14 DAY TRIAL // The Nexus 8 tablet might have failed to materialize at the Google I/O conference but, shortly after, sources familiar with the matter assured us that the tablet was still on its way and was never meant to be unveiled at the event anyway.
In the aftermath of the conference, rumors regarding the Nexus 8 tablet are getting hot once again. This time, it appears that the slate has been spotted on the Indian Import website, which is a database containing every single device that comes in the country for testing reasons and whatnot, as reported by GSMArena.
The listing doesn’t reveal much else, except that the Nexus 8 prototype comes from the US. The rumor mill is betting its money on HTC as being the manufacturer of the device, but there’s still the scant possibility that ASUS might turn out to be following the tradition of the previous Nexus 7 tablets.
Word on the street has it that the tablet could end up being called the Nexus 9 due to its 8.9-inch display, but the new listing indicates it’s going to be the Nexus 8 after all.
Recent speculations indicate that the Nexus 8 will be revealed around the same time Google finalizes Android L, which is expected to be this fall. The two platforms are going to be intertwined, anyway.
As for specs, the Nexus 8 story has often changed. First it was believed the tablet would take advantage of a new Intel Moorefield processor, but then a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon processor was brought into the picture.
All this was eradicated a few days before the Google I/O conference, when information surfaced claiming that the Nexus 8 will be taking advantage of a NVIDIA 64-bit Tegra K1 processor.
It appears that this is the course Google will be following with the new tablet, because at the event it was announced that the NVIDIA Tegra K1 would be used to power a lot of Google’s new projects, including the Android TV and Android in Car.
And remember that the Google Tango developer kit for tablets also takes advantage of the same chip architecture. So it make sense for NVIDIA to bring its powerhouse to the upcoming Nexus 8 slate.
Anyway, when we see the Nexus 8 arrive into the wild, there’s still a chance it will be accompanied by a third-generation Nexus 7. At some point, an industry insider claimed that Google was not ready yet to abandon its Nexus 7 line. Hopefully, we will know the truth of things soon enough.