Google is a few days away and with the countdown to that much anticipated event by the likes of yours truly and Android enthusiasts and Google watchers around the world, we expect our friends who every once in a while specialize in ruining surprises or if I can put in a nicer way, “amaze” us with leaks of whatever is upcoming. The folks over at Android Police have it from their very trusted sources that HTC is the company contracted by Google to make the next Nexus tablet. Whether we’ll see the tablet at I/O 2014 or a few days after it is something we can’t tell at the moment but definitely there is something cooking besides the obvious new Android dessert and Android Wear.
Volantis, the tablet HTC has reportedly made under the Nexus programme (or whatever will be there) is not so much of a new comer to the world of leaks. We’ve previously heard about it as Flounder when word was rife that Google was on the verge of announcing an 8 inch tablet a few months ago. The tablet is expected to pack an 8.9 inch 2048×1440 pixel display and NVIDIA’s K1 chip. Google already went with an NVIDIA chip in its first Nexus tablet two years ago when the Tegra 3 was the force behind the impressive Asus-made tablet. It went with Qualcomm last year in the refreshed model of the same tablet. That Tegra K1 chip (Logan) is 64-bit so this, if true, could be telling us that the next version of Android that Google plans on showing the world at I/O 2014 will likely have native 64-bit support.
The tablet is said to have the premium build that HTC’s devices are famed for but from the source photos available we can’t ascertain that.
Specs of the rumoured tablet are as follows:
- Size & weight: 226.3 x 151.89 x 7.87 mm, 418g/427g for LTE variant
- Display: 8.9″ Display at 2048×1440 (281ppi)
- Processor: Tegra K1
- Memory: 2 GB RAM/ 16 or 32 GB intenal storage
- Camera: 8 MP (with OIS)/ 3 MP
- OS: Unknown
Though Google may announce a new version of Android at I/O, we may have to wait till later in the year to see it show up in any device. Maybe not. Thing is, at this point we just know Volantis is a work in progress. The intentions and when we get to see it are a different story altogether. Oh, and LG already officially confirmed that they are not making any tablet. Since they are Google’s most recent darlings among Android OEMs, this leaves us with Asus, HTC and Samsung as the other main players that Google has partnered with on a device before that could likely be entrusted with the task of delivering the next Nexus tablet and Android reference device for the next one year. HTC being that guy is pretty solid considering their recent financial woes and enviable record of releasing well-designed devices.
Here’s to hoping Volantis will see the light of day. SOON.
Source: AP
