Saturday, May 17, 2014

Android Silver

So recently the buzz going around the Android blogosphere is that Google will be dropping the Nexus line in favour of something called "Android Silver." This program sounds very similar to what is going on with the Google Play Edition devices allowing for hardware manufacturers to install Google's version of Android on their phones. The program is rumoured to be available not just in the Google Play store but also at physical retail outlets for people to check them out. It seems as though Google is working with its OEMs to release high end devices that will either be the same as the flagship devices form the carriers or in some cases devices that are built specifically for the program. There has been a number of posts on this recently and I wasn't sure if it was going to be a real program at first, I mean the Nexus line is a great avenue for Google to showcase its version of Android and make it available at a low price point to allow for developers to use the Nexus line as a reference platform. I have had a few of the Nexus devices myself and really enjoy the experience, and the hardware as designed by Google and its partners. I am curious to see what will happen with the Nexus line and I am still somewhat weary of stating that it will go away completely, at the very least I am sure that we will see a flagship model to be used as a reference, though it may have competition with other high end devices. The incomparable Evleaks has posted on his website that there will be no Nexus 6 and that Silver will be coming early 2015. I find this disappointing personally but I think that it could be an interesting time for Android as it is clear that Google is attempting to take more control over the OS and allow for faster updates to all of the phones running Android. I hope we will still see some devices that Google has some design control over as they are very rapidly getting good at designing products, who knows maybe the acquisition of Nest will put them into the device manufacturing world. For now it sounds like what we will see from Silver is a cross between the Nexus line, the GPe devices and the software on the new Motorola products that have very minimal additions to stock Android. From what I have read so far this is applicable to phones only so far, so maybe we will see the Nexus line continue in the tablet space. 

No comments:

Post a Comment