Google's 2014 flagship smartphone, the Nexus 6, is likely to arrive on the third quarter of the year with the release date possibly falling on August at the earliest or a few months before the Nexus 5 turns one-year old.

This is the fearless forecast offered by Nexus6o.com, which obviously is a dedicated site for anything about the next Nexus.

The projection is based on the notion that Google would want to stand on the middle-ground when competing with its closest rivals - Apple and Samsung. Rumours are swirling that Samsung is allowing a preview of the Galaxy S5 on February 24 though analysts are convinced that the actual rollout will not happen until March or April.

On it part, Apple is said to be eyeing a September debut for its first phablet, the iPhone 6, which actually is keeping with the tech giant's release calendar. The same device should become commercially available in the immediate weeks to follow.

So the sweet spot for Google to uncage the Nexus 6 is mid-part of Q3 2014 but there should be a peek to occur prior to the grand uncloaking. The best bet would be on May or June, depending on when exactly the Nexus maker is planning to stage its yearly I/O Developers Conference.

With the Nexus 6 intro schedule seemingly settled, Google can then focus on the more essential things - packing its signature phone with the insane features that would make it a worthy opponent of the iPhone 6 and the Galaxy S5.

Three of them, likely to make it on the final cut, are provided below:

2K display resolution

Talks are rife that the device to replace the Nexus 5 is a certified phablet, which suggests the screen size will exceed that of its predecessor's at 4.9-inch and even that of the GS5 which is pegged to sport a 5.2-inch screen profile.

If the recently unveiled LG Pro 2 will prove as the Nexus 6 in the making, the latter's likely screen size is nearly six inches and to complement such impressive display feature Google is proving a muscled graphic engine that will fire up a sweet 2K resolution.

The guesswork makes sense as 2K is becoming the smartphone screen standard beginning in 2014. The GS5 is whispered to deliver the same screen attribute and so is the iPhone 6. To attract attention, Google will need to match such superlatives.

64-bit mobile computing

Apple introduced a new era in mobile device computing when it let out the iPhone 5S late last year with 64-bit computing prowess. Not to be outdone, Samsung soon declared that the Galaxy S4 successor will also run on the same set of instructions.

The two titans leave no choice for Google - it has to follow suit. It is yet unclear if a Snapdragon CPU will be ready in time for the Nexus 6 debut this year but Google can tap Samsung to supply the 64-bit chip that will power the device.

That means the next Nexus phone would rely on Exynos octa-core technology for its processing requirements, which is not impossible at all. Google and Samsung, after all, are Android allies.

Biometric security

Apple has embedded Touch ID on the iPhone 5S home button and chances are, Samsung will do the same with the Galaxy S5 and the latter's render will likely cover the entire touchscreen area that will afford better device security features to users.

The trend, no doubt, points to robust security measures that will come out of the box with high-end smartphones so Google will have to offer the same. The Nexus maker can opt to deliver the same feature or even pair fingerprint scanner with iris reader so as to differentiate its take on biometric security features for mobile devices.

And despite these insanely great features residing on the Nexus 6 on release date, Android watchers believe that the handset will remain affordable - pretty much reflecting the price tags carried by the Nexus 5, which should make the vanilla Android phone all the more irresistible.