For the last few years now, we’ve come accustomed to seeing Nexus tablets alongside the Nexus smartphones that Google has been producing since Android started to take off. The Nexus 7 tablets, produced by ASUS have arguably helped raise awareness of Android tablets in general and also introduced the Play Store as a viable alternative to Apple’s iTunes. This year however, we’ve been hearing about a change in the way Google does things, with ASUS no longer being picked to create the next Nexus tablet. Instead, we’ve been hearing constant rumors and leaks that have suggested a Nexus 9 from HTC is to be the next Nexus tablet, and now a fresh report from the Wall Street Journal suggests that the two are closer than ever to launching the fabled tablet.
A recent Wall Street Journal report details Google’s rumored choice of HTC to produce the Nexus 9 and says that while Google and HTC both declined to comment on the matter, they were told by Google that “Android is a vibrant ecosystem, and many of the industry players are doing very well. There’s room for many partners to do well and to innovate with Android.” It’s this approach from Google that has taken Android to where it is now, giving users and consumers an element of choice while also bringing some order to chaos. While the Nexus 9 has been rumored for some time now, we’ve yet to hear anything from Google or HTC on the matter, however the WSJ have been told that “HTC engineers have been flying to the Googleplex in Mountain View in recent months” which could suggest that the pair are ever closer to launching the Nexus 9.
According to the rumors, the Nexus 9 is to be a 9-inch tablet powered NVIDIA’s Tegra K1 processor, which is a 64-bit chip poised to make better use of Android L’s 64-bit change. It’s late September now, and with Android L set to be released in the next couple of months, it stands to reason that Google would want to introduce new hardware for people to actually get their hands on the new release. Besides, a new tablet launching during the Golden Quarter would be a big help to both Google and HTC, with the Taiwanese manufacturer still struggling, despite the success of the HTC One line.