Google Nexus 2016 Release In October; Marlin, Sailfish To Come With Android 7.1, New Launcher And A Feature You May Not Want

Google Nexus 2016 is a highly anticipated device soon to be released, and while people are waiting for its official launch, there are plenty of speculations, leaks, and rumors regarding its specs and features. Words have it that the newest Google mobile phones will hit the market in October, and will come with features not yet available in other phones, including one that may not please consumers.

Google Nexus 2016, which are reportedly named HTC Marlin and HTC Sailfish, will run Android 7.1 Nougat. Google last week officially rolled out the new Android 7.0 Nougat, but speculations emerged that the upcoming Nexus flagship phones will run a much newer version when a post on Reddit revealed that the tech company is already testing the first update, BGR reported.

To add to that, David Ruddock of Android Police also dished on Twitter, "Looks like the new Nexus phones will launch with Android 7.1, which is now confirmed to be Nougat's MR1 release." This is based on Google's announcement about its plan to release quarterly maintenance update.

The MR1 update is expected to come with two new features--a new launcher and a new Google Assistant in the new home screen. The app drawer will no longer have a separate app icon, instead it can be brought up by sliding up from the bottom of the screen. Meanwhile, HTC Marlin and HTC Sailfish will also come in 32GB and 132GB models, a feature that not everyone may like as it may not be that useful for the users. LlabTooFeR wrote on Twitter, "Curious fact about Android N for upcoming HTC Nexus phones, all partitions will be doubled...What a waste of storage."

When it comes to prices, Nexus Blog said that a 32GB Marlin is likely to start at $599 and $449 for the Sailfish. At this point, all of these remain as speculations.