LOS ANGELES, May 19 — A new range of premium smartphones from a host of different manufacturers based on Google’s specifications is expected to launch early next year.
Reports that a new project, codenamed Android Silver, set to replace the current Nexus line of pure Android smartphones and tablets first surfaced at the end of last month. And now, according to prodigious tech tipster @evleaks, a date has been set.
Google is worried about fragmentation within the Android ecosystem of devices and the fact that the user experience varies massively between smartphones and smartphone brands. An issue that iPhone owners are totally unaware of and one that Apple doesn’t have to address.
Until now, Google’s answer to this issue was the Nexus range of devices, which run stock Android and are meant to be a reference for consumers, developers building apps and phone manufacturers themselves.
However, the company wants to go one better and has reportedly come up with Android Silver. Conceived as a range of phones that uses premium materials inside and out and offers a greater user experience, the devices will be offered with support that will make setting them up — i.e. transferring over contacts, cloud storage and apps — simple, and only five devices will be allowed to be branded as Silver editions at any one time.
@evleaks has a very impressive record when it comes to smartphone and tablet leaks, although the source also claims that the Nexus programme is being scrapped imminently. This means the current Nexus 5 handset would be the last phone to carry the branding.
This contradicts a source code unearthed in the latest build of Chrome that mentions both the Nexus 6 phone and Nexus 8 tablet.
It would make more sense for Google to launch replacements for its smartphone and tablet this summer and then launch the Silver programme next year. — AFP-Relaxnews
