“New Google phones are not called Nexus and get a modified Android version”

Google’s new Android smartphones, codenamed Sailfish and Marlin, will not be named Nexus. The devices also get a modified version of Android 7.0 Nougat. That claims Android Central on the basis of multiple sources.

Android Central relies on sources that would be familiar with Google’s plans. That the Android maker is moving away from the Nexus name on smartphones was previously suggested by Android Police. That website may have already seen the devices and published a homemade render, which shows the appearance of the smartphones. At that publication it was already stated that there is no Nexus naming present on the devices. It may be replaced by the letter ‘G’ on the device. Later photos of the Sailfish aircraft appeared, but there are no logos on them at all. They may still be added.

The disappearance of the Nexus name is not the biggest change, according to Android Central; the new smartphones will probably get a modified version of Android 7.0 Nougat. It is not yet clear in which areas that version differs from the stock version, which has since been released for the current Nexus models. In any case, the new Google smartphones will have their own launcher. Pictures of that have already come out.

The sources of Android Central do not know what name Sailfish and Marlin will get, if indeed it turns out that Google is abandoning the Nexus name. In any case, the name of the manufacturer, almost certainly HTC, would not be mentioned. However, the name Google would appear on the devices.

It is not yet clear when Google will officially announce its new smartphones. When introducing Android 7.0 Nougat, the company said that the LG V20 is the first smartphone to receive the new operating system. That smartphone will be presented on September 6, and thus Google indicates that the Nexus successors will in any case not come before that date.

Since 2009, Google has used the Nexus name for its Android smartphones, which are always made in collaboration with a hardware manufacturer. The Nexus name was also used for tablets, but with the arrival of the Pixel C that changed last year and no Nexus tablets have appeared since.