Aside from the forthcoming Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Apple iPhone 6 which will appear later in the year, one of the most eagerly awaited smartphone releases of the year is the Nexus 6. According to sources at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, LG is intending to continue its partnership with Google in the production of this device, and will also release the first ever Nexus smartwatch at about the same time.
Google and LG precedent
LG has already been involved in the production of two previous Nexus devices, with the Nexus 4 released in 2012 and last year’s Nexus 5. Additionally, LG was also involved in the production of the G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition tablet which also surfaced last year. While there has been the odd murmuring that Google might attempt to produce its own devices in the future, it nevertheless comes as little surprise that it will be enlisting LG for assistance at least in the immediate future.
Not too much is known about the Nexus 6 yet, but according to Gizmodo Germany we can expect this latest release to be a lightweight version of the LG G3. This would also follow previous precedent, as both the Nexus 4 and 5 were very much based on the blueprint laid down by the Optimus G and G2, LG’s flagship smartphones at the time.
The German publication has also claimed that the rumors regarding the first every Google smartwatch can be considered absolutely concrete, and state that they also intend to partner with LG in order to develop and manufacture this device. It will be interesting to see when, or indeed whether, this plan comes to fruition, as there is definitely space in this marketplace for a genre-defining smartwatch, and Apple has long since been linked with the release of an iWatch.
Aside from the more mass market Nexus, according to the same report it is also mooted that the Optimus G3 will launch much earlier than has been generally assumed. With a Q4 release originally expected for this premium smartphone, Gizmodo Germany instead has the G3 being released around June time.
Shifting mobile marketplace
This may reflect a marketplace in which the two principal players have got their tech releases out early. Samsung already has its Galaxy S5 scheduled, and Apple is widely expected to bring the iPhone 6 out earlier in the year than previous iPhone releases. It could be that Google views the June release date as the only viable slot for this smartphone release.
During the aforementioned World Mobile Congress, senior vice president at Google Sundar Pichai stated to assembled journalists during a Google presentation that the Nexus 6 can be expected in the first half of the year. Now that the link with LG has once more been confirmed, this now looks to be a concrete reality rather than mere marketing hearsay.
Despite the huge reputation of Google and its importance in the world of desktop computing, it has yet to make a massive impression on the mobile sector. With mobile internet searches yet to be dominated by Google, this is thought to be a key part of its medium to long-term strategy.
