Nexus 6 Release Date Nears as Motorola Leaks Upcoming Flagship, Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition Vanishes
One other indicator that Google is clearing the way for the arrival of the next big thing from the Google Play Store is the unannounced disappearance of the Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition from the site.
But first the latest from Motorola, which lately has been the subject of intense speculations that it has been awarded the honour of manufacturing the LG Nexus 5 replacement that is now referred to as Shame.
Rumours also suggest that the Moto Nexus 6 is massive device, its screen profile almost a tablet at 5.9-inch. Details about Shamu is scant at the moment though the assumption is it will be the first smartphone to show off the raw power and aesthetic/functional enhancements that Google has cooked up with the soon-to-come Android L.
Now another clue is getting the Android world all excited, this time coming from Android Central that claims the next Motorola mobile phone is the XT1096. If the same kit would turn out as the Moto hero phone this 2014 then XT1096 is likely the Moto X+1 that Motorola said will begin to wow in late September or August 2014.
Should that be the case, the X+1 is the strongest candidate to become the Motorola Shamu base-model as traditionally Nexus makers pattern the device on their current flagships. That was what happened with the Nexus 4, which was an offshoot of the LG Optimus G, and the Nexus 5, which attributed its existence to the LG G2.
The Nexus 6 would have been moulded after the LG G3 but it appears now that LG is out of the Nexus project in favour of Motorola. So enter the Motorola (Shamu) XT1096 that likely will roll out as early as late September this year.
But prior to that event, Google is doing some spring cleaning - that is sending ageing Play Store devices into retirement. While the Nexus 5 is still very much available, one Android toy that recently was bumped off from the Google Store is the Galaxy S4 GPe.
According to 9to5Google, as of August 6 the GS4 with native Android inside is no longer visible from the Play Store. "Google has removed the Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition from the store without any replacement in sight," the report said.
With the latest removal, only two Google Play smartphones, the Moto G GPe and the HTC One M8 GPe, remain and it will be hardly surprising that the devices will also vanish into thin air very soon.
When that happens, history of the past few years will likely repeat - the old has gone so Google must fill the void with something new and it has to be the next Nexus mobile phone that flashes too the Motorola logo.
And history will play out further as the likelihood is the Google Nexus 6 release date will take place between October and November 2014 or around the same time that the Nexus 5 started rolling out in 2013.