The long-rumored 6-inch Nexus phablet and 8.9-inch tablet have been unveiled and they've brought with them the latest era of Google's mobile operating systems, Android 5.0 Lollipop.
A product of Motorola's ingenuity, the 6-inch Nexus 6, which was once rumored to be a 5.2-inch device, comes to market with a Snapdragon 805, 2.7-GHz quad-core processor and an Adreno 420 GPU. The Nexus 6 is said to offer six hours of battery life off a 15-minute charge.
HTC was given the task of crafting the 8.9-inch Nexus 9, which is a bit more of a luxurious entry in the Nexus series than previous tablets. The Nexus 9 is a technological marvel, bringing to market the formidable tandem of a 64-bit Nvidia Tegra K1 processor clocked at 2.3 GHz and a Kepler DX1 GPU.
The new Nexus tablet and smartphone were announced along with a surprise, the Nexus Player. The work of Asus, the Nexus Player looks primed to compete with Apple TV and Amazon's Fire TV, expounding on the abilities of Chromecast with a more robust app interface and a focus on gaming.
Preorders for the new Nexus hardware will open up on Oct. 29, with the devices expected to ship in November. And when they do ship, they'll bring with them an untouched version of Google's latest Android operating system.
Android 5.0 Lollipop was designed with the intent of creating a stronger cohesiveness between Android devices, without mandating the hardware fall within a narrow sheet of specifications, according to Sundar Pichai, senior vice president, Android, Chrome and apps.
"Lollipop is made for a world where moving throughout the day means interacting with a bunch of different screens -- from phones and tablets to TVs," says Pichai. "With more devices connecting together, your expectation is that things just work. With Lollipop, it's easier than ever to pick up where you left off, so the songs, photos, apps, and even recent searches from one of your Android devices can be immediately enjoyed across all the other ones."
Material Design is the language behind the cohesiveness Android developers have attempted to roll out in Lollipop. The goal is to make for a more cohesive experience when moving across the different screens in an individual's digital ecosystem.
"Now content responds to your touch, or even your voice, in more intuitive ways, and transitions between tasks are more fluid," says Pichai.
Besides user interface advancements, Lollipop gives users more control in filtering notifications from apps and individuals. The mobile OS battery-saver feature is said to squeeze out an extra 90 minutes of battery life. Lollipop also includes support for multiple users.
Details on Lollipop are still emerging, but the Android OS is expected to have a similar level of encryption to that rolled by Apple in iOS 8.
Initial pricing reports list the Nexus 6 at $649, the Nexus 9 at $349, and the Nexus Player at $99.
Note: This story was edited to correct attribution of comments to Sundar Pichai, senior vice president, Android, Chrome & Apps.
