Now that Google has officially announced the HTC One M8 Google Play Edition, many are wondering if the Samsung Galaxy S5 will also join the ranks.
At Google I/O last year, Google surprised smartphone fans when the company announced that it would be adding the Samsung Galaxy S4 to a new range of devices called Google Play Edition. This version of the Galaxy S4 would be stripped from any Samsung customizations, like TouchWiz and various gesture controls. Instead, the $649 unlocked Galaxy S4 would ship with a stock version of Android and like Google's Nexus devices would be guaranteed to receive Android updates in a timely fashion.
Google followed up by adding last year's HTC One, Motorola's Moto G, and Sony's Z Ultra to its Google Play Edition smartphone lineup and also offers LG's G Pad 8.3 as the only Google Play Edition tablet.
Minutes after HTC officially announced its 2014 flagship smartphone, the HTC One M8, Google announced that it would be adding the smartphone to its Google Play Edition smartphone lineup. The unlocked smartphone strips away HTC Sense 6 for a pure Android experience. The question on many smartphone fan's minds is will Google also announce the Samsung Galaxy S5 Google Play Edition on April 11, the official release date for Samsung's latest and greatest smartphone?
It's pretty safe to assume that Google will repeat the same play it made last year by adding the Samsung Galaxy S4 to its Google Play Edition by adding the Galaxy S5. The new HTC One M8 and Samsung Galaxy S5 are two of the most highly anticipated Android smartphones to be released this year and just like last year, Google will want to have two of the best flagship smartphones showcasing the latest version of Android. The Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One M8 both have similar high-end specs, and cutting out TouchWiz and HTC Sense 6 on the devices in place of stock Android will certainly speed things up and please Android fans that want one of those smartphones running stock Android without the hassle of hacking, rooting, and using custom ROMs on the handset.
There have been rumblings that Google will announce the Samsung Galaxy S5 Google Play Edition on April 11, but for now we'll have to wait to see if those rumblings turn into reality.
