Google announces Nexus 6, Nexus 9, Nexus Player, and Android 5.0 Lollipop

Diem Do

 

Google has just announced every major mobile product we were expecting from it this year: the Nexus 6, Nexus 9, and Android 5.0 “Lollipop.” There’s also something we weren’t expecting —an Asus-made set-top-box called the “Nexus Player.”

 

Nexus 6

First up is the Motorola-build Nexus 6. With its latest Nexus phone, Google is tackling phablets. Even for a phablet, though, the Nexus 6 is huge: it has a 5.96-inch, 2560×1440 display (493 PPI). (Compare that to the pocket-busting Note 4, which is “only” 5.7 inches.) The base Nexus 6 has a 2.7GHz Snapdragon 805 quad-core SoC, 32GB or 64GB of internal storage, 13MP and 2MP cameras, and a 3200 mAh battery. The Motorola-built device has a design heavily based on the 2014 Moto X.

 

The phone can be pre-oredered in “late October” and will be in stores “in November.” Unlike previous Nexus phones, Google says the Nexus 6 will be widely available from various retail outlets and carriers, including Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular, Best Buy, and the Google Play store.

 

Update: The Nexus 6 will start at $649—far more expensive than previous Nexus phones.

 

 

Nexus 6 phones in various colors.

 

The Nexus 9.

The Nexus 9 with magnetically attached keyboard.

The Nexus Player (top).

 

The Nexus Player (side view) with its remote and gamepad.

Nexus Player gamepad.

Nexus 9

 

The Nexus 9, Google’s newest tablet, is a departure from past Android tablets in the most important factor: the screen. Android tablets have traditionally been 16:9, but the Nexus 9 is closer to 4:3, the same aspect ratio as the iPad. The tablet will be worse for watching movies, but it should be a little more versatile for other tasks—larger 16:9 tablets often feel unwieldy when used in portrait mode.

 

While the Nexus 10 was built by Samsung and Asus has made both Nexus 7s, the Nexus 9 is made by HTC. This marks the first time since 2011 that HTC has built a tablet.

The Nexus 9 has an 8.9-inch 2048×1536 LCD (245 PPI), an Nvidia Tegra K1 SoC at 2.3GHz, 16 or 32GB of internal storage, an 8MP rear camera, a 1.6MP front camera, and a pair of front-facing speakers. It’s made out of aluminum and weighs 418 g—51 g less than a Wi-Fi iPad Air (469 g). It will come in white, black, and gold (or Indigo Black, Lunar White, and Sand if you want to get fancy), and a keyboard dock and stand (sold separately) will be available to make the tablet into a tiny Android-powered convertible.

 

The Tegra K1 is notable for being a 64-bit processor; with 64-bit support in Android L, the Nexus 9 is the first Android device to have both 64-bit hardware and software.

 

Preorders for the tablet start October 17, and the device will appear in stores on November 3.

 

Update: The Nexus 9 will start at $399.

 

Nexus Player

 

Alongside the expected phone and tablet, Google has also announced the first device to come with Android TV. The Nexus Player is a small, round set-top box (set-top cylinder?) that includes a voice-activated remote that will let you control your TV by yelling at it. An Asus-branded game controller, sold separately, is available for those who want to make their Android TVs into mini game consoles.

 

Surprisingly enough, the Nexus Player eschews an ARM processor in favor of a 1.86GHz quad-core Intel Atom chip, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, Bluetooth 4.1, and 802.11ac wireless. This is a minor victory for Intel, which has been fighting to get its low-power chips in more low-power devices for years now. The Player measures 120 mm by 120 mm by 20 mm, weighs 235 grams, and has both micro USB 2.0 and HDMI ports.

 

The Nexus Player will be available for pre-order on October 16.

 

Update: it will cost $99.

 

 

 

Android 5.0, aka Lollipop

 

More important than a single device, though, is the next version of Android: 5.0, Lollipop. Lollipop is expected to be the biggest Android update in several years. It brings a new, heavily animated user interface design, better battery life, and a ton of other features.

 

There’s also a new app runtime called ART that Google says will significantly boost the speed of most apps. Google released a sneak preview of the OS earlier this year, called the “Android L Developer Preview.” As the name would suggest, the Developer Preview gave a taste of what the new OS would be like to develop for, but it lacked most of the user-facing improvements that would be part of the final package.

 

Every version of Android with a new codename gets a new statue. As the OS grows, so does the collection of Androids outside of Building 44, the Android Team’s headquarters. Lollipop is the latest to join the group.

 

Every year, Google likes to play coy with what the final codename of Android will be. Last year the community favorite was “Key Lime Pie,” (which is still used internally in the codebase) but Google pulled the rug out from under everyone when it announced a deal with Nestle to call Android 4.4 “KitKat.” This year the company went all out and made a YouTube video of people in different snack costumes “trying out” to be the codename for the next version of Android.

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Source : arstechnica.com