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After hints of the Nexus 6 and Nexus 8 turned up in Chromium code the other day, this newest rumor might come as a surprise to many of you. @evleaks, otherwise known as Evan Blass, dropped a bombshell of a tip this afternoon after tweeting that there will be not be Nexus 6 to follow up last year’s Nexus 5.
There is no Nexus 6. Farewell, Nexus. [discussion: http://t.co/dMTT3g393q]
— @evleaks (@evleaks) May 16, 2014
You may remember rumors from earlier this year that said Google would be killing off the low-priced Nexus line, only to be followed up more recently by whisperings that Google was working with OEMs on a new project called Android Silver (think Google Play edition devices). @evleaks followed up Nexus farewell tweet with another mentioning there was a silver lining to the story. See what he did there?
Don’t worry, there’s a silver lining to this cloud…
— @evleaks (@evleaks) May 16, 2014
I guess the real news is that previous rumors stated the death of the Nexus line and Android Silver wouldn’t debut until next year. If @evleaks sources are correct, this would date Android Silver making its debut later this year without a Nexus to replace the Nexus 5.
Of course, none of this was confirmed by the usual leaked images but as always when Mr. Leaks talks, the tech world listens.
Hmmm…definitely intrigued
He’s just reiterating a rumor from months ago, nothing really new here.
But from his own sources, or was he merely reading a blog entry from back in January? The guy obviously has insiders.
Don’t forget that previous rumors said none of this would be taking place until next year. The absence of a Nexus 6 could mean Android Silver debuting later this year.
Just because there is no Nexus 6 doesn’t necessarily mean the Android Silver schedule will change.
You’re right. I just think people will be up in arms if Google announces a new version of Android running on the same phone from the previous year. But it’s possible they’ll announce Android Silver details at that time.
It’s definitely easy to speculate this. On the topic of Nexus 6 availability, there’s a 50/50 chance of being right. And the problem with EVLeaks is that he tweets every concept pic shown to him from “insiders.” He’s tweeted many that didn’t pan out. We tend to only report on what he gets right, which makes him seem far more accurate than he really is.
Then you look at history and notice the tons of phones he has leaked that have actually panned out. I think his track record is solid no matter how many he’s gotten wrong. (And “wrong” is up for debate because things are always changing in the mobile industry. A phone that was planned for one time or another may be scrapped for god knows what reason.)
Quentyn – my definition of “wrong” is as simple as “not right.” Example – Phandroid author claiming that HD Voice and VoLTE are the same thing :)
But there are numerous examples of the lazyness of EVLeaks. He/They seem to just report existing rumors, and because of his/their “track record” this suddenly validates the rumor/leak. But EVLeaks is wrong more than right. It seems like they take more educated guesses and attribute them to “sources.” Some of my favorites?
Fell for one of his “sources” and claimed this was the design language of the Galaxy S4:
http://www.sammobile.com/2013/04/19/sammobile-confirms-samsungs-new-design-pictures-by-evleaks-are-fake/
Took a mockup from an online etailer that was clearly stated as a web designer mockup and not the real thing(referenced in prior article):
https://twitter.com/eXpansysFR/status/308891695620161536
And there were numerous instances of evleaks simply taking pre-production photos from carphone warehouse and putting the “evleaks” watermark on them (CPW is notorious for listing phones before release with any photo that they can find on the net, and evleaks just takes the image and watermarks it).
EVLeaks has the same track record as places like Gotta Be Mobile or IB Times. He/They just have a more rabid following.
So long Nexus. You won’t be missed.
Good. The fewer devices without micro SD cards the better.
I couldn’t give a rats ass about SD cards
128GB SanDisk FTW… LOVEM!!!
i’m not arguing their usefulness. I just don’t need that much space personally, so if my phone has a slot cool, but if not oh wells.
Good for you. Don’t make use of the slot then.
i dont, i’m not campaigning for phones to get rid of them, plenty of people make use of it. But i’m also not rooting for phones that don’t have them to fail.
Damn it all to hell. I’m going to have to buy that damn 1+1 device then.
Nexus line will be dead if Oneplus continues to release high end phone for cheap prices.
Not at 5.5-inches.
Totally, it’s a great device but too big for many. Maybe a One-1 will be a device to suit people wanting a non compromising device that firs easily into the hand :)
They could makes a phone out of the Oppo Find 5 parts with updated internal components.
Agreed, that damn thing is huge and full of marketing spin.
I hate to play devil’s advocate, but to many of us “never settle” also applies to less screen real-estate! At first, I detested the term “phablet” almost as much as I did the size of the behemoth that was Samsung’s original Note. But OEMs have learned to cram a lot more screen into more manageable phone sizes. After using my Skyrocket, both performance and screen size have become “must haves” (Rumor has it even the “forbidden fruit” company is getting in on the action!). The phablet isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but it’s here to stay, and their sales prove a lot of people are willing to pass on one handed operation and anything less than 5 inches (snicker) but want performance AND a fair price.
As much as I’ve enjoyed the Nexus line, I’m more looking forward to Silver due to better hardware, pure Android, and carrier availability. Spending 600+ on a GE device all at once sucks, I’d rather put it on my tmobile installment plan.
I’m hoping that Silver is essentially the GPe program with carrier availability and installment options. OEMs (like Motorola) are starting to take installment payments without the carrier. Google should have added this to the Play Store as well. Would make their sales more palatable to the average customer.
As much as I wanted a Nexus, I couldn’t deal with the 8/16GB limitation (at the time of my S4 GPE purchase, Nexus 5 wasn’t out yet). Of course, with the new MicroSD limitations, I’m even unhappier. My next device under the current Android restrictions will need to be 64GB internal, or 32GB internal + MicroSD. So even the Nexus 5 doesn’t meet my current requirements.
May end up copping a Nexus 5 then….I’m gonna have my nexus!!!!!!!
Personally I enjoy what Google has done with the Nexus line. I’m not sure how I feel about these silver products. My Nexus 5 is doing fine and I may have to hold on to it until Ara if there really won’t be an N6.
With my N5 I’ve got the ability to between carries like Sprint and T-Mobile. For me features wise it’s fine, has wireless charging, and great community support.
Uh no, you can’t switch between Sprint and T-Mobile. Sprint Nexus is CDMA only. You can switch between T-Mobile and at&t and pretty much the rest of the world though.
https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/3467463?hl=en
North America:
GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
CDMA: Band Class: 0/1/10
WCDMA: Bands: 1/2/4/5/6/8/19
LTE: Bands: 1/2/4/5/17/19/25/26/41
Rest of World:
GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
WCDMA: Bands: 1/2/4/5/6/8
LTE: Bands: 1/3/5/7/8/20
Try again.
Sorry, but you’re an idiot. The Sprint Nexus 5 is not the same as the GSM Nexus 5. The Sprint version only works on Sprint.
You’re wrong, dude. It’s the same phone. Go to the play store and select the Nexus 5. Scroll down to the bottom to the “Technical Specifications” section. Carrier support: T-Mobile and Sprint. It’s the same phone that can be used on both Sprint and T-Mobile (and AT&T)
@disqus_gcpECIxLWJ:disqus, you are actually kind of right. The GP Edition nexus will work everywhere but verizon. However, if you get the phone from an actual sprint store is was my understanding it was carrier locked and needed an unlock code from sprint, so it can be held as collateral if you dont pay for final bill/ETF’s.
@disqus_gcpECIxLWJ:disqus, I can’t imagine why you’re so hostile.. You’re wrong and that’s okay. In my reply I gave you the ability to seek the truth for yourself, unfortunately you chose to rampage. There are two flavors of the device, the North American and World. T-Mobile currently holds frequency in bands 2, 4, 5, and 12 (Freq. 1900 MHz, 1700/2100 MHz, 850 MHz, and 700 MHz Block A. Sprint currently holds frequency in bands 1, 10, 25, 26, and 41 (Freq. 1900 MHz, 800MHz, and 2.5GHz). You’ll notice the North American device supports all of the aforementioned bands and frequencies.
Source: I have an N5, used it on Sprint/Ting, and then took it to T-Mobile. Please stop embarrassing yourself.
That is incorrect. A nexus can now be bought and run on both networks. Sprint added the imei #s to its database.
Steve, not sure where you get your information from. The Nexus 5 is able to be taken from Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile (as well as many other carriers). My co-worker used his on Sprint for the first 3 months before switching to AT&T. Same phone.
Android silver doesn’t sound a phone name
It’s a new Google play edition like program. They wrote about it a few weeks ago here.
Well, does this kill off upgrading yearly without breaking a bank?
Pacers going to demolish the Heat on Sunday
Cool, you can think about a fantasy all you want, but I am only here to discuss phones. I rather not argue about how you believe in the Pacers despite their inconsistencies, so just keep it to phone talk, okay?
They’ll be focused, we all know they have been wishy washy the last 2 months. West has been playing his role… George should know better from last year to bring his A-game, I just hope Hibert will step up as their big man. And yea phone talk… what were we talking about again? the G3?
The One M8 killed the Nexus line finally…
Wow, what’s up with all the Nexus hate in the comments section? If you don’t like them, don’t buy them. They serve as an excellent budget friendly phone for those of us that don’t like to throw our arms and legs at the price of a high end smartphone/service plan.
Can Verizon use any of these GPE phones that are sold online? I know they can be used with t mobile and at&t along with other gsm’s. What about the cdma’s?
No
Didn’t think so.. That stinks
Verizon made their bed (with the Galaxy Nexus fiasco), now they can lie in it.
Yeah, but the problem is that all of us Andriod loving VZW customers have to lie in the same bed with them…and VZW snores……loudly :/
That does suck, if you’re not able to leave. I guess we have a lot more freedom here in the UK because all the networks give cover basically everywhere. If they do something you don’t like (I’m looking at you Vodafone) then you can just leave without a second thought.
Could I leave? Absolutely…but I use between 5-7GB of data a month, and I am grandfathered into the unlimited plan. If they ever revoke that plan, there will be a trail of fire behind me to a different carrier! I also wish the phones here were interchangeable between VZW and other carriers. Oh well!
you have options.
I do? Please tell me where I can NOT pay more for unlimited data and having the same great coverage…
I’d love to hear it. I’ve researched my “options”, and while your statement is true, it’s missing the adjective viable…or even pleasant
The ONLY recent “Nexus” or “Google” anything that works on VZW is the N7.
If this is true, then I will be getting a Nexus 5 or a G3. Not really excited about Android Silver, at least not yet.
Will definitely be sad to see the Nexus line die.. but Project Ara / Android Silver combo?
First Silver phone = MotoX+1
I’d be ok with that, so long as they keep the same or similar dimensions and the dual-core CPU (based on Snapdragon 801 or 805) arrangement.
If Google drops the nexus line and just lets the phone manufacturers do a silver addition of the Google play version, then players like Samsung and others that really make a good phone will price them out of reach of the everyday person, we found that out with Samsung, 650.00 for a Google play edition with no subsidizing. all that will be left will be Motorola offering their crappy phones for a nexus value. Just when I thought you had the interest of everyday people at heart, to now find out, its more about making a extra dollar! Way to go Google!!
Google is becoming more Apple-like with every passing day:
Abandons official SD card support, encourages the death of removable batteries, continues to dumb down their camera app, abandons USB mass storage support, forced G+ integration into everything, no more Nexus line, now gets cozier with the big carriers in order to sock it to their users in the name of more $.
True, I think Google needs to stay in the phone business, just to stay in the arena with apple. The one thing that helps apple is they control the phone and OS, big advantage in quality control and fan base. When you don’t have to shop between 50 phones to find a good one is a definite plus! Google needs to be a competitor in the android market, that will keep quality and affordability at the fore front. that’s something that Apple is 50% good at!
SD cards are antiquated technology, and they’re only going to get less popular as time goes on. Get. Over. It.
Spoken like a true lemming. Local, removable, expandable storage is most certainly not an antiquated technology, and neither are SD cards specifically. The *only* reason they were eliminated was to push everyone to cloud storage and thus increase their paid and limited data usage.
I could swap cards between my phone, my tablet, my Android TV stick, my camera and my desktop. Never once did I have an issue doing this, and yet never once have I gotten Google’s shitty MTP protocol to work even remotely reliably. So please explain *exactly* what makes SD cards in phones an antiquated technology. Don’t just make a claim and expect people to accept it.
Get over it? How about: Back. Up. Your. Claim.
Seriously, on an internet full of dumb things, this is one of the dumbest things I’ve read in a long time.
It only sounds dumb to those dumb enough to believe that it sounds dumb. The cloud is the future, SD is the past. As we move into the future, you can expect SD to become progressively less prevalent than it already is. That’s just how it is. Period.
You’re delusional. The cloud won’t be the future until every square mile of the country is blanketed with reliable, affordable and unlimited high speed coverage, and that’s not going to happen any time soon. Until then, there will remain a significant and compelling need for local storage, and expandable storage has clear and obvious benefits.
The cloud may ultimately be the future, but it’s not now, and all you’re doing by parroting your line is playing into the hands of the carrier’s desire to rape the public with their absurd service charges.
Stop being a fool. I keep several gigs of movies on my phone for my son to watch while traveling. The cloud is utterly useless for this. I often use my phone to bring gigabytes of data to and from work. The cloud is utterly useless for this. Not everyone uses technology precisely as you do, don’t presume to dictate the future of everyone else’s technology based on your own simplistic needs.
The future *is* now. The fact that fewer and fewer manufacturers are consistently including removable storage in their handsets is proof enough of that. There will always be a need for internal storage, but SD storage in particular is going the way of the dodo. Good riddance; it was always a half-baked way to handle storage anyway.
Let me guess– you still watch all of your movies on VHS, don’t you? Refuse to purchase a laptop that lacks an optical drive? Yeah, I thought so.
This is what begins to concern me.. While we have players like Oppo/One+1 I prefer the Google seal of approval. I like the fact my Nexus was born from a partnership between Google and a manufacturer of their choosing. The whole spirit of the project is great, this new Silver program sounds like an afterthought. I’m worried things will return to business as usual, we’ll lose features like wireless charging while pricing the device out of its niche.
I’ll gladly keep buying Moto phones. The Moto X blows away every crappy laggy phone from Samsung. The camera may suck in low light, but who really cares. Have fun paying 650 for specs you don’t need.
I purposely held out on getting a Nexus 5 to wait for the Nexus 6, so if true this is very disappointing news.
Although the Android Silver project seems to be entirely about phones, so I wonder if the Nexus line will live on as a tablet-only line?
I hope not. I’d rather see ARA. Nexus has deteriorated from a development device to a cheap phone for everyone in the last few years. You can’t really develop a nexus. Ara on the other hand is a pure development device where you can stick any accessory into it and develop it to work.
I agree, I’m much more excited for ARA, even though there may be a long wait. I’m very happy with my Nexus 5, but it doesn’t have everything I want in a device. I’m hoping that ARA will change that. I’m mainly interested in a high quality display, and a good DAC.
Everyone is complaining about price, but there is 3 things carriers will demand that make android silver unusable (at least for me, and likely you if you are reading this) and NOT like a nexus. Bootloader locked, Bloat (even the verizon nexus had contact backup, iPhone doesnt have that) and day 1 updates (there will be delays because Carriers like att and verizon will never allow google to push out an update straight to devices without carrier certification, apple and the nexus devices get day 1 updates.
SAD SAD SAD
Oh and the code for a silver device will SURELY not be open sourced like nexus devices have every bit of their code done.
So get an unlocked GSM one. I am sure they will still sell that.
That’s literally means Nexus 5 is the last Smartphone under Nexus series from Google. Well, according to me Google end the Nexus series at good note rather than just carry on the manufacturing until it becomes failed. I don’t have much concern about it as Google might think something big before taking this decision. I am hoping for just another excellent series Smartphone from this tech giant. I am using Nexus 5 from last 6 months that is right now charging on wireless car charger as it has qi based back case that make it compatible with qi wireless charger.
Just give me an LG G3 GPE and I’ll be happy
No Nexus 6? There has to be a Nexus 6 or the whole blade runner joke is ruined.
If Google gets rid of the Nexus line I will be extremely disappointed. The affordability and amazing hardware made the Nexus line unique. I dont want to see the Nexus program turned into something along the lines of the Google Experience phones. Not everyone can fork down $650 for a phone when all we’re looking for is a pure Android experience from Google themselves.