Android By Russell Holly Oct. 15, 2014 12:35 pm
Google’s next version of Android is here, and we now know that the L from that Android L preview back at Google I/O stood for Lollipop. Android 5.0 brings with it an army of UI and functionality changes, but perhaps more importantly the announcement brings new hardware. Lollipop is launching with a three screen attack plan in the form of a 6-inch smartphone from Motorola, a 9-inch tablet from HTC, and another attempt at putting Android on your television.
We’ve seen the leaks, heard the rumors, and now it’s time for Google to step up and deliver. The Motorola-made Nexus 6 looks like a stretched out Moto X, complete with LED ring and Moto “M” on the back of the phone. On the inside, however, these two devices are a little different. For starters, the massive 5.9-inch QHD screen on the front of the Nexus 6 dwarfs the 1080p display on the Moto X. Moving from there, the next Nexus is packing a 13mp camera and dual stereo speakers. The phone is packing a much bigger battery to keep up with all of those pixels, but it’s too early to say whether or not that tradeoff works out.
The HTC-made Nexus 9 is a welcomed addition to the Android tablet family. HTC has not been in the tablet game for a while now, which is unfortunate given how fantastic their build quality and design language has been over the last couple of years. The Nexus 9 is an 8.9-inch tablet with a 2048×1536 resolution display, and is one of the first tablets to be powered by Nvidia’s 64-bit Tegra K1 processor. This tablet will be made available for pre-order soon for $399 if you want the 16GB model, $479 for 32GB, and an LTE-enabled 32GB model for $599. We can also expect to see a magnetic smart cover with an included keyboard made available soon, just as the leaks suggested.
Last but hopefully not least is the Nexus Player. The round design is wildly different from the ADT-1 developer box that was handed out at Google I/O this year, but it’s expected that the same Android TV is alive and well on the inside. This HDMI box is going to behave much like a higher end Chromecast with access to apps and games, and will be available to pre-order on October 17th just like everything else.
Google still has some explaining to do about the final version of Android 5.0 and the prices for some of this hardware, so stay tuned as we gather all of the new things that have been announced today. As for those of your looking to throw some money down, it looks like you’ll be waiting until wither Friday to pre-order on November to see this hardware in stores.
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We’ve seen the leaks, heard the rumors, and now it’s time for Google to step up and deliver. The Motorola-made Nexus 6 looks like a stretched out Moto X, complete with LED ring and Moto “M” on the back of the phone. On the inside, however, these two devices are a little different. For starters, the massive 5.9-inch QHD screen on the front of the Nexus 6 dwarfs the 1080p display on the Moto X. Moving from there, the next Nexus is packing a 13mp camera and dual stereo speakers. The phone is packing a much bigger battery to keep up with all of those pixels, but it’s too early to say whether or not that tradeoff works out.
The HTC-made Nexus 9 is a welcomed addition to the Android tablet family. HTC has not been in the tablet game for a while now, which is unfortunate given how fantastic their build quality and design language has been over the last couple of years. The Nexus 9 is an 8.9-inch tablet with a 2048×1536 resolution display, and is one of the first tablets to be powered by Nvidia’s 64-bit Tegra K1 processor. This tablet will be made available for pre-order soon for $399 if you want the 16GB model, $479 for 32GB, and an LTE-enabled 32GB model for $599. We can also expect to see a magnetic smart cover with an included keyboard made available soon, just as the leaks suggested.
Last but hopefully not least is the Nexus Player. The round design is wildly different from the ADT-1 developer box that was handed out at Google I/O this year, but it’s expected that the same Android TV is alive and well on the inside. This HDMI box is going to behave much like a higher end Chromecast with access to apps and games, and will be available to pre-order on October 17th just like everything else.
Google still has some explaining to do about the final version of Android 5.0 and the prices for some of this hardware, so stay tuned as we gather all of the new things that have been announced today. As for those of your looking to throw some money down, it looks like you’ll be waiting until wither Friday to pre-order on November to see this hardware in stores.
More...
