SHAFAQNA – Google is expected to release its new flagship Nexus Android smartphone later this month, which the Guardian understands will be a super-sized “phablet” device with a 5.9in screen. The new smartphone will be made by Motorola under the Nexus brand according to people familiar with the matter, confirmed by separate people talking to the Wall Street Journal. The phone will be sold by Google direct to customers through the Google Play Store as well as via mobile phone stores and other retailers.
The phone follows the popular 5in Nexus 5 smartphone, which was released at the end of October 2013. The Nexus 6, as it has been called in previous leaks, is designed to push Google into the rising “phablet” trend with smartphones that are a cross between a phone and a tablet with screens bigger than 5.5in.
First Motorola Nexus
The new Nexus will be the first made by Motorola, which Google is selling to China’s Lenovo. Previous Nexus devices, which also include tablets, have been made by HTC, Asus and Samsung, as well as LG, which made the previous two generations of Google’s popular smartphone, the Nexus 4 and 5.
Phablets are increasingly popular, becoming the mainstay of phones bought in Asia and steadily gaining ground in Europe and the US.
One third of the 279.4m smartphones that shipped in the first quarter of 2014 had screens larger than 5in, according to data from research firm Canalys. The data shows that 32% of phones in the US had screens larger than 5in while they made up 27% of shipments in Europe.
By comparison, the larger-screened smartphones made up 43% of all shipments in Asia-Pacific and 39% in China.
Samsung established the phablet category of devices in 2011 with the 5.3in Galaxy Note, which also had a stylus. Subsequent Galaxy Note models have increased in screen size, while other manufacturers have launched phablets, including LG and most recently Apple, which launched the iPhone 6 Plus with a 5.5in screen in September.
Google will hope that the Nexus 6, nicknamed Shamu after the SeaWorld killer whale, will compete with rivals from Apple and Microsoft’s Nokia, while pushing its Android software in the larger format phones.