When you get caught up in a legal battle over patents and other things, there is a chance that a pending device or technology will end up getting named to further back your claim. In some industries those things go unnoticed or are fairly unimportant if the availability is close at hand. In the mobile industry, that just isn’t the case. One slip of the tongue or legal filing mishap and the community that sifts through everything find its. Once discovered, all hell breaks loose.
We all know there is a new Nexus tablet on the way. There has to be. We have heard code names, seen supposed benchmark reports and caught whispers from across the industry. HTC was the rumored manufacturer of the next Nexus tablet with code names popping up like Volantis and Flounder. It has a whole slew of win behind it along with a potential big fail. On one hand, HTC makes solid products with excellent designs. The HTC One M8 for one, is gorgeous. On the other hand, HTC hasn’t been in the tablet market on their own very much. While they wouldn’t be alone, since it would be pure Android, it is still a thought that makes some nervous. So is HTC really going to be making the next Nexus tablet? If you take a legal document from NVIDIA dealing with a Qualcomm and Samsung over GPU technology, then yes they are, and it is supposed to launch soon.
The document outlines a number of devices as exhibits that are currently using NVIDIA’s latest powerhouse, the Tegra K1. They list off the Acer Chromebook and a 50-inch TV from Lenovo. Silly NVIDIA also puts down “HTC Nexus 9, expected in the third quarter of 2014, is also expected to use the Tegra K1.”
For those that aren’t familiar with quarters of the year, the third quarter consists of July – September.
In the filing they mention “expected” twice. They don’t say “it will” at all. An expected launch time frame is always just that, expected. I also find it interesting that they say that they “expect” the Nexus 9 to use the Tegra K1. The 2012 Nexus 7 used a Tegra 3 processor and the Nexus 7 from 2013 used a Qualcomm S4 Pro processor. With the Tegra K1 being a monster in the graphics department, Google using it with Project Tango, their coverage of it at Google I/O and that it is a 64-bit capable processor, it is a little bit more concrete in my mind. Until HTC and Google announce the tablet though, anything is possible.
If things all pan out, we might have a Nexus 9 announcement by the end of the month. I am not personally sold on the idea that it will be available until October though. Google would surely pull the Nexus 9, a new Nexus phone and Android L all together for a seamless launch. As Engadget points out, HTC just started sending out event invites for a “Double Exposure” event on October 8th. No guarantee that will be the next Nexus announcement either though. However, the word choice makes me consider that all the mix match of Volantis and Flounder could mean two new Nexus tablets from HTC. That is 100% my own thoughts and hopes though.
What are your thoughts? Anything interesting to add or speculate?
Source: NVIDIA Filing Via Bright Side Of News |  Droid-Life
