Android 4.4.3 changelog points to new Nexus device, Google TV coming soon (ZDNet)

Summary: References to HTC in an Android changelog have fuelled rumours it is making a new Nexus device. But will it be a tablet or phone?

Recently published changelogs in the Android Open Source Project (ASOP) appear to hint that a new HTC-made Nexus and Google's rumoured Android TV are on the way.

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Fish and Android would have little do with each other if it weren't for Google's practice of codenaming the next Nexus to be released after a different sea creature: the Nexus 4 was codenamed Mako, the Nexus 10 was Manta, the Nexus 5 was Hammerhead, while Nexus 7 in 2012 was Grouper, followed 2013's Razor. 

So, references found in Android 4.4.3 changelogs published on the Android Open Source Project last week to Flounder, made in connection with HTC, have sparked speculation the Taiwanese company will be building a new Nexus device.

While the changelogs in question have been taken down from the Android Git repositories, a copy is still available on GitHub, referencing "project device/htc/flounder". Its appearance in ASOP followed a similar reference in the Chromium issue tracker.

While it's not much to go by, it has spurred questions about what kind of device is HTC likely to make, assuming it has been brought into the Nexus-making fold alongside LG, Asus and to an extent, Samsung. Some reports, based on an April story by DigiTimes, suggest that HTC is working on an eight-inch Nexus 8. 

However, as other reports have noted, HTC has been out of the tablet game for some time, having not made a tablet since the seven-inch HTC Flyer and 10-inch Jetstream some years ago.

On the other hand, Google only released the Nexus 5 alongside its KitKat update late last year. Is it time for a new Nexus smartphone yet?

The other tidbit that surfaced from the Android 4.4.3 changelog was a possible reference to Android TV in the form of 'Molly', which some have deduced is likely not a phone of tablet due to instructions to remove the lock screen, as well as references to various media codecs and other signs that indicate TV-specific functionality.

No doubt, on both counts, more is likely to be revealed at Google's upcoming I/O conference, which is scheduled to be held on 25 and 26 June in San Francisco. 

About Liam Tung

Liam Tung is an Australian business technology journalist living a few too many Swedish miles north of Stockholm for his liking. He gained a bachelors degree in economics and arts (cultural studies) at Sydney's Macquarie University, but hacked (without Norse or malicious code for that matter) his way into a career as an enterprise tech, security and telecommunications journalist with ZDNet Australia. These days Liam is a full time freelance technology journalist who writes for several publications.