In just a few hours from now, Google is expected to unveil a new HTC made tablet — the Nexus 9 a.k.a Volantis. The last tablet that Google released was the Nexus 7, which was made by ASUS. While the tablet was decent by all means, it could not really compete against the likes of the iPad and Galaxy Tabs and was meant to capture the low-end tablet market.
However, with the Nexus 9, Google is looking to get back into the high-end Android tablet market with a bang. The Nexus 9 is also an important tablet for HTC as it is after three long years that the Taiwanese OEM is making a return to this market. Below, we do a quick rumor roundup of the tablet to see what all we know about it.
Display and Build Quality
As its name might have indicated, the Nexus 9 is going to feature an 8.9-inch screen with a resolution of 2048*1440 resolution. This is the first Nexus tablet from Google to feature an aspect ratio of 4:3 — same as the Apple’s iPad. While this aspect ratio is not ideally suited for watching videos, it will make the Nexus 9 perfect for browsing the web, reading and pretty much every other content. App developers, however, will have to optimize their apps to take advantage of this new aspect ratio. Surprisingly, we still don’t know how the Nexus 9 will look. The only leaked render of the device is of extremely poor quality and only shows off its plastic back. However, one of the sources close to Google has already revealed that the Nexus 9 will feature an “brushed aluminium” frame rather than a metal unibody to keep costs down. The leak also indicates that the Nexus 9 will feature a design language similar to previous Nexus devices unlike the Nexus 6.
Hardware
The last high-end tablet released by Google was the Nexus 10, which was released in 2012. The 10-inch tablet had top of the line specs that can even now rival the latest tablets from Samsung, LG and other OEMs. The Nexus 9 is going to be an out-and-out high end tablet from Google and HTC. It is almost confirmed that the Nexus 9 will sport Nvidia’s 64-bit Tegra K1 processor — making it the first high-end Android device to feature it. The processor will be coupled with a 192-core Kepler GPU from Nvidia to allow developers to create games with next-generation graphics. Other rumored specs include 3GB RAM, 16/32GB storage space, LTE connectivity and a bunch of sensors. The Nexus 9 is also going to feature front-facing Boomsound speakers, which should help it in setting a new benchmark in audio quality for mobile devices.
Accessories and Pricing
Google has always sucked terribly in releasing official accessories for Nexus devices. However, it looks like the company is going to change things around this time and release a bunch of accessories for the Nexus 9 including a “origami” case and a Bluetooth keyboard that can double up as a stand for the device. It is not yet clear if Google will be announcing these accessories along with the Nexus 9 or unveil them at a later date though. As for the prices, the Nexus 9 is going to be reasonably priced just like any other Nexus device from Google. Rumors and leaks indicate that Google will sell the 16GB version of the tablet for $399 while the 32GB LTE variant will retail for $499. There is still quite a bit of mystery surrounding the Nexus 9. It is still not yet clear as to how the dual-core 64-bit Denver chip from Nvidia stacks up against Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon. It will also be interesting to see what all software features Google includes in Android L to make use of the high resolution screen of the tablet. Thankfully, the wait should only last a few hours more now.
