The Nexus series will continue: release date of Nexus 6, Android L

The Nexus smartphones have each been one of the best smartphones every year since their launch in 2010. They have been sold at a very affordable price. We geeks love them because they reflect Google's view of an Android smartphone and they are always the first to receive direct updates from Google. They are called the smartphones that run "pure" Android. They has been lots of excitement lately surrounding the upcoming release of the next smartphone in the line: the Nexus 6. Google had not officially mentioned anything about the Nexus 6 and there were leaks talking about the upcoming Android Silver project to debut next year so rumors started circulating that Google would totally turn away from the Nexus program to concentrate on the Android Silver. But recently, David Burke, Head of Android engineering stated the following in an interview:

When we are working, there are sort of two outputs. We’re building a Nexus device and we’re building the open source code. There is no way you can build the open source code without the phone or tablet or whatever you are building. You have to live and breathe the code you are developing.

You can’t build a platform in the abstract, you have to build a device (or devices). So, I don’t think Nexus can or will ever go away. And then, I think Nexus is also interesting in that it is a way of us explaining how we think Android should run. It is a statement, almost a statement of purity in some respects. I don’t see why we would ever turn away from that, it wouldn’t make sense.

So Nexus will continue.

Each release of a new Android version was showcased by a new Nexus device. Now that we know Android L is coming we expect a Nexus 6 alongside it. Smartphone companies usually release new devices towards the beginning of the school year, around August-September. However, we are not so sure about a Q3 release because we would have an official announcement from Google by now. There was no mention about it at the Google I/O held in June, either. So we are looking at a Q4 release, most probably in October like its predecessor, the Nexus 5.