Rumor: HTC is making two Nexus smartphones for Google

HTC is making two Nexus smartphones for Google this year, according to a new rumor from two different sources. It may be devices with different sizes, just like the Nexus 5X and 6P from last year.

Twitterer @evleaks reports the codenames S1 and M1, while Android Police, which is often the first to release information about new Nexus devices, links those codenames to Sailfish and Marlin. Nexus devices invariably have codenames that refer to sea creatures, such as Shamu for Motorola’s Nexus 6 and Hammerhead for LG’s Nexus 5.

Both @evleaks and Android Police report little further on the new phones, although Android Police has previously reported T50 and T55 as code names, names that may refer to screen sizes of 5″ and 5.5″.

Google invariably plans the release of its Nexus phones around the release of its new Android version. Android N has already had some publicly downloadable preview versions and is slated for release towards the end of the summer, presumably August or September.

The last time HTC made a Nexus device was the 2014 Nexus 9 tablet, which disappeared from the Play Store this week. The last smartphone from the Nexus line that HTC designed was also the first: the Nexus One that Google released in early 2010.