Google's upcoming flagship smartphone Nexus 6 may have to fight it out with Apple's much-anticipated iPhone 6 in the market as both devices are expected to be unveiled around the same time.
The release date of Nexus 6 has not been revealed yet but several reports claim that the flagship smartphone would be released in the last quarter of 2014. Google's VP Sundar Pichai had also hinted at the Mobile World Congress that the device would see the light of the day in October, contradicting earlier reports that it would be released after Google's I/O Developers Conference on 24 June or early July.
Coincidentally, Apple's much-hyped new flagship smartphone iPhone 6 is also expected to be unveiled around September, though there has been another speculation that it would arrive at the upcoming WWDC event in June. Also, Nikkei has reported that suppliers of LCD panels for the flagship smartphone will start production soon and the device would be launched in around September.
Meanwhile, UBS Managing Director Steve Milunovich said in a research note (via Barron's) that Apple is planning two iPhone 6 variants - 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch models - and only one of them will be released in August or September, adding that the bigger variant of the device would hit the stores only next year.
The release dates of the upcoming flaghsip smartphones from Google and Apple have not been announced but they may fight it out in the smartphone market, if the latest reports are any indication.
Nexus 6 is expected to sport a 5.2-inch full HD curved LCD display, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass with either 13MP or 16MP main camera and have connectivity options like Bluetooth, NFC, Micro-USB, Wi-Fi and 4G. It is expected to be powered by the 64-bit version of its Snapdragon 800-series chipset, with 3GB RAM and run on Android OS (4.5), dubbed as Lollypop.
On the other hand, iPhone is expected to have a scratch-free sapphire crystal glass screen and come in two variants - a 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch models. The device will be powered by the A8 chip (64-bit) and run on iOS 7.2, according to South Korean brokerage KDB Daewoo Securities.
Photo: Screenshot from official Google Nexus website. (Edited by Vishnuprasad S Pillai)
