The rumored Samsung Galaxy S5 Google Play Edition is picking up steam for an impending release. Evleaks is once again spilling some information on an unannounced smartphone.
When Google introduced its Nexus brand of smartphones and tablets, the company chose to partner with an Android licensee and create a "pure Android experience" on hardware from seasoned veterans like HTC, Samsung and LG. It was viewed as Google's way of creating reference devices that would run Android the way the company had intended and not bogged down by bloat ware and custom UIs designed to make Android more user friendly.
Google surprised smartphone fans when it launched two new "pure Android" smartphones last year when it began selling the Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition and HTC One Google Play Edition via its Play Store. The Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One GPE (Google Play Edition) allowed Google to offer consumers two of the most popular smartphones on the market stripped of Samsung and HTC customizations.
The program has grown to include smartphones and tablets from Sony, LG, HTC and more. Google launched the HTC One M8 GPE back in March and many were expecting the company to follow last year's launch by also introducing a Galaxy S5 Google Play Edition.
Google hinted that it still planned to offer the Samsung Galaxy S5 GPE and posted an image of the smartphone on the Play Store in late April before quickly taking it down. We reported that the Galaxy S5 Prime and Galaxy S5 Google Play Edition both received Bluetooth certifications in May and then things went quiet on the Galaxy S5 GPE front.
The reliable tipster, evleaks has posted an image of what the Samsung Galaxy S5 Google Play Edition is expected to look like with its stock Android OS. The tipster titled the post, “Let’s try this again: Samsung Galaxy S5, Google Play Edition, 2014.” He seems to be implying that the smartphone is still on its way.
It should be noted that the image posted is the same image Google posted, complete with on-screen buttons in addition to the physical buttons found on the Samsung Galaxy S5. We’ll be sure to keep you posted once we hear any new information regarding the Galaxy S5 Google Play Edition.
