As is the case with every summer, the weeks leading up to Google I/O are typically full of fun, back alley whispers about what looms on the horizon. Will it be a new smartphone or tablet, a new version of Android, some newfangled wearable device? We'll find out for sure on June 25, but I'm willing to bet the phone shown in the tweet was little more than an unbranded render.
This is not the first time we've seen Google use a previously unseen device for promoting its apps or services. The first few days after Google introduced the Nexus 5 saw plenty of excitement over what appeared to be a new 7-inch or 8-inch tablet. But, as quickly as everyone began thinking "Nexus 8," Google poured cold water on the situation and retouched the photo.
Head to the official Google I/O website today and you'll encounter another unannounced tablet hanging out on the landing page. This one, just like the smartphone in the recent tweet, is likely just an unbranded generic device not meant for store shelves.
This is, of course, doesn't mean that Google isn't working on a new tablet or smartphone -- the company could be. We're approaching the anniversary of the Nexus 7 tablet and it's been countless months since the Nexus 10 debuted. By the way, there is quite the case building for an 8-inch tablet.
As for a new smartphone, my gut says we'll wait until fall for a new Nexus handset. The Google modus operandi seems to be to release a new version of Android coupled with a shiny new flagship device in the final months of the year. Besides that, the Nexus 5 is barely a half year old.