Android Silver appears to be the flavour of the year regarding stock Android devices as the light at the end of the Nexus tunnel starts to dim. The Silver line is expected to supersede the Nexus line, but still keep with the same sort of Google-mandated devices made by device manufacturers; it’s expected the changes will come mostly in the software that will be on the devices. Still, hope is not all lost for Nexus devices this year as rumours of the HTC Nexus 8 continue to circulate, further added to by this gem from Android Police today which says it will actually be a 8.9-inch Nexus tablet coming in Q4 2014, which supports yesterday’s anonymous tip.
We’ve seen the names “Volantis” and “Flounder” floating around in the Chromium issue tracker before, though while we assumed this might have been the codename of the Nexus 8, this is only the second time it has been referred to by this name. According to Android Police, who provided the above source image, the Volantis is going to be manufactured by HTC with a screen size of 8.9-inch and intriguingly have an aspect ratio of 4:3. While the screen resolution of 2048×1440 isn’t strictly a 4:3 ratio, this might just be the usable screen space once the on-screen buttons are factored in. Rumoured specifications of this 8.9-inch Nexus tablet include Nvidia’s new Tegra K1, 2GB memory and 16/32GB storage variants which will allegedly cost $399 for the 16GB and $499 for the 32GB; a LTE version may also be available in the $600+ region.
This Nexus tablet is looking really impressive, and while it might cost a pretty penny more than the other Nexus tablets, it appears to be worth it. While it’s been alleged that the Nexus 8 (if it’s even going to be called that) is going to replace the Nexus 7, the fact that it may cost upwards of $350 and be armed to the teeth with impressive hardware suggests to me that it might not actually be replacing anything in the current Nexus line; if anything, it would be replacing the Nexus 10. But that’s just my opinion: what do you think about this 8.9-inch Nexus tablet? Let us know your opinion in the comments below.
Source: Android Police
