Google will be releasing the Google Nexus 6 this month, three sources familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal.
The Nexus 6 will be the biggest smartphone of Google and will increase the competition for consumers in the high-growth market for bigger mobile smartphones known as phablets.
Google's upcoming phablet, which was codenamed Shamu, after the killer whale, will feature a 5.9-inch screen and a high-resolution display. This makes it bigger than both Apple's iPhone 6 Plus, which measures 5.5 inches, and Samsung's Galaxy Note, the first successful phablet that measures 5.7 inches.
Phablets, which are smartphones with displays that measure five inches or bigger, were once the subject of ridicule for older consumers who viewed them as unwieldy bricks. However, as smartphones developed from being just phones into mobile computers, devices with larger screens became popular.
In 2011, phablets accounted for only 1 percent of global smartphone sales. This year, that figure has gone up to 24 percent, according to Strategy Analytics.
This trend has caused Apple to release succeedingly bigger iPhones. Google is also catching up with the trend through its Nexus 6.
The previously largest phone of Google was the Nexus 5, which has a 5-inch screen. Tablets in the Nexus line are much bigger, but are not equipped to work with cellular connections.
Motorola Mobility, which Google is looking to sell to Lenovo, will be manufacturing the Nexus 6.
At the same time as the unveiling of the Nexus 6, Google will be releasing a new version of its Android operating system.
Google's Nexus offerings, aside from being consumer products, also serve as testing grounds for Android developers to try out their apps with the latest version of the operating system, running on the most up-to-date hardware.
Google is hoping that other Android device manufacturers will begin releasing phablets to capitalize on the huge demand for larger screens.
"If Android doesn't have something at that size there will be a hole in their portfolio," said Quettra founder and CEO Ankit Jain, who is also a former Google Play executive. "Google doesn't want to make the same mistake that Apple made over the last few years by missing out on the demand for larger phones."
The Nexus 6 can help Google in reaching new customers from emerging markets, as a lot of people that buy their first smartphones in these markets use them as portable computers, bypassing laptops and desktops.
Google will look to release the Nexus 6 as a smartphone that can rival the iPhone 6 Plus in terms of the quality of the display, but at a lower price than the $749 that the device costs if bought in the United States without a contract. In Asia, the price goes over $800.
