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We’ve come to expect all the big flagship Android smartphones to have Google Play Edition tag-alongs by now. We thought it a bit odd to see the HTC One M8 get a non-Sense (no pun intended… OK, maybe a little) version of the device without seeing Samsung’s Galaxy S5 join in on the fun.
We were tipped off to the existence of a possible Google Play Edition version of the phone when a Samsung Galaxy S5 with stock Android was used as the main image for the Samsung Galaxy S4 listing. We thought that was odd, but at the time it could have been nothing but a silly error by an inexperienced intern or something.
But @evleaks has it on good word that the Google Play Edition Galaxy S5 is still happening, and that we will predictably seeing it at some point this year. There was nothing much else to go on, but this rumor creeping back up could indicate that we’re inching closer to a launch.
Adding fuel to that fire is a graphic of Android phones that recently popped up on Google’s Android site. You’ll see it sitting right in the middle of a sea of other Google Play products, including the Nexus 5, Nexus 7 and the HTC One M8 Google Play Edition.
Not lost on us is the fact that all these images in all these leaks show software navigation buttons when the Samsung Galaxy S5 already has a set of its own hardware to perform those functions. It’s likely just placeholder imagery while the marketing minds at Google find time to slap a proper image on these renders. We’re likely to see those buttons removed by the time the phone actually lands so don’t think much of it. Let’s hope an official announcement isn’t far out.
too late!
I lost interest awhile back. Last year it was acceptable for the GPE M7/S4 to be later than their skinned variants. HTC changed that when they launched the Sense and GPE M8 on the same day.
I have my new phone and will look at Nexus/GPE/Motorola/Silver sometime next year.
why are the software keys still present?
Bad editing on whoever created this article.
Soft ware and physical keys? Yuck
How about the Lg G3 play edition?
…..yawn…
I just can’t get excited about $600+ phones anymore. I’m way more interested in what’s going on in the <$400 space. As much as I like a good, fast, pure Android phone, I'm never going to recommend a $600+ phone to anyone I know.
LG G3 GPe please.. but I think the GPe is going to be replaced by android Silver program. I don’t believe they are going to continue GPe though I think Android Silver should be the very same thing.